The waste in this bailout

[Paul2]

...On a side note, I\'m curious to see how many people got these converter boxes and didn\'t actually need them but were too stupid to know it.

That\'s a good point there.  I wouldn\'t be surprised if there are a few people who have HDTV with the digital tuner inside but doesn\'t know it and still buy the converter box for it.

the thing about converter box is that they downconvert all digital hd broadcasts to 480i.  If using the converter box instead of the built in digital tuner, they are watching a reduce resolution of 720p and 1080i broadcasts.

That would suck if stores misinform people to buy the converter box for the new tv that they just purchased.

[Viper_Fujax]

who would have an HDTV and no cable box?

More people than you could imagine.  I definitely witnessed it with customers a number of times.  Mostly all people who couldn\'t get cable in their area.

[Paul2]

who would have an HDTV and no cable box?

some people don\'t want cable because they don\'t watch tv that much nor do they want to pay for the service.

CNN reports that this is what\'s been cut: http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/07/news/economy/stimulus_cut/index.htm
 
They had a bunch of education items listed earlier in the week. Are they back in?

[clips]

CNN reports that this is what\'s been cut: http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/07/news/economy/stimulus_cut/index.htm
 
They had a bunch of education items listed earlier in the week. Are they back in?

Yeah...i couldn\'t believe how much stuff they cut out for education....he did state that he wanted them to put those projects that were cut back in. I can\'t understand why those a$$holes would cut upgrading the schools or improving the infrasctructure of existing schools, even possibly building new schools....absolutely idiotic of them to cut those types of projects out.

[Titan]

some people don\'t want cable because they don\'t watch tv that much nor do they want to pay for the service.

But you can get even a basic service for like 20-30 bucks per month.

I have an ex girlfriend who I still talk to who still doesn\'t have cable. What\'s weird is her family is completely loaded. Their house is huge. They are so frugal that her dad still drives like a 1987 Crown Vic as the daily driver. Depends on the person I guess.

I still believe that broadcast television is still a necessity. But the more I think about it, the more it should be cut out of the bailout. Its those people\'s fault that they didn\'t get the converter box in time. People have known about it for how many months and years? I\'ve known about the switch for 2 years now. And if people can\'t afford the 50 bucks it costs, then those people are shit out of luck. We have to think about the best interests of the country.

absolutely idiotic of them to cut those types of projects out.

I kinda thought so, too. Republicans said they wanted to stick to things that would directly help the economy and creating construction jobs directly does that. Plus, it has the added long-term benefit of creating better schooling environments for the young little geniuses that will have to come up with some brilliant new tech to export and help pay for all this.

And if people can\'t afford the 50 bucks it costs, then those people are shit out of luck. We have to think about the best interests of the country.

You know what else is that for a lot of people, they\'re practically addicted to tv and will no doubt pony up the cash when they need to. That means, that $50 a head will circulate through the economy on its own and we can spend taxpayer cash on something else that needs more of a helping hand.

I still believe that broadcast television is still a necessity. But the more I think about it, the more it should be cut out of the bailout. Its those people\'s fault that they didn\'t get the converter box in time. People have known about it for how many months and years? I\'ve known about the switch for 2 years now. And if people can\'t afford the 50 bucks it costs, then those people are shit out of luck. We have to think about the best interests of the country.

Delaying of the conversion and the money in the bailout are two separate things.

[Paul2]

But you can get even a basic service for like 20-30 bucks per month...

What if they don\'t care?  When you can get OTA digital broadcast with same or better quality for free.  Over-the-Air Digital broadcast have many channels to choose too.  More so than the ota analog channels.  Because you can have like 2 to 7 shows in the same channel path.  Like 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4...One in HD while the other 3 are SD channels.  There are many channels like that where they have more than one shows in one channel.

[Titan]

You know what else is that for a lot of people, they\'re practically addicted to tv and will no doubt pony up the cash when they need to. That means, that $50 a head will circulate through the economy on its own and we can spend taxpayer cash on something else that needs more of a helping hand.

No contest here.

Delaying of the conversion and the money in the bailout are two separate things.

I never said they were different nor have I said they should delay it.

What if they don\'t care? When you can get OTA digital broadcast with same or better quality for free. Over-the-Air Digital broadcast have many channels to choose too. More so than the ota analog channels. Because you can have like 2 to 7 shows in the same channel path. Like 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, and 4-4...One in HD while the other 3 are SD channels. There are many channels like that where they have more than one shows in one channel.

But with cable you get so much more

Plus with the digital conversion, it is not actually guarenteed that the stations will actually put out 4 channels over the air. They may use the whole band for HD instead of 4 SD channels. Its up to the station I guess.