More DTV Transition Time (Are you for real?)

Despite being hit over the head with a shovel with DTV transition advertisements, there are actual people, the government estimated, who wouldn't be ready to make the switch on February 17, 2009.

Even my grandma, the change-hating, stubborn mule she is, was finally succumbing to the fact that she was going to have to learn to use her converter box.

How could anyone not be ready? If you have watched a measly five minutes of TV over the past year, chances are you saw some sort of message that you need to do something about your TV or you won't have it come February 2009.

If people weren't prepared for the transition, we should've let them lose their signal. A few days without The View, Jerry Springer, or whatever these people watch and they would've figured something out. Come on. I would imagine that most of these people are similar to my grandma; they need a little taste of reality just so they know that it will really happen.

The decision to delay the transition for four months isn't final yet. It was approved by the Senate but most now visit the House. From the AP:

WASHINGTON – The Senate on Monday voted unanimously to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 — setting the stage for Congress to pass the proposal as early as Tuesday. Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 changeover. The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed. "Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline. "I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time." The issue now goes to the House, where Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has vowed to work with House leaders to bring Rockefeller's bill up for a floor vote on Tuesday.