Posted by chicagomedia.org on January 04, 2009 at 18:36:10:
Get the picture: There are, of course, worse things than having to do without TV, and some shrug off next month's digital transition as 2009's version of the Y2K bug, much hand-wringing followed by amusement afterward over the idea anyone worried.
Until the DTV deadline -- or Y-U-C-Nothing -- at midnight Feb. 17, however, there is concern about the preparedness of those in the audience who rely on over-the-air signals.
"I'm afraid the DTV transition isn't ready for prime time," the Federal Communications Commission's Jonathan Adelstein warned fellow commissioners just last week during their final 2008 meeting. "People need to get moving. I'm afraid it's going to be messy unless there [are] major changes or something dramatic is done."
As if a complete analog shutdown at the stroke of midnight in mid-winter isn't dramatic enough.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)