Why are companies so petrified of technology?

Digital TV is out there. But the people who can most profit from it, aren’t doing squat to help me get it. Why the hell not?

My aunt and uncle recently got a new HD television. Their ancient Sony finally gave up the ghost, and they decided they might as well get a digital TV to replace it. I got the task of wiring and programming the big honkin’ plasma TV that I recommended they order.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the latest generation of TVs too much before that. A few years ago, I got my first color television, a little 20″ Sony Vega. I try not to watch a lot of television, since most programming is basically a waste of time. Face it, most TV viewing is just a way to distract yourself while you await your own death.

Anyway, so I got a crash course in digital TVs: 1080i v. 720p, DVI v. HDMI, etcetcetc. (I also found out along the way that the Motorola DCT-6400 series DVR has a really, really crappy analog tuner.)

Once I got everything working, I was impressed. The difference between analog, digital and HD is quite noticeable. The thing I found most attractive are the colors. The colors in an HD broadcast manage to be richer without bleeding. (The red bleed on most CRT TVs drives me nuts.)

‘Maybe,’ I thought, ‘I should look into getting me some of this here HD-TV.’ Except, of course, that I don’t want to get cable. No, no, really. In case you had forgotten, they actually broadcast television programming for free right through the air on radio waves. My aunt is happy that her cable/ISP bill is still under $200/month even after she added on the HD package. Personally, I think $200 makes for one good trip to a strip club every thirty days, where real live women show me their breasticles and pretend they want to have sex with me.

Some digging around found me this great website, AntennaWeb.org, that not only tells you what channels are available with an OTA (Over The Air) digital feed, but how far away they are, and what direction the tower is so that you can aim a directional antenna properly. Turns out there are five digital feeds coming out of New Orleans that I might could pick up. Hell, that’s about as many fuzzy, snowy channels as I can pick up currently.

But before I went and dove head first into digital TV, I decided to see if the stuff really works. As I said, my aunt and uncle have this gnifty new plasma TV, so I decided to experiment with that. I bought them a Terk HDTVa indoor antenna, and wired it up to their new TV.

A little fiddling and aiming, and holy crap it works! And, boy dog, does it work. Not only are the digital signals clear, but some of the channels are HD, and they look just as good as the HD channels coming into the TV through digital cable.

Hot damn, the digital revolution is upon me!

Or not.

Despite the fact that as of February 17, 2009, by government fiat, all analog TV broadcasts will cease, and despite that the same fiat supposedly required all new TV equipment to include digital tuners starting back on March 1, 2007, there is ONE digital tuner on the market. One. Just one. If you want to get OTA digital TV, you must buy the Samsung DTB-H260F. Which costs $170.

Now, true, I could buy a whole new TV, but why? As I said, I try to avoid watching too much TV. And a new TV is going to cost even more.

But my real screed is this: why have OTA stations not been highlighting their digital broadcasts? I would never have known I can get digital TV for free if I hadn’t started digging around on the interweb.

Why is no one (but Samsung) selling equipment that lets people use their current TVs to get digital broadcasting? 2009 ain’t very far away, and I suspect a lot of people are going to be more than a little annoyed when their analog TVs just stop working.

And the Samsung DAC is so expensive because it has all kinds of features and menus and whatever. All I need is a DAC that can change channels. That’s it. I can’t imagine that costing more than $100. Hell, Chinese slave labor should be able to crank something out for more like $50.

Television stations should be embracing OTA digital with massive PR campaigns and converter-box give aways. They should be renting HD cameras and going out and filming high school football games and broadcasting them. Why? Because there’s only a few broadcast stations in any given U.S. market. When people sign up for cable they get 67 channels to choose from. With an antenna, I’ll get 5.

Now, true, the people that don’t have cable are not the primary market for most advertisers. We OTA watchers are either complete freaks such as myself, or, more commonly, rather poor. But you know what? Poor folks buy toilet paper. They buy air fresheners and beer. They spend way too much money on NFL gear.  They are part of the market, even if they aren’t advertising company’s darling.

TV stations have been getting their asses kicked by cable and satellite for so long they can no longer see straight. OTA digital broadcasts are their last chance. They can not only compete in terms of signal quality, but in some cases even win. They should have pushed the digital OTA standard through a lot sooner. They should have partnered with electronics companies to develop and distribute cheap DACs to their market.

Instead, they are sitting around waiting for the digital revolution to land on their head like an anvil. The way that Xerox did in the ’70s, when they squandered PARC’s insight into the future of computers. The way the record companies did when Napster and iTunes were forging a new music-market paradigm.

I was all ready to write an entry about how great OTA digital TV is and how everyone should tell the cable companies to go take a long walk on a short dock. Then I found out the truth–it’s harder to get OTA digital TV than it is to get cable. And the upfront costs are higher.

Why are so many industries apparently run by complete fucking morons? I need to move my IRA into government bonds or something, methinks.  And wait for HDTV tuners to get cheaper.