Want evidence that Communism doesn’t work? Go buy an HD converter box.
Step 1: lobbyists get enough lobster and champagne into the FCC that they decide there’s definitely better uses for the UHF and VHF bands.
Step 2: some stupid congressperson “fights for the people” and gets the fucking digital converter coupon program started: up to two $40 coupons per household, which must be received before going and buying your converter box.
Step 3: some other joker gets every nearly defunct electronics company, and anyone whose willing and knows what an LED is, to make the boxes.
Step 4: retailers team up with Voxovision and Deloxywave and whoever the fuck else is making these boxes out of whatever parts they find in the janitors’ bins at the end of the day and decide to charge no less than $10 over what the coupon is for.
Result: converter boxes have a maximum of $5 in parts, and cost $50 or more. The government puts in for the huge margin these assholes get. And the boxes are pieces of shit.
I bought a $50 and a $60 at Target. I can’t remember the models, and it doesn’t matter. The $50 one didn’t work at all. The $60 one would freeze after about 3 hours or so. HD is a lot of fucking data, the electronics are not simple, and this type of “for the people” plan isn’t ever going to work in a free economy.
If you have a tube TV, do yourself a favor: either stop watching it altogether, or give in and get yourself an HD setup.
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