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When my friend Tom first alerted me to this, I said, "Send me a link. The US government is giving away voucher coupons so that people can buy analog to digital TV converters? No way!" But alas, it’s true. According to a March story in DailyWireless.org,
Starting Jan. 1, 2008, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two $40 coupons to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes, while the initial $990 million allocated for the program is available..Under the rules, all U.S. households will be able to apply for up to two $40 coupons to defray the cost of a basic digital-to-analog converter box during the program’s initial phase, in which up to 22.5 million coupons are expected to be available. March 31, 2009 is the last day to make the requests. Boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70 apiece.
But why? Why do people need such things, and why on earth is the federal government involved in something like this? Well, duh… it’s because thanks to the government, that awesome TV you just bought at the ElectronicsSuperDuperWarehouse Bargain Outlet for a hundred and fifty bucks is going to be obsolete on February 17th, 2009. You knew that, didn’t you?
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What?! You didn’t know your current TV is going to be worthless after that date? Don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. And your friendly electronics retailer hasn’t helped you realize this either…
The big names in consumer-electronics retailing are selling analog TVs without alerting buyers that the sets won’t work without conversion devices after mid-February 2009, according to the Federal Communications Commission..The FCC this week warned Best Buy, Circuit City Stores, CompUSA, Kmart and RadioShack that they face $11,000-a-day fines, up to $97,000, unless they prominently display notices alerting shoppers that broadcasters are switching to all-digital signals on Feb. 17, 2009.
Heh. And all this time you thought that it was totally excellent that the new TV you recently bought was practically a steal, when actually, you are getting screwed by the retailer who is selling you something that will be rendered obsolete in Feb. 2009. Don’t worry though, ’cause good ‘ole Uncle Sam will bail you out of your dilemma… even if you don’t need the help. Again, from DailyWireless.org:
The coupons have no income limit, meaning that millionaires would be as eligible for taxpayer-provided discounts as someone living below the poverty line.
And you thought the nanny state had already thought of everything!