We live in a very rural area - there is no cable. We have satellite internet (for business reasons), and could probably do satellite TV if we could afford it, but the satellite is out half the winter due to ice and snow, and also goes out when it rains. That means if we don't get any digital signals - and I have a feeling we're not going to - we won't have any TV to watch at all.

Right now we get 4 1/2 stations - NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. Sometimes we get Fox enough to listen to, but it's rare.

I find it annoying that the powers that be assume cable is available to everyone. It's not. And <gasp> there may be some folks who have it available who can't afford it - especially now with gas prices the way they are and folks having to choose between food, heat and going to work. I think all folks who are in charge of making these decisions should be made to spend one winter in a northern, rural area.

They'd maybe think twice about making changes to something as key to fending off boredom as TV is. Fortunately we have Netflix and a big stash of movies.

But just think - millions of people not being able to watch TV, not seeing news (and so making up their OWN minds about things), not watching commercials. If folks thought things changed during the writers' strike, I think we haven't seen anything yet.

I wonder how many people the transition is going to actually affect once it goes through. Some of my elder family members do not have the internet or computers, and I'm sure they have no idea that some of the commercials being run on the networks are for DTV.

What's funny to me is that when I hear words like, "over-the-air" viewers will be affected for DTV, it makes me think that only sattelite dish people will have to upgrade. They get their signals over-the-air right? Nope, it's TVs hooked up to the antenna.

I guess we'll have to wait to find out how many people aren't ready for DTV.