Technology continues to evolve faster than most of us can follow -- if you blink, you might miss the next-best thing and find yourself surrounded by obsolete devices. My pale-pink iPod Mini is less than 3 years old and already worthy of mockery -- and don't get me started on my embarrassingly large collection of single tapes. MP-what? At least Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is helping prevent consumers from unknowingly buying a television that will quickly be seen as a relic. It's taking all analog television sets off the market. The familiar electronics retailer told its store locations to drop analog offerings at the beginning of October and focus exclusively on selling flat-panel and high-definition sets.
By February 17, 2009, all U.S. television programming will be required to be digital, as ordered by the Federal Communications Commission. Those holding on to old analog sets will be able to convert to the sharper signal using boxes, satellite equipment, or other methods of conversion. More than 60 million U.S. viewing households still watch their favorite shows via analog cable or antennas, and the government plans to offer coupons that can be used to purchase converter boxes. Where can one redeem such coupons and acquire such boxes? Well, Best Buy, of course, beginning early next year.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-17-2007 @ 4:48PM
kenny foote said...
why do we need a digital converter for each tv? my cable company charges for this service ( one converter box for each tv) why isn't there a converter box that can take one signal and be able to amplify it so multiple tv sets can be watched, this should also apply to HD
10-18-2007 @ 2:17PM
david said...
well thats an easy question to answer... because the people who are buying set top boxes for just one TV dont want to have to pay 2-3 times as much money for a box that has tons of features they dont use/need.
Why dont they make both?? other than the fact that it would be way more expensive than you think for a box to do all that it all comes down to mass production. Its cheaper to have one huge line pumping out one thing than to have two medium lines pumping out two things.