An Era We Can All Remember

We all hear about the age of digital television coming in February. Countless public service announcements are running to remind people. There's even been one five minute test where all analog programming ceased for five minutes so people would know if they are ready for the new digital age.

If you get your signal from satellite, you are ready for the change. If you get your signal from a cable company, you should be ready. However, some very small cable companies have not prepared for the deadline. If you are on Comcast, you are in good shape.

If you get your signal from an antenna or rabbit ears, you will need to purchase a converter to convert the signals to play on your analog television. You will not need a converter if your television uses a digital tuner or is currently receiving high definition pictures.

The reason I am saying all this is because I have been looking lately for a regular style television that will work on a cable system. Guess what? Those televisions are not for sale anymore. You cannot purchase a television with a picture tube. I was hoping to be able to get a tube set for a couple of hundred dollars for an elderly lady in a nursing home. Oh no, you get HDTV or nothing at all. I checked online ads, nothing. Best Buy and Circuit City don't handle them any longer.

So say good bye to another era....the era of tube televisions. Progress refuses to stand still.