Why do so many people still trust the government to lift up the downtrodden when so many of its actions end up screwing the poorest among us?
NEW YORK (AP) -- TV's big switch from analog to digital broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them: Do they need a new converter box, a new TV, a better antenna?
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Those who will be affected are the 13 million or so households that get TV broadcasts exclusively over the air and have a TV more than a few years old - or even a newer TV that's relatively small. Also affected are TVs not connected to cable, even if a home has cable.
Of course government will be there to fix the problem it has caused, with one of its usual collect-and-redistribute schemes, this time in the form of a $40 coupon to be applied toward a converter box.
