Digital TV: Do not adjust your set
When I went out last week to talk to owners of some television repair shops around town, I had visions of walking in and seeing some of those old console televisions with the wooden cabinets like the one that sat in my parents’ living room for decades. I didn’t see a one.
Instead, what I saw mostly were the giant analog televisions encased in black pastic. It’s kind of what my parents have today. They’ve been eyeing the new HDTVs they’ve seen in electronics stores and are considering replacing the old 42-inch Toshiba that occupies the corner of their living room today. I was shocked to even hear them talk about replacing the television, but the quality diffference in HDTV and an old analog television is striking.
Anyway, the repair guys I talked to didn’t seem too worried over the transition because many of them do warranty work and expect to continue those relationships with manufacturers and retailers.
The one shop I visited that doesn’t do warranty work was concerned about making the transition himself because of fears that potential customers with old analog TVs in need of repair might opt to buy a new digital model rather than bring it in to his shop.
A valid fear, I think.
The closest I came to a big wooden console TV was in this poster that Bob Keating showed me at his Newport TV repair shop on the far west side of Oklahoma City. The poster shows the progression of RCA TVs and radios through the years.
If you want to know more about the transition to digital television broadcasts, visit the government’s Web site.
Jim Stafford
Business News Writer
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