Quote Originally Posted by MarkM2112 View Post
Actually, this may actually be a boon to our hobby...

Consider this: Between now and 2009, people will be upgrading their televisions to accept the new digital signals, which means most of them will be getting rid of their otherwise functional non upgradable analog TV's for very little or nothing! A good deal for an old school room of doom! Just keep your eyes peeled for such deals via the thrifts, Craigslist, classified ads, or your local Freecycle... www.freecycle.org
Problem with that ideology is a small converter box fixes the problem of a TV not accepting digital over-the-air signal. People would much rather drop less than $100.00 on a converter box than replace an entire set that is working fine honestly. Then again, it still amazes me that people use antennas for television and can get any decent reception - unless you're out in the middle of nowhere. Most will probably switch to the most basic cable services. If anything you'll see older pocket TV prices drop through the floor, which will be good for the custom built portables hobby.