Are you sick of hearing about the transition to digital television on February 17,2009?

I am getting sick about hearing about the transition to digital television. Everyone has gotten into the campaign. There have been special public service ads by news anchors, television commercials to explain the whole converter procedure, usually by someone with grey hair to show how easy it must be if a senior citizen can do it. I have seen FTC reps on talk shows talk about this "important" issue. Alright already, we get it. Television as we know it is changing on February 17, 2009. Let's move on to other things. A lot can happen between now and February.

It is not that this PR extravaganza doesn't have some place in the scheme of things (maybe number 75), but I have more important things to think about than getting a $40 coupon to help defray the cost of converter boxes: like my dwindling IRA, 401K's and pension benefits, my mortgages, my new condo assessments, my car payment, my credit card bills and things like that.

Here is one of those alerts:

FTC Consumer Alert
Television is Going Digital: Get the Picture
Big changes are coming to your television. But they have nothing to do with summer re-runs or the new fall season. These changes involve the transition to digital broadcasting on February 17, 2009For millions of Americans — those whose televisions are already hooked up to cable or satellite or those who have televisions with built-in digital tuners — the transition should be seamless. But if you get your programming on an analog television through a rooftop antenna or “rabbit ears,” you will have to take action to keep your TV sets working after the transition. Through a program run by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, every household can get two coupons — each worth $40 — to help defray the cost of the converter boxes. Most of the boxes cost between $50 and $70; you can order the coupons online at www.dtv2009.gov or by phone at 1888DTV2009.

If only the federal government had taken the time, effort, and millions of dollars that the Federal Trade Commission has used to warn us about the digital television conversion taking place on February 17, 2009 (which might cost us $50-$70) and had used that same extraordinary effort to warn us of the coming recession/depression! Wouldn't it have been great to get a Consumer Alert alert like this?

A Recession is Coming and Get Out of the Stock Market Market.

Don't worry we will provide you with coupons to help you out.

What Goes Down Does Not Necessarily Go Back Up

Don't Be Greedy, Sell Your House Now

You Might Want To Think Twice About That Sub-Prime Loan

Greenspan: I really don't know any more about the economy than you do.

Let's compare notes on February 17, 2009 to see how the transition to digital went. Meanwhile, about the economy, we are on our own.