A Strange Approach to the DTV Transition

What do you get when you mix Joe the Plumber with the DTV Transition?  Apparently you get the new spokesman for VelocityStore.com. Velocitystore.com is an online retailer of digital converter boxes who has decided to use the recently found fame of Joe the Plumber to inform their consumers about the DTV Transition.  

For those of you who don't keep up on politics, Joe the Plumber, whose real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, became nearly as popular as the candidates during this year's presidential election.  After asking now President Elect Barrack Obama a question at a campaign stop in Ohio, Joe the Plumber became a symbol representing middle-class Americans for the rest of the election.  Now that the election is over, Joe the Plumber is now representing the average Joe to relate to consumers in a series of videos about the DTV Transition.

 
  

Right now this is the only commercial VelocityStore.com has listed on it's website.  However, you can sign up to be alerted by email when a new Joe the Plumber commercial is posted.

Although I'm not sure Joe the Plumber is the best spokesperson for this company, I do have to admit this is an innovative approach to getting the word out about the DTV Transition.  People may look at these ads and think, "Wow if Joe the Plumber can do this so can I."  However, the reality of it is that Joe the Plumber is a pseudo-celebrity that is being paid to sell a product to the average American.  He may be able to sell a few boxes for velocitystore.com, but I think this company will soon realize they should have just saved the money they paid him to endorse their online business.  

I personally am sick of hearing about the Joe the Plumber and I think many other Americans feel the same way.  For instance I found this video on YouTube from www.theyoungturks.com. 

Although this blog post seems more about Joe the Plumber than about the DTV Transition, I felt it was important to talk about it to show how the lines are being blurred between politics, popular culture and public service information.  This new convergence is a great example of how media can make someone a pop culture icon overnight and how this icon can go from politics to commercials nearly as quickly. 

It seems with all the technology we have available to us these days, nearly anyone can get their 15 seconds of fame.  Unfortunately for us, Joe the Plumber gotten more than his fair share.  I just hope, for Joe the Plumber's sake, they don't start showing these commercials on TV.       

Businesses Helping with the DTV Transition

With DTV Transition day right around the corner, retailers are changing their strategies to help people understand what they need to do to be DTV compliant.  One such retailer is Best Buy.  In the last month or so they have put up a website to help their customers (and other interested parties) better understand the DTV Transition. 

  

At the Ask A Blueshirt site, visitors can read the latest blog posts, search frequently asked questions and even submit questions they may still have about the transition.  There is even a boot camp link that talks about the in-store workshops that were held at Best Buy stores around the United States earlier this week.  I'm hoping these are not the only workshops Best Buy plans to have as I see the some of the smaller cities, such as Fargo, were missed the first time around.    

Another interesting feature Best Buy has incorporated into this site is the Play 80's and 90's TV Trivia application for Facebook.  Users get to test their knowledge of classic television trivia while learning about the DTV Transition.  In between questions, a blue-shirted Best Buy employee  gives the player useful tips and suggestions to help them make the DTV Transition.  I found the game to be quite entertaining, although I do have to admit, I didn't do as well as I thought I would considering the amount of TV I watched in the 80's and 90's.  If you would like to play 80's and 90's TV trivia yourself and you are already a Facebook user, click on the image to the right to load the application.   

I think Best Buy has really tried to target a large group of consumers with this marketing plan.  They have the website available for people who are just looking for information.  They have the in-store workshops that target the not-so-computer-savvy crowd and they have the Facebook application, which appeals to the younger college generation consumers. 

This marketing plan also shows how Best Buy has been able to use convergence to target these different audiences.  The DTV Transition is a television based concept, but by thinking outside the box, Best Buy was able to integrate that concept on the internet, in a Facebook application and into their stores.  I think this use of convergence will be useful in getting information out about the DTV Transition effectively.      

The DTV Transition and the Interpersonal Divide

There are about 3 months left until all of the United States transitions into the digital television era, and officials still have the task of informing everyone about the DTV transition. With the constant barrage of scrolls across the bottom of the screen during primetime programing and the commercials that run at least once an hour, most people would think the government is accomplishing its task of informing the viewer. However, an article on multichannel.com states when Wilmington, NC, stations turned off their analog signals a few months ago, 5% of the community did not know about the transition.

Although 5% is not a very high number, it actually is very significant when you take into consideration that this is one medium size market in one state. If something is not done to get the word out soon, this number will be quite a bit larger by the time the rest of the country makes the transition in February.

So the question is why weren't the government and local television stations able to reach this portion of the population in North Carolina? I think part of the reason is that they were primarily using technology to inform people about the DTV Transition. If someone is going to be needing a digital converter box for their current television set, chances are they don't watch a lot of television to begin with. Also, these people probably don't have computer access either, which is another primary means of getting information out about the transition. If by chance they did have access to a computer, the information about the transition still needs to be sought out on the Internet.

Although the government still has the daunting task of figuring out how to inform all Americans about the transition, it makes me hopeful to think we all haven't succumbed to what Michael Begeja calls the "Interpersonal Divide." Bugeja highlights this concept in his book Interpersonal Divide, where he explains how people have become disconnected from society and from other people in their households due to the technology of the 21st Century. Bugeja claims people focus more on social relationships they have formed on the Internet and spend more time watching their own television away from other members of the family, and they have forgotten the importance of face to face interpersonal interaction.

I don't completely agree with all of Bugeja's concepts, but I do somedays feel I am one of those people who have become so wired that interaction with other humans almost seems foreign. This is probably the case with many other people whose jobs and lives revolve around technology.

Living your life through technology may seem like the norm in today's society, but there is still that 5% North Carolina population that I like to think escaped the interpersonal divide. I want to believe they were out serving on a city council or involved in a quilting circle as to not get the message about the DTV Transition. I know this may not have been the case, but it is certainly a pleasant thought to think that not everyone has given up on the basic social skills needed for a functioning society.

We may never know why this percentage of the population missed the message, but the point is they did. Because of this fact, the government needs to step up its efforts to get the word out to all Americans. Any questions or comments on how you think they could help can be left below under comments.

Are DTV and HDTV the Same?

One of the topics that confuses most people about the DTV Transition is High-Definition Television (HDTV).  Many people think that HDTV is something you have to have in order to make the DTV Transition.  In actuality, HDTV is a form of digital television that offers at least 720 lines of resolution as opposed to the 330 lines of resolution on a standard definition analog television.  The picture quality on a HDTV is sharp and clear, and the sound rivals the quality you would get on any audio CD.  

People, who currently have a standard definition television that will be needing a digital converter box in February, do NOT have to buy a new HDTV to make the transition.  However, if you were in the market for a new television, a HDTV would not be a bad way to go.     

When shopping for a HDTV there are many things to consider.  Consumer reports suggests you take these things into consideration before heading to the store:

• How much you are willing to spend
• LCD or Plasma
• Screen size
• 720p or 1080p
• What type of service you will be using

All of these items will help you to be an informed comparison shopper to ensure you are getting the best television for your needs.  

The good news is once you have found your new HDTV, you no longer have to worry about getting a digital converter box as most new HDTV's being sold already have built in digital tuners.  However, if you do not want to pay for cable or satellite service, you will still need an antenna to pick up a signal.  

As I have mentioned in past blog posts, getting a good digital signal is much harder to do than receiving the current analog signal.  This is equally as important if you are trying to pick up an HD signal too.  You need a special antenna designed to receive HD signals and without it the new HDTV you just got will not be living up to its potential.  Although I have not been out shopping for an HD antenna,  I have heard that many on the market still fail to deliver a quality signal.  I did find this video on YouTube that explains how to make a fairly inexpensive HD antenna out of everyday household items.  

I cannot speak to the effectiveness of this antenna, but if anyone out there does try it and it works, I would love to hear your comments about it.

Again I cannot stress enough, buying an HDTV is NOT necessary to make the DTV transition.  If you do decide to purchase a new television, be an informed shopper and choose the best television for your needs.   

The Funny Side (or not so funny side) of the DTV Transition

A few days ago my sister sent me this video, which was broadcast on Talkshow with Spike Fersten.  My first thought was "Wow this is really funny."  But then I came to the realization that this video may not be that far off.   There are a lot of people who may not understand the DTV transition because they fall on the opposite (non-technical) side of the digital divide.   

The digital divide is a term used to describe those who have the resources available to access technologies and those who don't.  It is also used to differentiate between those who know how to use technology and those who don't.  In the case of the DTV transition, the two scenarios go hand in hand.  

Most of the people who need to get the digital converter boxes to comply with with DTV transition are generally people who have a limited income and who don't have a cable or satellite subscription.  Because of this limited income, these people probably have not kept up with the rapidly changing technology of the past few years either.  They probably don't own a computer or even a DVD player, and the VCR they own sits unused because they don't know how to hook it up or program it.

I know this seems pretty unbelievable for those of us in the technology driven computer age, but these people exist and will need more help making the DTV transition than the rest of us.  Since most of the people who are on the other side of the digital divide will not be reading this blog, I encourage all of you who are reading this to help them make a smooth transition.  There are several ways you can do this such as:

• Read my blog.  I have put several helpful suggestions on here that you can share with others struggling with the transition.
  
• Go to www.dtv.gov to find the answers that you or those you are helping may still have.
• Help them set up their box.  I know this seems pretty basic, but just imagine your grandmother as the woman in the video above and think about how she would be setting it up.  

These are just a few suggestions to get you started.  If you have any more you would like to add, feel free to leave a comment and I will include them in this list.  Also, I would like feedback from your experiences helping others make the DTV transition.  Hopefully with our collective intelligence, we can slowly bridge the gap in the digital divide.