techno-shy Americans venting about the coming analog TV switchoff...

You'd think the world was ending to read all the whining in the newspapers.

Complaint: "We got the coupon and installed the box and now we don't get nearly as many channels! We 'had to' subscribe to cable or satellite."

Response: The manuals for the converter box make it clear that you might need to change your outdoor antenna. Furthermore those who 'had to' subscribe to a pay service could have uninstalled the converter box until the 18th.

The US government and TV broadcasters did sort of a bad job explaining an important point - but the average person whose eyes glazed over at the word 'antenna' probably would not have followed this at all: the digital signal on the air in most markets is decidedly weaker right now than it will be on the 18th. Broadcasters don't have the resources to transmit two equally strong signals. Those who 'had to' subscribe to cable or satellite - were they to hook their converter box up to a proper antenna - might well discover all the channels they had plus more. Their 'having to' switch to cable or satellite was in all likelihood unnecessary. They should not have listened to the employees at big box stores who got slightly better performance reviews for that month or quarter for signing up those cable or satellite subscribers.

Complaint: What do you mean we have to re-scan from time to time to update the on-screen guide? How can we possibly be expected to remember to do this?

Response: The newspaper reporter either wasn't quite detailed enough OR the reader didn't process that the only reason you'd re-scan was to look for new channels. The guide updates itself. The "How can we possibly be expected..." bit - whining. Putting it another way: "Waaaaaah, it's change. We can't possibly change."

Complaint: We didn't know about the coupons for the converter boxes! Once we got them we had a hard time finding them in stores! And worse yet - people bought them who don't really need them!

Response: You had to be blind or deaf not to see the public service announcements about the converter boxes. The PSA's explained how to get the coupons. Once you got your coupon you had six months to use it.

If you waited until the last minute you probably DID have a hard time finding them in stores. If you wait until February you probably WILL have a hard time finding them in stores.

It's also true: plenty of coupon-receivers and buyers didn't really need the boxes. They've had no problem selling those boxes at full price on eBay.

I have two that I probably will never need. I had just as much right as any other American to take advantage of that subsidy - that's capitalism! :)

The morning of the 18th I'll put the boxes up for sale on the bulletin boards in the laundry room where I live, or at the supermarket.

Some say a solution is to put off the switch. In my opinion the switch should have been moved forward to one week before the superbowl. It would have given the US population a whole lot more incentive to read and understand the instructions.