The end of analog

Well, it’s official: there will be no such thing as “regular TV” as of January, 2009. The only way to get traditional analog signals after that day will be to have a cable to your house, or be on satellite TV.

While a part of me mourns for the death of the primitive manipulation of carrier waves which have brought entertainment to our houses for a century, a bigger part is happy with the decision. When you carry a signal digitally, you can use nifty techniques like compression which allow you to fit a great deal more channels into a very limited amount of frequency. Today, the portion of the broadband spectrum sucked up by television signals is enormous. That’s the signal band which best penetrates solid objects; that’s part of the reason it was chosen in the first place. The day the last analog signal dies may mark the beginning of an era of ubiquitous wireless networks, true competition in mobile phone networks (right now you can only have two carriers in any given area, period), and more spectrum availability for personal use (home wireless networks and phones, etc.)

But gone will be the day that the home hobbyist can purchase a cathode-ray tube and a crystal to pick up television signals, unless he has also purchased a subscription to a satellite or cable provider. You’ll need to add a digital decryption device which honors the “broadcast flag” (http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/)to the mix in order to do so legally.

I can’t help but wonder if FM and AM spectrums may be the next to go? I have fond memories of building my first crystal radio. I wonder if my kids’ kids will.