Analog to Digital…
March 8, 2009
The year is 1982. I’m nine years old and I’m sitting down to read the novelization of the film “E.T.” I never got to see the movie as a kid, so I was happy when I found the novel on sale at a thrift store and successfully convinced my mom to buy it for me.
There’s a part in the movie where Elliott gets sick because he shares a psychic bond with E.T. who has recently decided to drink some beer that he found in the fridge. Elliott begins to act strangely and irrationally. The book expands on this more than the film and there’s one thing in the book that really stuck with me. At one point, Elliot is babbling meaningless phrases and he blurts out, “analog to digital…” Being a big fan of technology even at nine years old, I was fascinated by that phrase.
I had a couple of digital watches which I’d taken apart and I even had a “Lil’ Whiz” calculator which was all the rage. That early digital technology fascinated me and I latched on to the phrase Elliott said and didn’t let go for a long time. When my sister and I would play “spaceship” I would write in my “log” and it would inevitably include the phrase “analog to digital” somewhere in there.
The recent FCC switch of analog broadcasts to digital on February 17th made me think of that phrase in a whole new way. Since I live out in the country, I can’t get cable TV and although I’ve used satellite before, the trees made it so hard to get a signal that I just gave up on it. My rooftop antenna has a hard time when the wind blows and the signal is often garbled and jumbled, just like Elliott when he was connected to a drunken E.T.
I do like the new channels I get with my digital converter box, and the picture is sharp and clear. But it’s very frustrating when the channel cuts in and out and the sound drops off during the most critical point of a favorite show. I have to keep a set of “rabbit ears” handy to plug into the box when the wind is playing havoc with my signal. That way I can adjust the antenna inside instead of putting on my shoes to go move the outside antenna.
I can understand the need to update technology and to free up the old analog frequencies for emergency use. But it’s hard to be happy with the way things are when your new digital signal is weaker than before and you can’t see your shows. I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t watch that much TV. It really helps me break away from the “idiot box” and go do something more constructive. I just hope that if “E.T.” comes on I’ll be able to watch it.
