A prediction
There has been some discussion on the various forums and among the so-called "experts" that some people will lose television reception after February 17, 2009. The reason? The "wall effect." Analog stations are viewable over great distances, but with a degradation in quality as the signal weakens. Digital stations, for their part, are "all or nothing at all." If the signal isn't strong enough to generate picture or sound, you get nothing. And this worries a lot of people. The wall effect can be avoided or at least minimized, in my experience, by building as good an antenna as you can, or by buying a really good one. Of course, some people on the fringe of any particular station might not be able to receive it, but I think once everything shakes out in February, you'll not hear many complaints. And that's just my two cents.