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79 Comments
- mrsurfboard, on 11/06/2009, -3/+37On the flip side, 50,000 new TV were sold putting more money into the sagging economy.
- esteskid, on 11/06/2009, -2/+27What are people supposed to do? Use the first TV they ever have for the rest of their life?
- socialpyramid, on 11/05/2009, -3/+24That's what everyone was afraid was going to happen.
- WittyKnit, on 11/05/2009, -4/+20It seems the switch is just an excuse to get a new TV, without thinking about what'll happen to the old. Troubling what kind of impact it is having!
- mnx12, on 11/06/2009, -2/+16So? What's so bad about upgrading to a nice hdtv? Good for them, I say.
- surfergirlsc, on 11/05/2009, -0/+14I have been seeing them more and more sitting on the side of the highway simply because I don't think people know what to do with them.
- Schmich, on 11/06/2009, -0/+12I'm sure lots of people used this transition as an excuse to finally buy that flat-screen. And props to them for waiting for the price to go down. Lots of people didn't. Several years ago, A LOT of the times when a poor family was shown on TV they'd have a huge flat-screen TV...one could only sigh.
- FormerBabby, on 11/06/2009, -0/+10The problem isn't people replacing their sets. This type of thing always happens when there is a change in tech. Millions of people each year dispose of perfectly good computers just because they want something that is a little more modern. The real problem lies in the way the trash is handled and disposed of.
- glasszach, on 11/06/2009, -0/+9I'm not sure you can cite a photo from another website that also stole it and didn't cite it.
For anyone interested I'm pretty sure it is an installation from pioneer video artist Nam June Paik. - NJank, on 11/06/2009, -3/+11hoooray!!! economy trumps environment again!
- NJank, on 11/06/2009, -0/+8comcast screwed you. or fooled you. or both.
- jerryjamesstone, on 11/05/2009, -1/+9Yah, a lot of people made the switch that did not have to. Or took it as an excuse to upgrade to a new/bigger TV.
- diggnutty, on 11/06/2009, -0/+7pick the tv fruit
- BESTenemy, on 11/06/2009, -2/+9Whose economy? Chinese? Japanese?
- diggnutty, on 11/06/2009, -0/+6i just get a shovel and dig a shallow grave in my backyard for my old tv's
- ricksite, on 11/06/2009, -0/+6Bad idea. What if it grows into a tv tree? Then what are you going to do?
- slvrbullet87, on 11/06/2009, -1/+7Dirty knees?
- jsuther, on 11/06/2009, -1/+7Do we have to pour acid in the old TVs before turning them in?
- NJank, on 11/06/2009, -0/+6but it'll be analog fruit.
- NJank, on 11/06/2009, -1/+7use it until it doesn't work anymore. oh, wait...
- BESTenemy, on 11/06/2009, -2/+7The idea of planned obsolescence was developed during the post WW2 mass production dilemma. It was supposed to become the new way of life and it did. The problem is that it assumed an infinite availability of resources in a finite environment. Peak oil was just a funny theory the ecology wasn't of much concern either. It was more important to sell things... and it still is. Once the market reaches saturation, they'll produce the next thing and then the next, until the the price of depleting non-essentials affects the economic viability of the final product.
- fadetoone, on 11/06/2009, -3/+8e-Waste? Wouldn't that imply electronic signals and not solid objects?
- nepidae, on 11/06/2009, -2/+7Maybe they wanted a new TV and this was just the excuse they needed?
- tonytroz, on 11/06/2009, -0/+5Yeah, except that will be deja vu in 10 years when the new wave of elderly people fight the transition to HD signals only. Old people ruin everything and they're a recurring problem!
- esteskid, on 11/06/2009, -3/+7How is this anything like cash for clunkers? This is not some sort a rebate program, it is a switch in broadcast regulation.
- crimsonnblue, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3Those jobs were more than likely not in the U.S.
- nepidae, on 11/06/2009, -1/+4Change in technology is generally a good time to upgrade.
- ricksite, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3You will have to bury a converter box too.
- Jonjonr6, on 11/06/2009, -1/+4In some places, it's not easy to get rid of old electronics and appliances.
My local dump is only open till 5pm, and I don't have a truck. - Phyltre, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3"Did not have to" and "excuse to upgrade" make it sound like you're slighting people who like to buy new technology. If the bleeding edge of consumers didn't exist, there wouldn't be reasonable ways to fund R&D, new technologies wouldn't bridge to the mainstream, and we'd become very sluggish technologically.
- UselessTrivia, on 11/06/2009, -1/+4When they extended the deadline did they ever put more funding into the voucher program? I never heard that they did.
If people were going to be forced to shell out 50 bucks just to keep their old ***** TV working I don't blame them for just going ahead and spending more for a brand new set instead. A smallish 720p TV can be gotten for just a couple hundred dollars now. Why spend 25% of that just to keep an old one running when it probably doesn't have many years left on it anyway? - yaosio, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3The TVs were recycled, deal with it.
- Phyltre, on 11/06/2009, -2/+5Markups on televisions are substantial. Big-box retail stands to make $200-300 from a $1000 TV sale. That markup supports local employees and national chains.
- jer2eydevil88, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3I bought a 32" for $500 in 2006 then this past April I was offered a 42" plasma second hand from a friend for $500. I promptly sold the 32" for $300 and upgraded. I still don't understand people who buy $1k+ TV sets. Maybe its just because I don't watch enough TV to share their mindset.
- furatail, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3There are way more reasons why there more older TVs being discarded. The new models are becoming cheaper and cheaper. They look way better, use less power, take up less space. LCDs have seen a tremendous drop in prices and people are realizing they can finally afford to upgrade. Also notable changes are, more HD content available, cheaper players and HD gaming consoles. Perhaps the DTV switch caused some of this trend but it is not the only cause. These old TVs were doomed to an eternity in a landfill regardless of a analogue to digital switch.
- evildemonic, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3Everything in the TVs was dug from the ground...and we have plenty of empty ground to put it back in. Lets all calm down a bit.
- zip000, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3I still haven't bought a flat screen tv...though it is on the short list for a combined christmas present for my wife and me.
- bigteebo, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2The computer industry laughs at your puny digital TV transition E-waste figures.
- BESTenemy, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2@PopcornDave
"Hookers and tattoos" is the standard response. Jokes aside, it doesn't really matter where we spend the cash (as in greens), because they're not backed by much. The money that we have is a dead representation of a non-existent economic activity - non existing production, to be specific.
There are more pictures to the manufacturing / distribution process. That's true. Still, there is no magic that will allow for continuous consumption in excess of production. The only way an economy such as ours can have the ratio is if there's either a pool of savings, or a growing debt.
If I spend 70% of what I make, it means one of 2 things - either I made and put away enough in the past, or I'm to my neck in debt getting new credit cards to cover payments on the old, praying enough new offers arrive in the mail each time. I can pretend whatever I want regarding how I spend my money, but if the formula's out of whack, my days are numbered.
The US economy is a phantom industrial machine that did have savings but ran out of them long ago. Now it's running off credit cards. It pretends that money is the same as capital, forgetting what it is supposed to be - an IOU for something valuable. Irredeemable IOU's are worthless. People are involved in circulating money and expanding credit while contributing nothing of value to the producer of their consumables eventually fall out of favor and are forced to either "get a real job" or perish. - thephosphorbox, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2I actually still have and use a 27" Sony "Flat" CRT television in my bedroom that's got to be at least 17 years old (my mom bought it when I was in high school and I graduated in 1992). Works as well as the day it was new and is more than big enough to watch DVDs on from bed. *shrug*
- korvan504521, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2meh, they'd be analog.
- cwg1960, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3Apparently so are you
- mnx12, on 11/06/2009, -0/+2Says the person that probably has 3 brand new hdtv's.
- knightcrusader, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3Apparently you don't have an old person who depends on your when it comes to technology... even analog TV technology...
Trust me, we got a box for my grandmother to keep getting a signal on her little rinky dink TV and we have had such a headache from her confusion we think it would have been better getting her a small LCD TV with the tuner already built in... - Antialias, on 11/06/2009, -3/+5I consider myself a pretty big gadget guy and yet I held off until a week ago to get my first HD set, and it's only a 26 inch one for the bedroom. Still using a monster 36" CRT in the livingroom. I suppose it's mostly because I don't watch a ton of tv but really I don't see the need to upgrade yet. Having a computer monitor with higher than 1080p res helps though.
- yaosio, on 11/06/2009, -1/+3And the jobs for the people recycling the old sets.
- crimsonnblue, on 11/06/2009, -0/+145"... really? Pics?
- mogebier, on 11/07/2009, -0/+1And you would be wrong...
I helped my Mom and grandparents with getting boxes for their TV's and they were intelligent enough to be able to use the boxes without a problem. - publiclurker, on 11/06/2009, -0/+1You're lucky. I have a 5 year old Sony that started to go fubar about 15 minutes after the warranty ran out. Unfortunately, it still works good enough that my inherent cheapness won't let me replace it.
- crimsonnblue, on 11/06/2009, -1/+2what the hell is e-waste?
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