This is a sign
South Africa needs to hurry the hell up. The USA is getting ready to go green by recycling their old Analog TVs and upgrading to HDTV. This is in advance of the Digital Transition Act which is forcing consumers to switch to lower energy television sets.
What does it mean to “go green”?
Consumer electronics, as a whole, are more eco-friendly than ever. Today, virtually every product on the shelf contains fewer chemicals, is more energy efficient, and is easier to recycle, repair and upgrade. Many manufacturers have developed green electronics lines. These products go the extra mile to contain fewer chemicals and are more energy efficient. In order to be labeled green, a product must meet a stringent checklist of criteria. There are hundreds of green electronics from plasma TVs and computers to MP3 players and cameras.
The USA doesn’t even have serious power failures, which are what South Africans in major cities have to experience on a daily basis. The government tells us: “Save energy!” but they don’t guide us in the right direction. Call me ignorant, but until I stumbled across the My Green Electronics website I didn’t realise that newer televisions save energy. It seems obvious now.
American cable companies are required by the FCC to keep supporting consumers with analog tv until 2012. After that, they will probably start charging extra to keep the connection going.
Cue the scary music. According to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, “If the cable companies had their way, you, your mother and father, or your next door neighbor could go to sleep one night after watching their favorite channel and wake up the next morning to a dark fuzzy screen.”
I think the way this whole undertaking is being run is exemplary: it might be profit-based, but it is a strong move towards Digital TV and will therefore help the planet go green.
South Africa needs to shape up and guide its population towards effective ways to save energy by saying “Bye, bye!” to Analog:
But how affordable is HDTV in South Africa? Perhaps the gov should make it their initiative to go into people homes and change their TV’s from analogue to the digital version – just as they did with our light bulbs.
Regards
Inspector Gadget
We can’t rely on government for everything but they should be more open about what’s going on in the rest of the world. The money factor can’t be ignored, but perhaps if individuals knew that this type of tv possible, then we could hold the goverment accountable.