The Dish Network store - it's not just for skinflints

From the press release pile, here's one that actually taught me something: Satellite TV dealers are a good source of digital converter boxes for people whose TVs aren't DTV-ready. Jack Boring, the local how-can-you-forget-a-name-like-that Dish Network dealer, claims to have "some of the best and most affordable digital-to-analog converter boxes" so your old TV set won't go dark come February 17, 2009, TV Barn's 10th anniversary (and the date when analog TV is supposed to shut down).

Dish Network is the multichannel service for tightwads, so it stands to reason that a lot of Dish subscribers insist on continuing to pull in local TV signals from rabbit ears instead of paying the extra six bucks a month to have Dish Net beam the stations in from their satellite transponders. I haven't tested any of the Boring boxes, but they have to be better than the one I spent my government coupon on.

Btw, the deadline for applying for $40 coupons is New Year's Eve.