The FCC is Overrated.

I don't make much money, being right out of school and such. My wife doesn't work (she's a student) and there isn't much more I can hack at, so we're in a financial straight jacket at the time.

There is much to be said about being broke. We just turned on the air conditioning today because our daughter couldn't take it anymore. She decided she wouldn't sleep through the night until we started living like modern humans. And just the other day I was given a choice between Q-tips and paper towels; we couldn't afford both. Apparently I was the decision maker, and I decided that there were more alternatives to paper towels than there were Q-tips.

There are other ways we save money, like reading books instead of going shopping (or anywhere, for that matter. Gas is friggin' expensive!) I drive from home to work and back daily, with no detours except for the occasional "pick up some cheese" request from my wife. We don't have cable TV, we don't go out to eat, and I use existing computer hardware for my projects at home to keep me busy.

This situation, as you may imagine, nearly brought me to tears as I read about the FCC's "Broadcast Flag" mandate effective July 1 this year. Apparently after that date, it will no longer be possible to purchase an HDTV tuner that allows digital recording in HD format. This means one cannot record HD shows and burn them to DVD for high-quality playback. But if one can get an HDTV tuner before the mandate, he's in luck.

It will obviously be a while before I can afford something like that (the card is about $175), and the mandate will certainly be in place before the device is in my hands. But by that time, it would be useless anyway. Why have an HD recorder if you can't record in HD? It's not like there's anything memorable on HD - the nature scenes?

Although I did see part of one game in the NCAA Final Four this year in HD. But that's me and basketball. Not worth recording.

So if anyone wants to send the dinero so I can have the HD decoder, feel free. If you want one yourself, try any popular electronics store before July 1.