I hear TV and Radio are converting to all digital. How will that affect me?

First, your computer is already a digital device. Not sure what parts of it you were thinking might be analog, (technically VGA-style video output and speaker/headphone output are analog) but there's nothing there that I know of that is going to be affected by any impending change unless perhaps you have a TV tuner card.

Radio, to the best of my knowledge, isn't changing any time soon. Consumer radio, most commonly the AM and FM bands on your radio, are probably going to be around for a long time. There are other bands used for other purposes that are already digital, but they were pretty much digital from the start, and are typically special purpose.

Of course any radio you listen to over the internet is digital. It may have been converted from an analog source, but in order to travel over the internet it's digital.

Television, however, is undergoing a change.

Here's a quote from the FCC website:

At midnight on February 17, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format.

OK, so what does that mean?

There are some things that are very easy to miss in that statement:

1. This is happening in The United States. Other countries may or may not be imposing similar changes on a similar, or different, time schedule.

2. This all about over-the-air programming. In other words, it only affects what you pick up with a plain TV antenna.

3. This mandates digital TV, but does not mandate high-definition.

OK, so knowing all that, what do you need to do?

• If you live in a country outside the United States, check with your local broadcast regulation agency. It's quite possible you need to do something different, or nothing at all.

• If you get your television via Satellite or Cable check with your provider, but it's more than likely you'll need do nothing. In many cases your signal is already being sent digitally, and being converted to analog for your TV by your cable or satellite box.

• If you get your television using an antenna (over-the-air), then you'll need to either upgrade your TV to a digital-ready device, or purchase a converter box before the deadline.

Digital-ready TVs are available now. In fact, to quote the FCC again, "The FCC requires all televisions manufactured or imported into the United States after March 1, 2007, to incorporate digital tuners." TVs imported or created before that date which are analog-only are now supposed to have a warning on them when sold in the U.S. that indicates that they may not work after the deadline without a converter.

What about HDTV?

Nothing in the change discusses or requires that High Definition TV be provided. That being said, HDTV is a digital format and requires a digital-ready TV.

The good news is that many stations are broadcasting HD already in addition to digital SD (standard definition) along with their analog signal. Even better that number is only going to increase.

If you do get an HDTV with a digital tuner (built in or external) it'll be ready for both HD and SD broadcasts.