Is it just me, or is Auburn, a digital television dead zone?

In the past few weeks I have accumulated a rather large collection of digital television antennas, none of which seem to pull in any kind of signal, rendering the $40 converter box, a rather expensive coaster.

I opened up the paper on Thursday to find a letter to the editor from a local man, outraged by the alarming hike in cable prices.

Then, driving up Genesee Street, I was taken by a sign reading, “Don't have digital television? Rent a movie!”

You can't really write your local representative to oppose intelligent marketing, but it is maddening that these silly converter boxes are just a ruse to get people to buy digital cable, digital televisions and blue-ray, red-ray or whatever kind of DVDs are the present vogue.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for stimulating the economy. But I suspect that there are many people in Cayuga County who would sacrifice a week's worth of nutritious groceries before they would give up their television, no matter what the cost.

And excessive television promotes obesity, malnutrition and laziness. Who needs 400 channels?

Frankly, I would rather the government gave out coupon incentives to promote healthy eating or the struggling dairy industry, instead of a mass incentive to blob out in front of the boob tube.

Analog may be outdated, but free is never passe. And, I'm not just being cheap. Okay, maybe I am just being cheap. However, there are many elderly and/or disabled people in the city of Auburn who simply don't have the wherewithal to stimulate the economy with unnecessary upgrades that are in essence a luxury.

It also seems suspicious that my parents, who live near Ledyard, receive crystal clear reception with the exact same converter box that I have.

Of course, cable is not available in my parents' neck of the woods, so competition for their business is non-existent. Whereas in Auburn, there is a lot of money to be made, but digital reception is non-existent.

It's a racket. I'm not sure who is scratching whose back. But it's a racket.

Either way, I have heard that the city has great plans to revitalize Market Street Park.

Perhaps it will be done before summer, as it sounds like a lovely spot to sit down and read a book.

Estabrook's column appears Mondays and she can be reached at estabrookcarole@yahoo.com