Today is transition day for digital television in the United States.  This reminds me of "flag day" many years ago on January 1 1983, the day when the ARPANET changed from NCP to the TCP/IP protocol suite.  It wasn't the happiest day for many, but if we had not gone through that transition then there would be multiple protocols and many incompatible networks today.  OK, maybe somewhere along the way we'd have done the conversion to TCP/IP but the longer we would have waited the harder it would have been to do.  So while moving to DTV may be painful, at least it's being done, and we can soon take advantage of the new frequencies for things like wireless broadband and improved features available to over-the-air digital TV broadcasts.

Marcus H. Sachs
Director, SANS Internet Storm Center