I finally had a chance to talk with a real cable professional; a cable technician who not only has been doing this job for a number of years, he truly was the most knowledgeable and polite cable guys I have ever met.
I can't tell you where he works or who he works for but we talked for quite some time. I got some final and definitive answers that I thought were helpful.
If you subscribe to cable TV, even if you don't have a cable box, you will be OK for the transition to digital. Here's the catch. Cable companies are going to do something they never wanted to do, nor ever thought they would have to do but the FCC and the TV Broadcast industry could not get their ducks in a row on time. The cable companies essentially be carrying analog and digital signals through the cable wire until 2012. So if you don't have a cable box, you're all set for an additional 3 years beyond the February 2009 cutoff. This issue has been lobbed around for a while and you get different answers from different people, but this guy I trust.
Finally some good news for people who right now can not afford to upgrade their cable or go out and buy a new TV. You just bought yourself some time. But after 2012, regular cable subscribers with no cable box will have to get a converter box, a cable box, or a new TV.
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