"We're trying to fix this with the plan we've been floating. Now, the law says the transition ends in 2006 or - and the "or" is the only part that matters - 85 percent of Americans go buy a digital TV"
About this Quote
The real payload arrives in the legal fork: the transition ends in 2006 or 85 percent of Americans buy a digital TV. Powell underlines the conjunction like a prosecutor. “The ‘or’ is the only part that matters” is a tell: the policy’s leverage isn’t the deadline itself, it’s the conditionality that turns consumer adoption into a regulatory trigger. That subtext is blunt: the government can set the chessboard, but the public will be blamed for stalling the game. If the transition doesn’t happen on schedule, it’s not because agencies, broadcasters, or manufacturers mishandled the rollout; it’s because Americans didn’t shop hard enough.
Context matters. The early-2000s digital TV transition was sold as modernization and spectrum efficiency, but it also functioned as a massive coordinated migration with winners (telecom, public safety reallocations, new hardware markets) and losers (anyone priced out or confused by the switch). Powell’s rhetoric converts a complex, politically negotiated timetable into a consumer “choice,” while quietly narrowing what choice means. The irony is that the “or” pretends to offer flexibility, but it mainly redistributes pressure downward, from institutions to households.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Powell, Michael K. (2026, January 16). We're trying to fix this with the plan we've been floating. Now, the law says the transition ends in 2006 or - and the "or" is the only part that matters - 85 percent of Americans go buy a digital TV. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/were-trying-to-fix-this-with-the-plan-weve-been-108225/
Chicago Style
Powell, Michael K. "We're trying to fix this with the plan we've been floating. Now, the law says the transition ends in 2006 or - and the "or" is the only part that matters - 85 percent of Americans go buy a digital TV." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/were-trying-to-fix-this-with-the-plan-weve-been-108225/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We're trying to fix this with the plan we've been floating. Now, the law says the transition ends in 2006 or - and the "or" is the only part that matters - 85 percent of Americans go buy a digital TV." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/were-trying-to-fix-this-with-the-plan-weve-been-108225/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
