The Chicago Tribune has performed a signal (as it were) public service in warning people that as of the morning of Feb. 18, 2009, their televisions will no longer be able to get programs if they operate on analog signals from TV broadcasters sent into homes via antennae. “The World’s Greatest Newspaper” (as it long called itself) reported that the National Association of Broadcasters has estimated that 69 million televisions would be affected and so, of course, millions of people.

Starting that day, you’ll only be able to get digital signals. So you’ll need to buy a TV that gets digital signals, subscribe to a cable-TV, satellite or phone-company service provider that can make your old set work with digital, or buy a converter box. Or you could stop watching television entirely and start reading books, going for walks and so on!

The government is taking away the analog spectrum to boost wireless services (which are becoming ever more important) and for public-safety needs. That’s why the Feds (i.e., taxpayers) are even offering to help pay for those converter boxes.

So those rooftop antennae that were such important images in so many Christmas cards and magazine illustrations (will magazines disappear too?) will leave the scene, increasingly dominated by cell-phone towers.