I live in Tennessee (I probibally misspelled that). And my wife's dad, is about as much of a redneck as you can find. He picked up a 26inch HDTV the other day. I was down at his house and he was like. "Yeah, I guess I cant get the HDTV channels here where I live." And I was like, "Actually if you can see a picture off an analog broadcast you can definatly get the full HD broadcast. But your TV does not have a digital tuner built into it so you can not watch HDTV, and the only way for you to watch it with this TV is to buy a digital HDTV tuner for about 150$." That was when he started cussing and saying he would never use HD agian. 15 minutes later he was talking about getting the 42 inch TV  mentioned earlier, as it has a tuner built in. Put the 26inch in his bedroom, so he can have clear HDTV in the living room. So, his current TV, he has ZERO, plans to use for HDTV. However he wants HDTV.

I am not suprised that Walmart would switch to an HDTV only system. Almost all Plasma and LCD TV's that are made are HD. And because "thin screen" tv's are lighter and smaller then 'tube' tv's, they are cheaper to ship and store. It make economical sense for Walmart to go this direction. If most plasma and LCD tv's were SDTV, then I bet most of the TV's at Walmart would still be SDTVs.

 Edit: Dang it!  HappySquiral beat me to it.

 Actually, the PS3 is 100% HD friendly, and will remain that way for the next ~9 years.

The 360 is 70% HD friendly and will remain the next ~5 years.

The Wii is 0% HDTV friendly, as it looks best on a SDTV set. It is expected to last 2-3 more years.

As we see, in about 5 years, almost everything will be 100% HD friendly. The Wii2 likely wont, but wait another 2 years beyond that and the Wii3 will be. (this is sad. I just thought, that if the Wii is replaced every 3 years. There Will be a Wii4 before the PS4.

Basically in 5 years HD will be the standard. In 3 years it will be the standard in the United States. (as analog broadcasts will be shut off) 

In Poland there aren't many stations that would actually deliver HD channels. Sure, there are a lot of hd tv's but most are rather hd ready than full hd. SDTV's are aplenty in stores anyway.

Digital Broadcasts does not equal HD broadcasts.  When you pick up a digital signal over the air, your tuner will tell you what resolution its running at.  Locally, we have 5 major broadcasters: CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, and FOX.  Each station has 3 digital sub channels.  2 of these subchannes run in 480p or 480i.  The other is reportedly in an HD format (720p or 1080i).  However, even though the broadcast is in HD, the content is almost always an SD signal upscaled to the HD resolution.  The only exception to this rule (locally), is PBS, as their HD channel is actually running in HD (and it looks beautiful).

In closing, just because all signals will be digital by 2009 doesn't mean all signals will also be HD by then as well.

ok maybe you guys dont follow me. You buy a HDTV with digital tuner... Your gonna watch the HD channel.

You buy a HDTV without digital tuner... your gonna buy a HD digital tuner.

You have a old SDTV without digital tuner. Your gonna pay 50-100$ for a tuner, when you could buy a HDTV for 100$ more, and have a new, thinner more stylish TV.

I'm willing to bet that 1 year after analog is shutoff, 75% of TVs will be watching local broadcasts in HD.

What will hold HDTV back is satelite. However recent announcements from them makes me think they will be going HD friendly around 2009-2010 as well. 

i have a sdtv built in a digital tunner, and kwaad i doubt that wii will be replaced in 3 years, but if it happen, i prefer spend 250€ every 3 years than 600€ every 6 year, because if it is this way, the wii2 will have the new tecnollogy that we will see in 3 years, and probably will be better of the ps3.Carpe diem if it's cheaper xD. i dont know if i wrote it clearly.sorry for my english again xD

 Never heard of SDTV with built in digital. Not in US at least.

And PS3 will last more than 6 years. I give it at least 8 before the next Sony console. And I doubt a nintendo console would come near the PS3/360 in the next 6 years. Think of it this way, the original X-box was no-where near as fast as the 360/PS3 when they launched. (compared to PC hardware)

The Wii has roughly the same power as the X-box, and that is a 5 year old console. So Given the power of the PS3/360, I would say it will be 7 years before nintendo catches up in power. Due to that I would say the Wii4 will surpass the PS3/360, while the Wii3 would be in the same class. It is very like nintendo to create a new profitable console every 3-4 years.

I was not a beleiver in the Wii would last 3 years untill I was listeing to a E3 thing someone sent me to prove the Wii will get 1:1 controls. He says something along the lines of. We are working on a game that will be ready in 3-4 years, but it might not be for the Wii. Or something very similar to that. He acts like there might be a diffrent console out then. That makes me doubt the Wii's longevity. 

@ Kwaad

Please explain to me where you come up with the Wii lasting 2-3 more years and the PS3 lasting 9, at the moment the opposite would be more likely.