While all of us, and a number of consumers are excited about and appreciate HD, the vast majority of regular folks I have encountered either don't care about HD, think of HD as a headache, or just plain think that the current SD picture they receive--even highly compressed SD--is just fine, good enough for me thanks. These are folks who have seen good HD video in the stores, no less.
There have been a few people who after buying a new TV and getting an HD signal to display, fall in love with HD and want MORE. However, my guess is they are the minority and the masses are the former I described. My brother actually believes that HD is great big consumer conspiracy, or marketing ploy, to rip-off the public because, according to his eyes, HD is "just a little bit clearer." What can we do with that?
Another person I know does see the very big difference in HD, but he refuses to pay for an HD set (he will eventually, but he won't like it) and have to convert the other TV's because he resents the extra cost that will result. From his view he is trying to make ends meet with the family budget, and HD is an unwelcome format change that he feels will cost him money. And with Best Buy's recent announcement pulling analog CRT TV's (and presumably, digital tuner CRT's) from the shelves, he is, to an extent, correct. We all know that Best Buy did what they did (before any deadline) just to be able to have only higher priced TV's accessible to the consumer in their stores. YES, there are still people who are well aware of HD, but want to buy the cheapest SD CRT they can find because that is good enough for them and they don't want to spend more for an HDTV. SD CRT's were still selling well enough.
That is some of what HD proponents will have to battle. People converting to HD today are still early adopters. We shall see if the masses panic as they become aware of the dreaded digital Feb 2009 deadline. Oh, they will feel that the sky is falling.