I’m not yet convinced I should change the way I see the world
The world of broadcast television is ready for change. The flyers all scream it at me. The aisles at the local big box electronic stores flaunt their wares. Even the Netherlands switched off their analog transmitters this week, now that the digital age has arrived.
My local cable company has a whole section of black screens in the upper range of the digital box in our bedroom. HD, baby, HD. CBC has explained to us in an odd infomercial about how much happier we’ll be when the new technlogy is installed.
I’m not convinced yet. We have a reasonable investment in ordinary televisions at home. There’s one for eveybody but the dog, and she doesn’t care one way or another. No, I even have a black and white set for her…
This afternoon a new flatscreen arrived for our next videoconference room, and my partner in tech decided to “test view” the new toy. With a paperclip attached to the antenna terminal we could pick up TeleQuebec without difficulty. The image was larger, but… so much money for so little. After all, we aren’t going to upgrade our cable package just yet, and you can only rent so many DVD’s per week, in spite of the efforts of other family members.
My current choice is for the status quo. As long as my trusty RCA still turns on, and I can switch channels through a curious jury rig that involved the Videotape recorder, the DVD player and several remote controls, I’m satisfied. After all, where would the exercise factor be if we bought something new and shiny (and horrendously expensive).
