New Television Angst.
Bought a new “upstairs” television. It is a 24″ flat screen unit, with VCR and DVD players built in. I bought a TV with the widgets built into it, because if I were to try to hook up those two separate gadgets to the TV, the odds are excellent that one or both of them would go out the window.
So far, so good. Even the owner’s manual (at least the parts of it necessary to initially auto-program the set) is written more clearly than some of the word salad I have encountered in the past when trying to figure out how to operate things electronic.
Memo to Television Manufacturers: Yo, might it be possible to provide a remote displaying letters and numbers that can be read by someone who doesn’t quite have the visual acuity of a peregrine falcon? And, while you’re at it, how about a remote with buttons that can be operated by someone who doesn’t have fingers like ET’s.
We pause for this minute of introspection.
Voice Inside My Cruller: Jimbo, you sound like some kind of whiney dork bitching about the owner’s manual and the design of the farookin’ remote. You’re old enough to remember the 10″ Dumont that got seven “channels,” and on which sat rabbit ears with aluminum foil balls on the tips. Don’t you remember that changing the station actually required you to get your ass out of the chair and turn the channel selector with a pair of pliers, because the plastic knob was always broken?
Right. … Never mind.
Yeah, and you had to readjust the rabbit ears every time you changed channels, too. Life was primitive back then.
Comment by Acidman — November 9, 2004 @ 9:19 pm
Say, we had a set like that when I was a kid. Wasn’t a Dumont, but…
Come to think of it, *I* was the “remote”.
Comment by DMerriman — November 9, 2004 @ 9:21 pm
Yeah, I was going to say that as well. I tell my kids that we DID have remote-control TV when I was growing up — me and my brother. LOL!
Comment by Margi — November 9, 2004 @ 11:33 pm
Not to mention, it was Black/White. But gosh, Combat and Rifleman never looked better! Our little set made the trips from New York to Hawaii, Hawaii to Delaware, Delaware to California, and California to Indiana between 1959 and 1968 and still had some good years in it. We didn’t replace it until the bottom of the screen migrated upward and made all the people in the shows look like dwarves.
Comment by Mamamontezz — November 9, 2004 @ 11:51 pm
My best friend Chuck, purchased him a plasma, 42 inch Sony and he has not left his house in weeks. I love a good TV. Hope you enjoy, Cat.
Comment by Catfish — November 10, 2004 @ 1:51 am
Never forget that it was crazy Uncle Billy who had the first remote control and the first color TV. Looney as a f*****g jaybird, often with a heart of gold, but always on the cutting edge. He had the first air conditioner, but also was the first one to throw the ignition keys of the running oil delivery truck down the sewer when the truck blocked him off Cortland Alley.
Genius comes with flaws. It’s in your blood, so feel the force, Luke. Admit to yourself that you have a strange desire to play Ethel Merman records, and throw the channel changer through the storm windows.
Comment by cousin gary — November 10, 2004 @ 8:57 am
Gary — I had always planned one day to write a bit about the amazing adventures of Uncle Billy, who was absolutely one of a kind. I miss him. And yes, I suspect that I did catch a few of those genes.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — November 10, 2004 @ 1:39 pm