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Today’s
Dilemma by
Peary Perry | |
My
first purchase of any sort of electronic device was way back in about 1957 when
I bought a transistor radio. Up until that time I had made radios from crystal
sets and other stuff you bought from magazines like Popular Mechanics. I can’t
recall too much about my first portable radio and now that I think about it, how
did you power them? I don’t think small batteries such as we have now had been
invested.
Anyway that first purchase was like a drug to me, from that moment
on I was hooked. The next thing I remember was a stereo when I was in the Army.
If you recall, we went from old 78 records to 45 records to 33 1/3 records. Each
one was a step up (or a step down depending on your frame of mind) and required
a new purchase. In our cars we went from an 8 track tape system to a cassette
to a CD to whatever (MP3 IPOD) we have now. I’ve lost track of many of these.
I’ve heard you can still buy and sell these, but my question is why would you
want to do so?
Don’t get me started on televisions. First we had black
and white with rabbit ears. Then came color, then flat screen (ours weighed in
at about 400 lbs) then Plasma, then LCD and now we have LED…or it might be the
other way around. Oh, and HDTV fits in here somewhere...or at least I think it
does. Who can remember? When you buy a television today, they ask you how many
HZ’s you want and shouldn’t you be looking at a 1080P or how about a clear span
of 240 degrees with a 14 bit video and 3 or 4 HDMI inputs. Oh and did you want
the optional SD card slot with the built in HD function? Do I really need an 80K:1
dynamic contrast ratio and finally is my resolution going to be adequate for the
size room I am going to be putting the television in? All I want is something
big and easy to watch with a cord to plug into the wall and a remote with as few
buttons on it as possible. Preferably an on/off button, a channel changer and
volume control. That’s a remote I’d like. That’s remote I can live with. The one
we now have has about 75 buttons that can be pushed. Allowing the remote to slip
from your hand and fall down beside you on the couch is tantamount to disaster.
The simultaneous pressing of some unknown combination of buttons at the same time
can cause you to lose anything you have recorded, put your television in a permanent
sleep mode or force you to listen to Lawrence Welk music for three days or until
your 13 year old neighbor kid can come over and get you back on track. I feel
fairly certain that the designers of our remote used to work at some sort of nuclear
launch site and these devices were originally designed to prevent any accidental
missile launch.
Our recorders went from BETA to VHS to DVD to things I
don’t have but am sure I’ll need in the coming months. My garage could be a graveyard
or museum for obsolete electronics. No one throws these away and no one wants
to buy them so they just sit there on the shelf and will end up going somewhere
when I get my just reward. I hope not with me. Heaven has enough clutter as it
is, so I’ve heard.
Having said all of this, it leads me to today’s dilemma,
I am looking at an advertisement in today’s paper for items I think I want to
buy, but for which I know absolutely nothing about. For example, here is a new
Blu-ray player. Now, I have no Blu-rays to play nor do I think I’ve ever heard
any of their music but they must be good since I am seeing ads them all over the
place. I know about Ray Charles and the Raylettes, and I know about the blues…so
I suppose this is some sort of new variation of this theme. I’ll let you know.
Here is a 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 memory on sale for $39.99. There is a picture
with the price, but I can’t begin to figure out what I could use this for, but
would like to see one in person so I can determine if I need to grab one before
the sale ends. Next to this is a 128GB, 2.5 inch solid state (as compared to liquid
state?) drive with notebook upgrade kit bundle for just $249.99.
If I
hurry I can get the 500 GB simple (simple is good) drive turbo (I had a turbo
car once) usb 2.0 external hard drive for only $49.99. I should rush over and
grab one or two of these before they run out of stock.
The last item I
think I might need or could use is a 24X Sata DVD-RW for $34.99. I recognize the
letters…DVD. Nothing else means anything to me, especially the two items mentioned
before the DVD. A notebook upgrade bundle? Come on, what is this? I’ve had notebooks;
there isn’t any way to plug an electrical cord into one of those things. They’re
just cardboard, paper and some wire on the edge.
Keep those cards and
letters coming….
© Peary Perry
Letters
From North America -
April 14, 2010 column
Syndicated weekly in 80 newspapers
Comments go to
pperry@austin.rr.com
Complaints
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