Too Many Buttons
I attempted to watch a DVD film on my TV last eve, with a friend, and ran into serious troubles trying to make it happen. It took fifteen minutes of fiddling, and only a lucky coincidence of hitting the right buttons got the film underway.
Ever since the cable company switched over to high definition TV, things have gotten out of hand. I have three remotes. The Sanyo, which operates my DVD player, has thirty-some buttons. My Magnavox TV remote had another thirty-some, and the cable company's master remote offers over fifty buttons. The task was to choose the right source, on the TV remote, and get the DVD player lined up, and get the cable company out of the way. It took some doing, and instructions were contradictory and unreliable.
After we had at last watched the film, it took another gargantuan effort to return the TV to its cable input, once again guessing at the sourcing and all the rest. I finally managed that long after my guest had left. I was frustrated, bewildered, and angry.
I had asked my cable provider, Charter, for the minimum TV service, because network shows are all I watch, but they no longer offer a minimum package. You have to buy the whole deal, which for me comes to $92 a month. I suppose there are a few people who do want all the options, but I have yet to find any. Most would like a few favorite cable stations at an appropriate price, but that is no longer an option. Some people I talk to compare it to cutting a narrow path through a jungle. They can operate their TVs (and computers) only by sticking to the path and avoiding the jungle.
I do have an option, and will probably make use of it. Billings network stations have a booster antenna here which makes network broadcasting available for free. Just by putting up an antenna, I can receive ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and PBS. I may do that. One thing about market economies is that they offer options to people who cannot find what they want from the quasi-monopolies that are attempting to control as much advertising and programming as possible on our computer and TV screens. Charter, by failing to offer what people want, is ultimately doomed to decline or fail, while some new company, using different technology, will be flooded with new customers who enjoy receiving what they want, and paying an appropriate price for it.
Ever since the cable company switched over to high definition TV, things have gotten out of hand. I have three remotes. The Sanyo, which operates my DVD player, has thirty-some buttons. My Magnavox TV remote had another thirty-some, and the cable company's master remote offers over fifty buttons. The task was to choose the right source, on the TV remote, and get the DVD player lined up, and get the cable company out of the way. It took some doing, and instructions were contradictory and unreliable.
After we had at last watched the film, it took another gargantuan effort to return the TV to its cable input, once again guessing at the sourcing and all the rest. I finally managed that long after my guest had left. I was frustrated, bewildered, and angry.
I had asked my cable provider, Charter, for the minimum TV service, because network shows are all I watch, but they no longer offer a minimum package. You have to buy the whole deal, which for me comes to $92 a month. I suppose there are a few people who do want all the options, but I have yet to find any. Most would like a few favorite cable stations at an appropriate price, but that is no longer an option. Some people I talk to compare it to cutting a narrow path through a jungle. They can operate their TVs (and computers) only by sticking to the path and avoiding the jungle.
I do have an option, and will probably make use of it. Billings network stations have a booster antenna here which makes network broadcasting available for free. Just by putting up an antenna, I can receive ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and PBS. I may do that. One thing about market economies is that they offer options to people who cannot find what they want from the quasi-monopolies that are attempting to control as much advertising and programming as possible on our computer and TV screens. Charter, by failing to offer what people want, is ultimately doomed to decline or fail, while some new company, using different technology, will be flooded with new customers who enjoy receiving what they want, and paying an appropriate price for it.
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