Digital TV

Next month the world changes again. Analog TV disappears and it all goes digital. Once more the way we have done things will disappear and we will be dragged kicking and screaming into a brave new world. The line between computers, video games, and television will blur as they become integrated into one home entertainment unit. It will take time, but as people replace their old TVs it will happen. Even if you are using cable or satellite service, the day will come when your old set no longer works and you must replace it.

When that happens we will become part of that new world and there will be no going back. Everything from our phone service to the internet will be linked in some way to that TV and the way we receive information through it. You may never have used a computer in your life but you will now have one wither you like it or not. The service that supplies the TV will also supply our phone and internet service.

I can’t see the future but it does not take a crystal ball to know that things will never be the same again. When you want to watch a show you won’t have to be home to when it’s on, you will just click on shows web site and click play. It will truly be TV on demand.  Surf the net, make a phone call, and never get out of your recliner. The only sure thing is your life will never be the same.

I Remember When

The difference between Baby Boomers and today’s youth is experience. Not what you know, but what you have seen in your life time. If you are over fifty there is a long list of things that have come into your life and then disappeared. Running the gambit from the smell of mimeograph fluid, to the can openers that were used to open your dad’s beer before the advent of pop top cans. We remember them and the kids have never seen them.

Reel to reel tape recorders, forty five rpm records, and the taste of library paste. Most of our life was spent with out computers, calculators, and cell phones. They have never known anything else. We have seen the steady loss of pay phones, our light bulbs are fast becoming florescent lights, and now we are about to change over to digital television. This means the few black and white TV sets that have managed to exist will be gone. One more thing that will only be a memory.

That is what gives us the right to look them in the eye and say “I remember when”.