The All-too-Early Wind and Snows of October

The old big-box TV goes out for recycling.  (Image/Dick Bergeron)

This was to be the weekend that, after seventeen years with our old and trusted TV, we would have it hauled out and replaced with a new flat-screen model. 

However, although the old one was picked up early Saturday morning as the storm began to rage, delivery and installation of the new one scheduled for late that same day, was delayed until the middle of next week.  The snow and wind proved to be unforgiving.  (Not to mention that we may have lost that beautiful pin oak in the front yard.)

Our big old cabinet model Zenith TV was manufactured with ‘state-of-the-art’ technology when we purchased it in 1994.  But technology does not stand still and, a year later, Zenith came under the control of South-Korea based LG Electronics whose products are now carried by major store chains such as Costco and P.C. Richard. 

(Did you know that Zenith was always an American technology leader?  A few examples:  In 1994 the TV industry chose Zenith’s digital transmission system (DTS) as the U.S. standard for HDTV, and, two years later, the FCC sanctioned DTS as part of the HDTV standard now employed in this country.)

Pris and I had pushed that old TV way beyond its useful life, even though it simply refused to give in – we had only one service call in all of those 17 years. 

But we finally gave in to the fact that it is now time for catching up.  Last week, we resolved to find a quality flat-screen TV and finally settled on one that should meet our needs.

I doubt that the new one will have a lifespan nearly as long as that reliable Zenith, but, nonetheless, we are looking forward to a great picture while viewing our favorite shows and sporting events.

However, we don’t expect to turn into couch potatoes addicted to a TV screen.  That simply doesn’t leave enough time for reading and for the other activities in life that require a person to get up and about.

A long time ago, Newton Minnow, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission gave a speech in which he stated that “When television is good . . . nothing is better,”. . . but "when television is bad . . . nothing is worse.”

As far back as 1961, a prescient Minnow characterized TV as “a vast wasteland.”

Thanks for reading and stay healthy.