Plasma at Last, Ma

As I mentioned a while back, we had been looking to replace our old 27-inch television set with one of the new flat giant screen plasma jobs.  And in so doing, we were also replacing the receiver and speakers of our old stereo system, to keep up with technology and the times.  After a couple of months of pondering and researching, we finally went ahead with the project.

Guess what?  Technology gets more complicated with each new wave.  What used to be a simple project that we could set up and hook by ourselves with simple tri-colored connector cables, and ordinary lamp cords for the speakers, has now become a major production involving many hours of intricate labor and testing by specialists who are able to speak with grave conviction about the benefits of DTS and THX and RGB and 5.1 audio and optical connectors and progressive scan and high definition and heaven knows what else.  It is an arcane world that most ordinary retired persons like me would be extremely loath to enter.

Even the straightforward old remote control with just a few buttons to change channels and sound volume has now taken on the look and function of an elaborate and elongated handheld computer, with more buttons than are visible on any of the component parts of the system.  Indeed, the DVD player I have needs its dedicated remote control to do things that are necessary but cannot be done on the player itself.  You lose the remote (as I did) and the party's over.

Technology is wonderful, as we all have come to accept, and I'd be the first to say that the picture on our new screen is unbelievably lifelike, and will be even more so after we sign up for digital broadcasts in high definition.  Still, no one should be blamed for expressing a longing for the less complicated technology of yesteryear.

It goes without saying, of course, that I would not be likely to miss the old blurry black-and-white television programs.