Change Your TV, Change Your Life.

I
saw an ad for Sharp today geared towards someone purchasing
their next television and their motto for their products is apparently
“Change Your TV, Change Your Life” and it scared me.

Because for some people it’s true.

The
role of the television in a family’s living room has been seminal since
television was invented. At first it was almost a mythical object,
dealt with awe and fascination, a beacon of high tech wizardry bringing
the world to the den of people who previously had only read about such
an object in science fiction.

It
evolved into being a many-splendored thing, the scariest of which being
a surrogate parent and the object in the home competing with the bed
for most time spent in the company of.

Then
there’s the technical aspect. More than ever, people are obsessing over
every aspect of their television buying decisions. It’s a big deal. I
have a few friends who spent more time deciding on their television
than most do about their cars. And it’s an expensive decision, so I
understand that…

But
it’s a television. It’s not a computer, a tool people jury-rig for
their uses and cut corners financially on, but a tool that you actually
contribute to the world with. A television is a viewing device and
nothing more. The computer is the most important tool in many people’s
lives but they’re willing to use unlicensed copies of Windows,
off-brand peripherals, and hacked software for their needs. Yet a
television is a golden item. Yes, a lot of these folks hack their cable
and modify their DVD players, but on it’s best day a television is a
device to look at things. It’s as interactive as the moon is, which is
not at all.

Yet
lives are changed by the purchase of a new television. I’m a fly on the
wall at the cigar bar, listening to men talk about their toys.
Resolutions, inches, and whose living room is the best place to watch
the Super Bowl or the latest UFC fight. And from a certain point, I’m
with them. I haven’t bought an HDTV of any sex appeal yet, nor do I
plan to [because almost all of my money goes into the pockets of other
people!], but I long for one. But I have a confession…

I don’t so much care that much about how vivid my experience is.

I
am not compelled to buy Blu-Ray discs. I may own one, which I believe
was bundled with my PS3. I have only watched two of the six HD-DVD
discs I own [The Departed and The Thing]. Almost 100% of the telelvision programming I watch outside of sporting events are on my IPOD.

And it ain’t one of the new IPODS.

Is it a sign I’m getting old or proof that good material works no matter how you view it? I mean, I saw The Godfather
the first time on a tiny pop-up 5-inch B&W telelvision in the late
70’s and still knew it was transcendent. I may be able to count Talia
Shire’s buttons easier on Blu-Ray but I don’t think I’ll love the movie
more for it.

It’s the stuff on the TV that changes lives, and that ain’t changing any time soon.

Today’s Moments:

  • My daughter is torn by what interests her more: A horse or a sibling.
  • The baseball game for the iPhone is all-consuming.
  • A
    douchebag emailed us through out news scoop email link to tell us he
    wasn’t coming to the site any more. Makes me miss the talkbacks.

  • I might have shoulder surgery.
  • Looks like I’ll be in Los Angeles for a week at the end of January. I’m considering not flying back until I have a deal.
  • John Smoltz can go fuck himself.