When our old analog TV was hooked up to TiVo, we found out very quickly that the rewind button was going to be something special. Miss a lot of dialogue because the kids are screaming? Hit the rewind button! Want to see an instant replay of that amazing slam dunk? Hit the rewind button! Want to watch old Texas Stadium implode over, and over, and over again? Hit the rewind button! It was that simple.
Several weeks ago, my wife bought me/ us a new TV; this one of the wide screen, 46 inch, high definition variety. Jackpot! I had wanted one of these suckers for about two years but I always had the fear of financial instability in the back of my head that prevented me from driving over to Best Buy to pick one out. They looked sweet. They sounded sweet. They even looked light enough to quickly carry out of the store should no one be looking. The big problem I had was that the price tag, and ensuing costs to get it to produce a HD picture, looked to be out of my budget. Why spend the money on something better when we already had a functioning system at home? This was another example of my boring yet efficient status-quo life strategy.
The one way to bypass my spending preference was for my wife to take me out of the purchasing equation altogether. Dana figured that I was going to tight-wad this purchase to death so she put together a plan with the help of others and Father's Day 2010 became the turning point in our analog life. After Dana handled the Best Buy salesperson as gently as a Great White says hello to a sea lion pup, the total cost was nicely reduced, and "my gift" was put into the back of our minivan. All that I was left to do was put it together when I got home, which was to say:
1. assemble the new TV stand (had a wonderful father-helpful daughter moment with my oldest)
2. disassemble the old, 400 lb entertainment center (always fun taking stuff apart)
3. move the 200+ lb TV to the garage (gauging my eyeballs out would have been more enjoyable)
4. hook up all the old components to the new TV, and finally
5. sit back in horror as the new TV picture looked awful and nothing looked high def
Happy Father's Day Jim. Hope you enjoy your Sony Bravia and precious beginnings of a hernia.
I could go on with the initial shock of disappointment, and pain, but you get the idea. I just couldn't believe that this much work took us back to where we were in the first place. Status-quo had never failed me before so it seemed I was the idiot for having HD envy in the first place.
Dana, in a reassuring tone, reminded me that Time Warner was coming out in a few days to hook up our digital cable and my friend Eric (the reason behind my HD envy) provided tech support to improve the quality of our viewing experience. With their help and acquired patience of my own, my new TV finally looked every bit of the wide screen, high definition variety I had been hoping for within a week! That of course came with the assistance of Time Warner's new cable box/ DVR. Yea! Or maybe yea, almost?
Here's a new dilemma we had to face. This DVR was no where near the awesomeness that is TiVo. Can you have TiVo and the new DVR hooked up at the same time? The answer is no. The new TV is both the subject of viewing ecstasy and the termination of our beloved TiVo rewind button. Did I mention how much I liked the rewind button?
The Tivo rewind button is magical. I can go back 5 seconds. I can go back 15 minutes, 30 minutes, all the way back. I can even go back in slow motion. Oh how the rewind choices are extraordinary!
The Time Warner rewind button is a mystery. I can go back 7 seconds and after that, I have not a damn clue how to quickly rewind to the beginning of a show or even get there half way without 2 minutes passing by. This might seem to be a minor issue but consider this: I live in a fast food world and this DVR is like home cooking; you get to eat eventually but you starve while preparing the meal and then have to wash the dishes afterward. TiVo was the McDonald's of my world. Sad, but true.
Hitting the rewind button now is a chore but I am able, thankfully, to see a sliver lining in this rewind hell. In the time it takes me to see what I just saw, I am reminded to put the remote down and go outside for a walk or get something done around the house. Maybe the moral of this story is that I don't need instant gratification in life like TiVo as much as I need to look at the blessings I was given and enjoy them to the fullest. "My" big screen HD TV does bring me a measure of visual pleasure but the change in DVR units came with a price I didn't see. If I learned anything from this entire experience it is one thing: I obviously need TiVo rehab. Any celebrities I can hang out with while I'm in there? Dr. Drew? Jennifer Capriati? Hello?
As I finished writing this I had an afterthought; maybe if I let others keep buying stuff I won't have any personal worries of financial ruin. My birthday is in a month and I understand that the new generation of TiVo DVR's, "TiVo Premiere", will make Time Warner's DVR obsolete. Imagine all the tantalizing rewind button possibilities with that unit!
The hell with rehab! Happy Birthday to me. I'll have a Big Mac with my birthday cake, please. Just don't show me the bill while I'm eating, or rewinding.
No comments:
Post a Comment