Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Defnitely not farm-related...

Okay, this has nothing to do with farming or nature or anything like that. It's all about televisions!

My mother-in-law very kindly decided to buy us a flat-screen TV, to bring us into the 21st century. For the past few years, we've been watching a 20" Sony, and I have been finding it increasingly difficult to read subtitles on foreign movies. Mom decided she wanted to get us a present and because we enjoy watching DVDs so much, she wisely decided on a TV. Thanks Mom!!

This led me to ponder the evolution of TVs. Of course, they go back much farther than this, but we still have this behemoth, which is so heavy that two people have to lift it:

 

I remember nearly killing myself helping Gordon carry this up three flights of stairs back when we lived in Toronto. We bought this thing in 1994 to replace the 13" Sony we'd been squinting at for years. It was a vast improvement at the time.
Then in 2006, we got this 20" Sony, which is small but has a good picture and sound:


 After we moved from British Columbia back east, this ended up being our main television. Hence the eye strain with subtitles! And silver was the "in" colour.



But now it's back to black. Here's the new 40" beast...


 Gordon decided, after research, to abandon Sony for Samsung. I had to rearrange the whole living room for this thing! But amazingly, I can now read subtitles AND credits. Very refreshing.


It's an inch thick. I mean really, it amazes this old fart that televisions have evolved to this state. I remember our first colour TV, in the very early 70s. You youngsters won't believe this, but it had TUBES, and when the colour went off, a TV repair guy had to come and adjust it all. Imagine! And it took forever to warm up and turn on. It was quite the advancement when they invented the "instant on" TV that didn't require all the warming up.
Of course, the TV before that was a clunky black and white affair in an elaborate wooden cabinet with built-in speakers!

I have no patience for photographing electronics. I'd much rather take pictures of animals...


Bath time for Julius!

I'll have to see if I have any photos of our the television sets I grew up with. I remember my Dad telling me, when I was a kid, that they didn't have TV when he was growing up. I could not fathom life without it. I guess kids today would be amazed that I grew up without a computer. How did we survive? :)


PS: If any one has a use for 100-lb 1994 Sony TV, let me know. Maybe Gordon can put it in his man-room in the barn!


17 comments:

  1. Oh Nat, it's not just you. I bought a 25" tube TV in 1994, my husband bought something similar at about the same time. We're still using those TVs today. I keep saying that I'm going to buy us a flat screen, but if it 'aint broke...

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  2. AH, I feel better Lauren. :) Gordon kept waiting for flat-screen technology to improve! And I can't complain about a free TV (and Blue Ray DVD!)

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  3. And Lauren, imagine, our TVs have lasted 17 years now! That's pretty impressive. Nothing lasts these days.

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  4. Ah now for HD an the like Knatolee?

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  5. We bought our first flat screen about 2 years ago(WE didn't need it...hubby did))...we put it in our bedroom on the wall because I told my husband, we weren't getting rid of the old huge thing downstairs until it no longer worked...we have three tvs in our basement that never get used because they are "out dated"...some times technology is too far ahead of itself...I can't keep up! LOL!

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  6. My grandmother still had a WORKING b/w tv encased in the wood cabinet with wood speakers when she died in 2006. That thing was a beast.

    I've still got a giant TV. It works, so it stays. And I'm a college-kid, I should be up to date on my electronics.

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  7. Anonymous4:08 pm

    When I was a kid in the 50's we had a black and white Hoffman t.v. in a blonde wood cabinet. I think the screen was a minuscule 17 in., if that. We watched many hours of "The Honeymooners", Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on that thing.

    We didn't get a color set until the mid-sixties and then everything came up either too green or too red. Now, with our HD t.v., we can see the pores on people's faces. Amazing...

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  8. These TV stories are GREAT! Keep 'em coming!!

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  9. We love our Samsung!!But the coolest thing we found was that ours had a bug when we bought it, but instead of having to return it, we downloaded a patch from the website onto a flash drive, plugged it into the tv and boom! It was fixed! We have had our Samsung for 5 years now and LOVE IT!

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  10. Jams, that's Gordon's department! :)

    Jennifer, I'm with you. I can't keep up with all the changes!

    Lindsay, that's amazing about your grandmother's TV. Things used to be so well made! We hung on to our old TVs for a long time, but when your mother-in-law offers to buy you a new one, it's hard to say no. Plus middle-aged eyesight sucks! :)

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  11. TTPT, trust you to make me feel like a young whippersnapper. HAHAHA! Okay, I did see The Honeymooners in reruns, and I remember ghastly green TV screens! But 50s televisions had STYLE.

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  12. Anonymous9:53 pm

    Hey! Mike and I just gave each other a Samsung flat screen for Christmas. I'm still getting used to the picture quality. It's so much sharper.

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  13. Anonymous8:45 am

    If you get lots of calls for your 100-pounder, let me know. That's what we're still watching. Must tell my husband that we ARE going to be the last home to have HD. (sigh) He's slow to change, but I suppose that is good--I'm still here. :)

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  14. I remember when I was a kid we had a TV with knobs to change the channels! We had to get up and turn the knob to change the channel! Wow, I must be like old as a dinosaur! Please pretend I didn't tell you this tidbit about me... Lol

    ~Lynn

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  15. Hye, CogDis, good choice! :) I can't get over the difference and yes, it takes some getting used to. I am thrilled to be able to read end cre

    Marylee, I thought we'd be the last home without HD. Well, we might still be, were it not for you two, and my mother-in-law!

    Lynn, I TOO remember knobs. I TOO am...a dinosaur. I won't tell if you don't. And we do still get our TV signal through an antenna!

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  16. To quote Wikipedia,Zenith televisions and radios of the 1950s-1970s found today are often still working well, needing little if any work to restore them to like-new operating condition.

    Good old Zenith. *sniff* I still miss it and it's nice case.

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  17. Hee hee! I have fond memories of changing the channel with an actual *clicker* remote control. The reason why we call the remote control a "clicker".

    I think that TV still worked when my parents finally got rid of it.

    Think about how much more makeup actors on TV have to wear these days since TVs are so much sharper!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!