Why I Hate Technology (Sometimes)

My hi-def, big screen TV sucks! To be somewhat fair, it didn't always suck. The suckiness started about 2 1/2 years after I bought it. I've now owned it for nearly 4 years, and I'm not sure how much longer it will be living with me. I'm ready to contact TV hospice. I'm not ready, however, to plop down another $1000.00  or so to replace it. So I'm very pissed.

The technology to which I'm referring happens to be a Samsung 46" 1080 LCD Hi-Def TV. I bought it at Best Buy in Coeur d'Alene, Id. where I used to live, about 4 years ago. The retail figure on this beauty was around $2300.00 back then. I agreed to a 2 year commitment with Direct TV at the time of purchase which reduced the price to about $1600.00. I did not buy an extended service plan. You would think that a TV this expensive would last longer than a couple years or so. Especially a Samsung. The TV has a beautiful picture, so I have no complaints there. As I said, about 1 1/2 years ago, things started to go haywire. At first it was the on-off switch. It took 2-3 cycles to get the sound and picture to come on. Then it was 3-4 cycles....then 4-5 cycles....you get the picture, (no pun intended).

I guess part of me was in denial, and hoped it would somehow mysteriously fix itself. Well, that hasn't happened. It continues to deteriorate, and now there are other issues. The picture "tube", if there is such a thing on this beast, has multiple colored vertical lines running through it. I have to turn this turd on and off repeatedly and let it continue to cycle on it's own for nearly ten minutes now before I get sound and a decent picture. Let me repeat.....I'm really pissed!! I had a TV repair company come out a few weeks ago, and for $35.00, they told me what I already knew. This TV is almost kaput. It would cost several hundred dollars to repair it. I'm stupid sometimes, but not this time.

So what's been happening is this: As I sit on the couch fiddling with the remote trying to turn this piece of dung on, I have found myself daydreaming and wishing for simpler times. Like when I was a kid, with no computer, no cell phone, no navigation, nothing but AM radio to listen to, and simple black and white TVs with just 2 or 3 stations to watch. Hell, I remember going with my dad to the local drug store to test the various tubes which were easy to remove and replace on our Sylvania. And that set lasted years. And it was cheap. I even barfed all over the inside of it one time when my dad was taking it to the repair shop. It was in the back of our Chevy pickup and so was I. Man I got car sick easy when I was a kid. I don't remember who cleaned it out, but the point is, it worked fine again when we got it back home a few days later. Imagine trying that with one of these hi-def gadgets today.

So for me, the question seems to be whether or not today's technology that we buy for ourselves really improves our lives and makes us happier. Yes and no. I don't like spending a gob of cash on anything, but I''ll admit, there is a brief ether cloud that seems to accompany these purchases. That would have to be the "YES" part of this equation. But it doesn't last long man. Having your $1600.00 TV take a dump on you in less than three years is the "NO" part of the equation. And it's a much more powerful and longer lasting feeling then the "YES" will ever be.

Most of us likely have similar stories, but I've got to say again, this really, really pisses me off. Enough of this rant. I've got to go online and start researching which hi-def TV I'm going to buy next. It's a technology thing. I can feel the ether taking effect......