THE TEST OF TIME
My wife and I were watching television one evening recently when we decided to turn to Netflix, and see if there were any new movies worth watching. As we have a smart TV, it’s a relatively simple exercise, and easy to access just by using the remote. However, on this particular occasion, a message appeared on the screen advising that there was no internet connection available.
My immediate thought was to check the router, which is located in our garage. After a brief glance, all seemed to be working OK, but I turned it off and back on again just in case. A few minutes later, after all the lights started flashing again, I assumed that it must be working. I turned on the television once more, but the message still appeared. Feeling rather frustrated at this stage, I decided to check the television downstairs to see if it had the same connectivity issue but no — it was able to access Netflix without a problem, so I concentrated my efforts on the television upstairs. By this time, my wife was over it and decided to head off to bed, after commenting that technology is great when it’s working properly.
This got me thinking about the new car we purchased recently. As with most cars these days, it’s dripping with a plethora of electronic gizmos such as a multi-function touchscreen, lane-change warning devices, adaptive cruise control, front- and rear-mounted cameras, and so on, all of it designed to keep us safe on the road. Mind you, none of this technology is new to us. A few years ago, most of it was only available in high-end marques, but, nowadays, it’s available in just about any new car, given an increasingly competitive market in which it seems that more is best, due to public demand.
That said, I sometimes wonder what will happen a few years down the track as these cars start to age. Will all of this electronic gadgetry last the distance, and what will happen when it begins to fail? Only time will tell.
I can’t help thinking about my wife’s comment — “all this technology is good while it’s working properly”.
Oh well, at least we’ll have our trusty old classic cars tucked away in the garage just in case.
And, yes — I finally did get to watch Netflix again.