What the well-equipped TV looks like now
A television once was a device you hooked up, turned it on and then watched TV. Nothing else was needed or even wanted. Simple as apple pie.
Nowadays that apple pie has become an elaborate feast — with all the advantages of sophistication and all the disadvantages of complexity.
An old-fashioned term now defines what a television set has become — it’s now a home entertainment center. The term coined many decades ago for something that seems antique today, a big console televisions with a built in phonograph now perfectly describes the modern home HDTV. Today’s HDTV has become the hub for the way a variety of entertainment enters the home.
The television and the channels it receives — from an antenna, cable or satellite — is just the start. In some homes that has been true for many years — those were the pioneers. But the big deal now is that wrapping the TV into a whole system of entertainment is the norm for everyone, not just the enthusiasts.
Today we’ll look at what the well-equipped TV is wearing these days. We aren’t going to talk to the real high tech enthusiasts who have special rooms for a home theater and fancy gadgets that cost more than a cheap new car and a nice popcorn machine in the corner. Instead, we’ll discuss what people like me — and you — are doing and what they should be doing to get the most out of their home entertainment center. Flowing with the stream The most important addition is the ability to stream television and movies over the internet by companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Instead of using satellite, cable or antenna, your entertainment arrives in the same way that email and the web come to the home. If you buy a television today it likely is a “smart TV” with the built in capability to connect to these services over the Internet with no extra gadgets needed.
Even so, I recommend you check out one of these external devices: Apple TV, Amazon TV or Roku. There are other players too — a lot of them. But I think one of the three would do most folks just fine. They offer many more entertainment options than almost any smart TV. And they are much easier to use.
For instance, with my Amazon TV gadget I can simply sit down, turn the set on and speak into the remote — even with my strong Southern accent — and say “play The Crown.” Next thing you know the television series of that name pops on the screen, no buttons to push, no painful typing using the remote to search for my show.
Not remotely useful, but they should be
The first television remote control was introduced by Zenith way back in 1950. In some ways, it was more valuable than the remotes you’ll find in most homes. That’s because there are so danged many of them today in homes like mine. Let me count mine for you, a separate one came with each of these devices: TV, cable box, Amazon TV, DVD player, add-on speaker system for the TV and probably a few others that don’t come to mind. So, to use them all, I’d TECHNOBUDDY’S BIG Q&A need several other hands (not a good idea because that would scare children when I go out).
Well, sure you say, just get a cheap universal remote. You won’t need so many hands. Truth is, if you include “cheap” in the specification, that won’t work for me. In many homes there are devices that require one kind of signal — infrared light — and others like my Amazon Fire TV that need an RF (radio) signal to work. Heck, some might run on steam or have chipmunks inside. But we’ll start with those two.
Cheap remotes only use IR, so they can’t control all the gadgets. The remotes that can handle both are overly complicated and expensive. For example Logitech makes one that does both but it costs $300. Heck, for 300 bucks, I am willing to fumble with more than one remote. So that’s an example of the complexity all this has brought. The reception area Now let’s move to the simple. One thing I suggest is a small indoor TV antenna — basically rabbit ears. Your luck with an antenna like that will vary based on how close you are to transmitting sites. I’m lucky and here in Atlanta I get about 18 stations in perfect HDTV with just the tiny indoor antenna. I still have cable but the indoor antenna lets me watch even when the cable goes out. And because of stringent rules from my wife, it stays hidden behind the TV so that when the guy who sprays for bugs comes he won’t think we are bad people. Or that’s how Mary explains it.
I can’t hear you and that’s a good thing
Our bedroom television has a device connected to it that makes my relationship with Mary much more pleasant. She often watches TV late into the night. I like to read and then go to sleep early. Going to sleep while she’s watching television means there are often bombs going off, airplanes crashing and people screaming. The bombs and airplanes are from the TV, the screaming is often from me. Or it was. Then I bought a set of wireless headphones, they are easy to find on Amazon or at stores like Best Buy. Now she can watch TV and I can sleep in silence. What a good deal.
Stick around; I’ve got some things cooking at home with all this that may result in some more columns on the topic. I won’t say why that is for the moment, but it may be worth tuning in again.