Watching television has gotten complicated. The price of cable and satellite connections continues to go up so some people are looking for something good but at a better price. There are other choices that may be cheaper they say, that I don’t understand. Alternatives include Hulu, Sling, YouTube, TV Live and Philo. Terms are used such as “streaming,” using “apps”in order to get hooked up....I have no idea what those terms mean. Would I be able to figure them out and learn how to connect with them on my television? What are the odds of having problems after they are installed? If we hooked up with one of these alternative options, would we still be able to find our most watched channels?
In the country, a few years ago we were hooked up to a satellite dish. It was wired into our television. When a storm approached, the signal was sometimes lost and the storm warnings were not received when needed. A few years later, we had the choice of hooking onto a fiber optic cable that came into our rural area. We had no trouble with signals being lost, and packages were offered that included telephones and WiFi connections, as well as our televisions. When we have trouble with something we call the “help” location and get the help that is needed quickly. Yet, we talk about the rising cost, and think maybe we could cut back on the number of channels offered. After al,l having the choice of more than 200 channels sometimes seems like too much.
As I have gotten older, things are getting too complicated. When purchasing a new computer, printer, television and other appliances, I wonder if I am smart enough and have patience enough to own and operate them.
When I was a youngster, my parents owned a deluxe console television that took up a third of our west living room wall. We started with a black and white television but soon graduated up to the colored television. There was only one wall in the living room it could be stationed at. That was in front of the only west window. It was through this closed window the chord from the television had to go through to reach the tall, television antenna. The flat chord was tacked along the siding of the house. Then it went up to points beyond my understanding or control on the antenna’s top.
We could only receive three channels, and they were all based in Nebraska, which made it hard keeping up with the Kansas happenings and Kansas weather. These stations were NBC out of Hastings, ABC out of Kearney, and on good days and nights CBS out of Lincoln and later Grand Island. It was all we needed. Those three offered entertaining shows like Ed Sullivan, Jack Benny, Perry Como, and of course, the Lawrence Welk Show. There was the American Bandstand that I never wanted to miss watching, and a lot of children’s shows that my little sister liked so well. News was only given in the morning, noon, at 6 p.m. and again at 10 p.m. That was it and all we needed or wanted to know. The only problem our family had to deal with was getting our television stations to come in on our television when a favorite show was on.
When this problem developed, my father moved into action, and the whole family became involved as the tall metal giant antenna had to be turned for the appointed station to come into view. Father would go outside, even in the coldest weather, and Mother would move up the draped west living room window curtain, so he could see our signals. Mother would sit on the couch where she could get a good view of the television screen, my sister would be right in front of the television so that she could turn the television knobs that sometimes helped with the reception. I would be at the window trying to relate to Father, after hearing Mother’s reaction to Father’s antenna turns, how far to turn, which way to turn, and when to stop or proceed.
The whole living room became “mission control center.” Father would turn the antenna and stop, I’d look to Mother to see what the next instruction would be. Mother would say her thoughts, and tell my sister to turn the knob to adjust the set. Then if it was still not coming in, I would send Father a voice or hand signal. We’d hope that the process would quickly be successful, but sometimes it would take several minutes. We’d all cheer when the show came in clear and Father was given the signal to come back inside.
Being limited to having three stations on our television continued on through my high school years, and even on into my earlier married years. We were happy with what we could view. We didn’t know any better at that time.
Now it seems we have too many choices and half of the channels aren’t worth watching. Parents have to block some of the channels, news channels are reporting around the clock. There are so many of those talk or should I say “ yelling” shows, courtroom dramas, haunted hotels, situation shows, how to cook and bake, game shows, purchasing shows, how to do it shows and channels that play music of all kinds.
Maybe it would be better if we just went back to using the three stations again.
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