Letters from North
America
My
first purchase of any
sort of electronic
device was way back in
about 1957 when I bought
a transistor radio. Up
until that time I had
made radios from crystal
sets and other stuff you
bought from magazines
like Popular Mechanics.
I can’t recall too much
about my first portable
radio and now that I
think about it, how did
you power them? I don’t
think small batteries
such as we have now had
been invented.
Anyway that first
purchase was like a drug
to me, from that moment
on I was hooked. The
next thing I remember
was a stereo when I was
in the Army. If you
recall, we went from old
78 records to 45 records
to 33 1/3 records. Each
one was a step up (or a
step down depending on
your frame of mind) and
required a new purchase.
In our cars we went from
an 8 track tape system
to a cassette to a CD to
whatever (MP3 IPOD) we
have now. I’ve lost
track of many of these.
I’ve heard you can still
buy and sell these, but
my question is why would
you want to do so?
Don’t get me started on
televisions. First we
had black and white with
rabbit ears. Then came
color, then flat screen
(ours weighed in at
about 400 lbs) then
Plasma, then LCD and now
we have LED…or it might
be the other way around.
Oh, and HDTV fits in
here somewhere…or at
least I think it does.
Who can remember? When
you buy a television
today, they ask you how
many HZ’s you want and
shouldn’t you be looking
at a 1080P or how about
a clear span of 240
degrees with a 14 bit
video and 3 or 4 HDMI
inputs. Oh and did you
want the optional SD
card slot with the built
in HD function? Do I
really need an 80K:1
dynamic contrast ratio
and finally is my
resolution going to be
adequate for the size
room I am going to be
putting the television
in? All I want is
something big and easy
to watch with a cord to
plug into the wall and a
remote with as few
buttons on it as
possible. Preferably an
on/off button, a channel
changer and volume
control. That’s a remote
I’d like. That’s remote
I can live with. The one
we now have has about 75
buttons that can be
pushed. Allowing the
remote to slip from your
hand and fall down
beside you on the couch
is tantamount to
disaster. The
simultaneous pressing of
some unknown combination
of buttons at the same
time can cause you to
lose anything you have
recorded, put your
television in a
permanent sleep mode or
force you to listen to
Lawrence Welk music for
three days or until your
13 year old neighbor kid
can come over and get
you back on track. I
feel fairly certain that
the designers of our
remote used to work at
some sort of nuclear
launch site and these
devices were originally
designed to prevent any
accidental missile
launch.
Our recorders went from
BETA to VHS to DVD to
things I don’t have but
am sure I’ll need in the
coming months. My garage
could be a graveyard or
museum for obsolete
electronics. No one
throws these away and no
one wants to buy them so
they just sit there on
the shelf and will end
up going somewhere when
I get my just reward. I
hope not with me. Heaven
has enough clutter as it
is, so I’ve heard.
Having said all of this,
it leads me to today’s
dilemma, I am looking at
an advertisement in
today’s paper for items
I think I want to buy,
but for which I know
absolutely nothing
about. For example, here
is a new Blu-ray player.
Now, I have no Blu-rays
to play nor do I think
I’ve ever heard any of
their music but they
must be good since I am
seeing ads them all over
the place. I know about
Ray Charles and the
Raylettes, and I know
about the blues…so I
suppose this is some
sort of new variation of
this theme. I’ll let you
know.
Here is a 2GB DDR2
PC2-6400 memory on sale
for $39.99. There is a
picture with the price,
but I can’t begin to
figure out what I could
use this for, but would
like to see one in
person so I can
determine if I need to
grab one before the sale
ends. Next to this is a
128GB, 2.5 inch solid
state (as compared to
liquid state?) drive
with notebook upgrade
kit bundle for just
$249.99.
If I hurry I can get the
500 GB simple (simple is
good) drive turbo (I had
a turbo car once) usb
2.0 external hard drive
for only $49.99. I
should rush over and
grab one or two of these
before they run out of
stock.
The last item I think I
might need or could use
is a 24X Sata DVD-RW for
$34.99. I recognize the
letters…DVD. Nothing
else means anything to
me, especially the two
items mentioned before
the DVD. A notebook
upgrade bundle? Come on,
what is this? I’ve had
notebooks; there isn’t
any way to plug an
electrical cord into one
of those things. They’re
just cardboard, paper
and some wire on the
edge.
Keep those cards and
letters coming….
Comments got to
www.pearyperry.com.
Complaints go nowhere.
