Tech leaps

I am slow to buy new technology. I'm not really a Luddite, but I am not an early adopter at all.

It is partly that I want to use things up. When we moved here in 1978, one of the things we brought with us was an upright freezer that was built like a tank. It lasted thirty years. I really resented when the small, modern one that replaced it only lasted seven. It couldn't even make it to ten.

(I have written about this tendency to wring the last drops out of something before replacing it: http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2009/12/requiem-for-mouse.html)

One reason some people could legitimately replace something that is still working is because of new features. I get that. The other side of that is that when you really put off upgrading, seeing the new technology is amazing.

We recently replaced our 18 year old television. It was Cathode Ray Tube technology. Getting it out of the entertainment center and into the car was difficult and laborious because it was so heavy. The new flat screen is pleasingly light.

I had some trouble working out the inputs, because it was not recognizing the DVD player, even though it seemed to be hooked up correctly. Well, that's because this TV has a kind of spongy square on the back with a slot for a DVD. I thought our old TV/VCR combo was spiffy!

(For the DVD player, because it hooks up through the AV connection, that's the correct input to select.)

I also replaced the phone. I did get a new cell phone (which I still do not have data for), but that's not what I mean. We still use a landline, and a phone that has a cord connecting to that landline, but the caller ID was becoming hard to read. (The phone wasn't quite as old as the CRT TV, but it was getting there.)

Well, would you believe it? In addition to displaying the caller in large, easy to read letters, this phone also announces who is calling! The pronunciation tends to be a little off (Mistry, Grenpass), but still, this is so much easier for my mother! We no longer need to go to the phone to decide to reject the caller!

See, I may seem like a cranky (and cheap) old person, stubbornly clinging to the past, but I'm not above being excited about this stuff.

Now get off of my lawn.