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A little off topic, but I miss my tube TV. When I moved in with my gf, I left it behind and she has one of those giant smart
flatscreen TVs that is smarter than I am (and I have a bunch of degrees). I like tube TVs because I don't have to worry about my big dogs running into them or something else happening to them. If they break, we can just buy another one. This flatscreen is like a gigantic piece of Grandma's antique china. It scares me have to death worrying about anyone tapping it wrong. And they don't make Otterboxes for these suckers either I have never noticed any difference in picture between the old ones and the new ones, at least nothing that warrants my purse being an extra $1000 lighter. My tube TVs have leasted 15 years or more and keep going strong. Hey, anyone want a 55" flatscreen in exchange for a tube TV?
Input lag is inherently worse on new TVs. It is particularly difficult on gamers and not just people who channel surf at high speed. It is growing increasingly rate, but some people have their cable plugged directly into the RF input in the back of their console TVs. That would mean the connection is purely analog and is very fast to change channels.
It helps to learn to use the guide instead of just surfing through channels.
Just one of them turns on instantly and flips from channel to channel in the blink of an eye (we pick up local stations via an attic-mounted antenna).
Guest what? It's the old 2006 HP 37" 5-inch-thick 720p LCD. Remarkable. All of the newer TVs take at least a few seconds between pushing the power button and the screen lighting up, and a second or two to flip channels.
When I moved in with my gf, I left it behind and she has one of those giant smart
flatscreen TVs that is smarter than I am (and I have a bunch of degrees).
No, it's not anywhere near as smart as you. It's actually quite dumb. You've just decided you don't want to learn new things. You know what I call people like you? Future Alzheimers patients. USE IT OR LOSE IT. https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...r-lose-itquot/
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I like tube TVs because I don't have to worry about my big dogs running into them or something else happening to them.
How big are your dogs? Do you have your TV set on a house of cards? You are worrying over nothing here. Do you know how heavy my last tube TV was? No bs: 101 lbs. I can carry 2 modern TVs at the same time. I had to get help to carry that giant thing.
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If they break, we can just buy another one.
Same with a 'new TV' and much cheaper, might I add.
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This flatscreen is like a gigantic piece of Grandma's antique china. It scares me have to death worrying about anyone tapping it wrong.
Why are people tapping your TV? You could mount it to a wall. Try that with an old one. You could buy a TV stand like I have. Even has a little chain to attach to the wall so it CANNOT be even pushed over. and there are much sturdier ones then that, too.
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I have never noticed any difference in picture between the old ones and the new ones,
If you saw them side by side you would notice a HUGE difference. I think you're going by memory here. My Mother In Law said the same thing. I would watch football at her house on that old TV... it was SO bad. Looking fine to her! Now she has a LED TV and she finally admitted... it's SO much better.
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At least nothing that warrants my purse being an extra $1000 lighter.
When is the last time you shopped for a flatscreen?
32" $150
How about a 50" 4K for less then $300?
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My tube TVs have leasted 15 years or more and keep going strong.
Did you know there's actually LESS stuff to break in a modern TV? My 42" Plasma TV that used to be in my living room is coming up on 10 years old now. Actually might be older then that.
I am not trying to be rude here. But this has always been a pet peeve of mine. People who refuse to learn new things. Ever since my buddy had to go to his dad's house.... to program the time on his VCR. It's not like he didn't have the manual for the VCR (because he never threw anything away) and in a 5 minute read he could have done it himself. No... he just didn't want to learn.
This is a ROKU remote which will make your 'dumb tv' "smart".
Are you going to tell me that remote... with its 7 buttons... is smarter then you?
This:
is what the interface is like. You use that purple directional pad to select one of these... call them apps. Then press OK. Think about that. Do you REALLY think you'll have THAT hard of a time learning that system? My 7 year old could do it when he was 5. And don't you dare say it: "Oh, but kids are good with technology!" Sure. Sure they are. But he's still... 7! Was 5 when he learned it. I promise you, you can learn how to use ... well ANYTHING... faster then he could. This is not a testament to "kids today" ... it's a testament to how EASY this stuff is to use today EVEN A 5 YEAR OLD CAN DO IT.
This little rant, although sparked by Scooby Snacks comment is aimed at all you older people who think you just can't learn this new stuff. I mean no offense. You CAN learn this stuff. It's NOT hard. You'll be better off for it in so many ways, but especially mentally. You may not be able to MAKE an app... but trust me... you can learn to use one. Please do...
I begged my parents to mount their 18 lb TV to the wall, but my mother can't get used to the idea and is afraid it will pull down the plaster.
I think you coddle your parents too much. You've said t before "They're too old and don't want to learn a Roku". So try man! Get one. Don't give up that easily. My mother in law has a smart TV. She didn't want it. She DOES NOT like change. Guess who has a Netflix account now?
"This little rant, although sparked by Scooby Snacks comment is aimed at all you older people who think you just can't learn this new stuff. I mean no offense. You CAN learn this stuff. It's NOT hard. You'll be better off for it in so many ways, but especially mentally. You may not be able to MAKE an app... but trust me... you can learn to use one. Please do..."
Well intentioned, I'm sure, but brain function does change with age - even in the absence of dementia. It isn't a matter of "use it or lose it" either. My wife was sharp as a tack on many subjects, but in the couple of years leading up to her death she lost the ability to work out spreadsheet design, and I needed to print out a cheat sheet for her to be able to navigate my (admittedly complex) audio/video setup.
It isn't just user issues either. The design of the first tivo interface was f*&^ing brilliant - intuitive and elegant. The one on my tivo these days is crap in comparison.
To make a comparison, a person in their twenties can walk for miles and jump over fences to get to an isolated restaurant on a mountain. By age eighty, few of those same people still have that capability, and most folks understand that. Technology developers don't, and are often complete jerks when designing tech used by adults. What a**hat initially thought that tiny raised lettering on black plastic on the backs of black boxes was user friendly? Wireless security cam developers cheerfully use increasing amounts of bandwidth that overloads all wifi in the area. Ever consider the frustration of smartphone size screens for people with starting cataracts? How about counting the number of distinct steps required to perform simple tasks on current electronics? Programming a VCR was child's play in comparison. A function of age is a decreasing tolerance for institutionalized BS.
My bank has online banking. I don't use it. After the fourth "upgrade" that required hoop-jumping, I bailed. My hotmail account, after years of functionality, is now effectively unuseable on satellite. The ongoing ad loads means that the deleting of spam that used to take ten seconds now can take two minutes or more. I don't have an unlimited number of minutes left in this life.
Sometimes when a senior says "This is too complicated" it is really a polite way of saying "What brainless idiot sucking Starbucks designed this idiotic crap anyway? Shove it, I won't play those games!"
I get really, really tired of youngsters deciding that older people who opt out of the gadget obsession are unwilling to learn new things, or set in their ways, or "afraid of technology".
Listen up, kiddo. I was programming computers before you were even a gleam in the milkman's eye. And using machine code, too. Never mind that. In the last 10 years I have filed over a dozen patent applications. I am not "afraid of technology". Nor is "technology" just a synonym for "consumer grade entertainment software".
What really happens is that we older people have come to realize: a) It's not that many shopping days to Christmas, so how you spend your time is important; b) and we don't particularly care to spend it fiddly-dicking around with gadgets; c) especially when those gadgets have user interfaces that appear to have been designed by meth freaks who expect everyone to learn an entire new syntax for each device; and d) especially especially when 90% of the time the "features" we are supposed to spend so much time setting up, are unnecessary and just solve problems that don't exist, or need solving.
The classic example is the clock display on the VCR, microwave oven, stereo receiver, telephone, etc., etc., etc. Every time the power blinks out, the damn thing goes to 00:00 and flashes. Now an intelligent designer would have put a battery backup. A really intelligent designer would have realized that we all already have several dozen ways to tell the time, and have left the damn clock off the display altogether. Instead, we have to go round and reset every one, and each one requires a totally different set of commands to do so, and the manual is written in something vaguely resembling English - it uses some of the same words, but other than that you can't be sure. So what does the intelligent user do? Ignore it. The really intelligent user gets some black electrical tape and tapes over the flashing clock.
So you can take your comments about "elderly Luddites who are afraid of technology" and put them... oh, you know.
Sometimes when a senior says "This is too complicated" it is really a polite way of saying "What brainless idiot sucking Starbucks designed this idiotic crap anyway? Shove it, I won't play those games!"
In this context, "This is too complicated" doesn't mean "it's too complicated for me to understand"; it means "This is too complicated for the job it purports to do." And also means "So I am not going to waste any more of the limited number of minutes I have left on earth on it."
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I have never noticed any difference in picture between the old ones and the new ones, at least nothing that warrants my purse being an extra $1000 lighter. My tube TVs have leasted 15 years or more and keep going strong. Hey, anyone want a 55" flatscreen in exchange for a tube TV?
You've said t before "They're too old and don't want to learn a Roku". So try man! Get one. Don't give up that easily. My mother in law has a smart TV. She didn't want it. She DOES NOT like change. Guess who has a Netflix account now? 
