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When I was moving (still love the new apartment), I uncovered a thirty-year-old television.
I haven't had it long. I salvaged it from a previous owner because it's exactly the make and model of a television I had when I was a kid. The words "Manufactured August 1984" are stenciled on a sticker on the back. Old televisions aren't very useful anymore, now that all broadcast has switched to digital and all computers use HDMI. But I've always had a bizarre fascination for technology that's past its usefulness, and I happened to have a coaxial cable with the old prong-style adapter on one end. I dug a VCR out of the closet and plugged it in, and the TV worked.
Well then.
I rummaged through boxes of electronic junk (never throw anything away, kids, that's a tip from your Uncle Ben) until I found a digital antenna receiver and plugged that into the VCR. Turns out that in our area, only a handful of channels are available. I found a channel of classic TV. "The Commish" was on.
Half an hour later, I realized the absurdity of my situation and tweeted, "It's 3 AM, and I'm watching a TV show from 1992 on a television from 1984. Any minute my Mom is going to stick her head in and tell me to go to bed."
Dad replied via Facebook, "What are you still doing up? Go to bed!"
(What the hell was HE still doing up? He's seventy!)
Don't get me wrong; my fascination for old tech matches my fascination for new (a couple of hours after I got the old TV working, I was checking the price tag on an Oculus Rift) and I don't try to rationalize my efforts by pretending that I'm recycling or bemoaning the disposable nature of today's consumer goods. But I came to a halt the other day in an antique store when I saw an old portable IBM lunchbox computer, and had a terrible struggle with my conscience over whether or not to buy it.
Unfortunately, I lost. Being flat broke is a far better conscience than willpower.
I haven't had it long. I salvaged it from a previous owner because it's exactly the make and model of a television I had when I was a kid. The words "Manufactured August 1984" are stenciled on a sticker on the back. Old televisions aren't very useful anymore, now that all broadcast has switched to digital and all computers use HDMI. But I've always had a bizarre fascination for technology that's past its usefulness, and I happened to have a coaxial cable with the old prong-style adapter on one end. I dug a VCR out of the closet and plugged it in, and the TV worked.
Well then.
I rummaged through boxes of electronic junk (never throw anything away, kids, that's a tip from your Uncle Ben) until I found a digital antenna receiver and plugged that into the VCR. Turns out that in our area, only a handful of channels are available. I found a channel of classic TV. "The Commish" was on.
Half an hour later, I realized the absurdity of my situation and tweeted, "It's 3 AM, and I'm watching a TV show from 1992 on a television from 1984. Any minute my Mom is going to stick her head in and tell me to go to bed."
Dad replied via Facebook, "What are you still doing up? Go to bed!"
(What the hell was HE still doing up? He's seventy!)
Don't get me wrong; my fascination for old tech matches my fascination for new (a couple of hours after I got the old TV working, I was checking the price tag on an Oculus Rift) and I don't try to rationalize my efforts by pretending that I'm recycling or bemoaning the disposable nature of today's consumer goods. But I came to a halt the other day in an antique store when I saw an old portable IBM lunchbox computer, and had a terrible struggle with my conscience over whether or not to buy it.
Unfortunately, I lost. Being flat broke is a far better conscience than willpower.
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