Monday, November 19, 2012

Retro Tech


What if I told you there was a magical machine that could record the sounds and images broadcast over the air? What if this machine was ridiculously easy to use and could be programmed to record TV programs days in advance, as well as allowed you to skip commercials with relative ease? What if, stay with me here because this gets improbable, what if this machine didn’t require an ongoing subscription or service fee?

How much would you pay for this amazing device? $250? $500? $1000?

How about less than $100? How is that possible?

This amazing device is one you already owned and which I still use to this day—The VCR (video cassette recorder).

Done laughing/judging/rolling your eyes, yet?

Here’s the thing: I does everything I need it to do. I don’t have Cable TV, so I don’t have that many channels to record anyway. And, on the rare occasion when two shows I like are on at the same time, (Tuesday nights, New Girl on FOX and Happy Endings on ABC) I can usually just watch the one I didn’t record online at Hulu later on in the week. As for fast forwarding through commercials … uh, it kind of invented it. Sure, the quality isn’t as crystal clear as a live broadcast, but it’s not like most sitcoms are shows you have to watch in HD anyway.

So you can keep your fancy DVRs, Rokus and Apple TVs. I’ll spend the money I save on some good old-fashioned Compact Discs and maybe a cave drawing or two.