It has Been so Long

Posted on 2007/04/29 10:51:48 (April 2007).

[Saturday 28 April]

It has been almost six months since I moved into the new flat, believe it or not. If I start looking around I can see finally a house, furniture in place, a bit of generalized mess, but a house nonetheless.

There was a missing touch, the flat lacked a TV.

I am not a great TV lover, I watch it when there is football and news, maybe some satirical program.
Still it was something that I needed to have, especially because one of the furniture that I bought has this huge space in the center devised for a TV set to be put inside.

As of yesterday this emptiness has been filled with a Samsung flat screen LCT TV.

I am surprised how newer TVs seem to be truly Plug and Play (as opposed to the Plug and Pray or Windows), after attaching the DC cable and switching it on, the TV did it all by itself and found the channels, names, Digital Channels and so on.

My memories were from another TV set that we bought when I was ten, on that TV all the settings had to be done manually, but then again, it is a long time ago.

So here it is, black, looking good but switched off...

Yes, this is the problem. I am totally not used to watching TV anymore, so it doesn't come automatically to switch it on just for the sake of it. I even forgot when this program is on or when the news are supposed to be broadcasted...

In reality my hope is that I will be able to link it to the computer to watch DVDs, and play games, because the sole use of "watching programs" might not excuse the expense for the TV itself...

Oh well, it's here, now I have one more thing to buy before I truly can call this place home. A table to have some guests coming for dinner!

I agree - TV is great for watching DVDs and material that you choose to watch, but it is an awful activity when we just sink in front of it and watch whatever tosh the TV companies can afford/deign to throw at us. I haven't watched TV for more than 10 years (TV in Greece is pretty dire), and I feel a richer man (psychologically) for it.

Posted by Bryan at 2007/04/29 14:09:20.

Ciao Bryan, I completely agree... It has been 6 months that I managed to avoid the trash thrown at me, and I feel I am a better man. But since sometimes I missed watching the news and DVDs, I decided to go for it. Generally speaking I hope that all conventional TVs die terribly and we get to the point where we can actually choose what to watch..:P Do you get that channel that broadcasts to no end sirtaki and other greek singers?

Posted by Lox at 2007/04/29 14:46:50.

Syrtaki and other Greek singers? That seems to characterise all Greek channels - when they have nothing else t show they pump out a stream of lithe women and athletic yet strangely effeminate blokes swivelling away to Greek music, as if that were entertainment...

Yes, conventional TV has an unsteady road ahead of it, and let's hope that shakes it up in a positive manner!! On-demand TV is, perhaps, the way to go, but it is also a *long* way to go here :-(

Posted by Bryan at 2007/04/29 17:56:19.

We don't have a TV yet either. I'm considering buying something similar to what you did - but more as a big screen for the Mac Mini than for any TV.

Whilst I'd probably rather surf the web for an evening than be a couch potato in front of the TV, I am quite interested in the idea of some sort of computer based PVR - like the EyeTV on the Mac perhaps. Effectively then the TV tuner becomes just another download channel, much the same as getting podcasts on your iPod.

Posted by John at 2007/04/30 22:17:04.

John: I do not understand how you use the Mini to become a PVR... Can it be set in a way that it recors off the TV whatever thing is broadcasted? Doesn't it needs some sort of TV tuner incorporated in the main Hardware?

Posted by Lox at 2007/05/01 06:15:11.

Yes the EyeTV is a little USB TV tuner thing.

http://www.elgato.com

Posted by John at 2007/05/01 08:40:42.

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