A lot of my friends, and even I, joke that I hate change. But I don't. When there's a new technology, I tend to be an early adopter. I love being able to do things I couldn't do before.
What I don't like is change that takes away functionality that I find valuable in the name of giving me something I don't give a shit about -- or, usually, to accomplish some goal related to the service provider or product manufacturer (I'm looking at you, Microsoft) rather than the consumer/user.
Last month it was Facebook, which "improved" itself by taking away our ability to edit or hide applications. I had forty bazillion easter eggs and hugs and quizzes all over my friends page, and there was no way to hide them other than to hide or remove the friend -- or beg them not to use those things. But why should my friends restrict themselves from using an application they enjoyed, just to avoid annoying me? The day before the change, I could hide those things permanently. Now I couldn't. This was Facebook's problem.
Obviously Facebook agreed, because they gave us back that functionality a week or two later. Yay.
Today, it's Comcast, or I guess, all cable providers. The television in my bedroom, which I use once or twice a week to watch an episode of House Hunters or a few minutes of Animal Planet while I fall asleep, stopped working. Although it turned out to be a damaged cable, the tech told me that in June, I'd no longer be able to view anything other than the local broadcast channels without a box on my TV set, due to some new FCC regulations.
The box is free, and so is the service call to install it. But the box is ugly. It's electronic, which means it has lights and cords and it's ugly and it makes a little buzzing sound and as I may have mentioned, it's ugly. I already keep my DVD player in a drawer and only hook it up if I want to watch something, so I hoped I could do that with this, but it's too complicated to hook up and you have to call the cable company to re-set it every time you disconnect it.
It also requires its own remote control, which means I now have three for a television I watch for around two hours a week, if that.
I had what I wanted: My TV set in my bedroom. And it played Animal Planet and HGTV.
Now I have a little always-on green light, ugly cords running all over the place, a hideous little black box staring at me, and a receiver stuck to the front of it with a wire running to the box. I also have a new remote control and functionality that means nothing to me -- wow, I can now watch 20 more channels that I don't want to watch. Yay.
/whineage
Oh, for the love of Mike, will you quit it??? Complain about...the fact that certain shows are only 83 episodes long, or that shoes cost too much, or that I CAN'T AFFORD A KINDLE RIGHT NOW!!!!!
Stuff like that. Deal with the buzz, yo.
Posted by: Red | 10 April 2009 at 03:38 PM
Yo, Red? Somebody ask you to make a list what subjects bloggers can write about? Cuz last time I asked, part of the beauty of being unpaid was that they could pick their own topics.
I have the same beef regarding the gratuitous bogging down/dumbing down/revamping of software, gadgets and websites. Again and again, they fix what wasn't broken, and make it less useful, less pleasant to use, and crammed with features I don't need and didn't want to pay for.
About the Comcast thing...your TV isn't really old, is it? We're not talking about a digital cable box? Because this sounds hinky. (and Comcast techs aren't the brightest lights out there.) Try calling another cable company and checking whether it's true. (I can't say because we have satellite). I could totally see Comcast shanghaing their customers into paying for another box just for the extra fees.
Posted by: Susan | 10 April 2009 at 04:52 PM
MacGyver is 83 episodes and that guy would know how to fix your cable with some dental floss, a paper clip, and a fur ball.
And the next time you're painting your toenails, slap a little of the polish on the led light and the evil green alien will no longer be an issue.
Posted by: Christopher | 10 April 2009 at 04:57 PM
I'm not sure how I would survive without all of the buzzing and red and green lights around here. That's how I check the power is still on every time I walk in the house and think to myself: "this house looks pretty dark... did I remember to pay that bill thing?"
For the really annoying lights. Tiny piece of electrical tape works very well.
Posted by: Sue Cosby | 10 April 2009 at 05:11 PM
Or, instead of tape, drape a beautiful piece of fabric over the whole thing, even the tv. I do agree with your larger complaint, it is very annoying to have to accept more when you want less.
Posted by: Cate | 10 April 2009 at 06:09 PM
Seriously, you need a BOX now for basic cable...sheesh. Maybe I'll keep the DirecTv afterall. The little blue light goes out when I turn off the box. I understand having a box for them, but for Comcast's basic service!?! That makes NO sense...hmmm.
Posted by: TheWeyrd1 | 10 April 2009 at 07:31 PM
Am I misunderstanding something here? I watched the digital special on PBS and they said that if you have cable or satellite - you don't need the digital converter box. You only need the digital converter box if you have an old analog tv that is getting it's signal from the rabbit ears on the TV. If you have a digital TV, you don't need the box but may need a powered antenna to pull in the signal if you have a crappy signal now.
Posted by: Cheryl | 10 April 2009 at 10:55 PM
Without the box, which is free, I can only get channels 1-30, which are currently "broadcast" channels. To watch Animal Planet and HGTV, which is all I watch on that TV, I need the box.
Until today, I didn't need the box to watch them.
Posted by: Christie | 10 April 2009 at 11:35 PM
The nail polish idea sounds good. :-) The sitting room off my bedroom is where I keep my computer set up and it looks like an airport runway in there in the dark. I have a bath rug covering the printer, and other bits and pieces propped up on the lights on some hardware but the modem still looks like a ufo has snuck in the house.
Posted by: Cheryl | 11 April 2009 at 12:20 AM
OHHHHH, you have basic plus or something like that. Yeah, I don't get why you need a box unless you have an OLD TV in your bedroom. When I lived at my last apartment I had about 65 channels of Comcast for free...heh...NO box. And that included HGTV. I'm not sure about Animal Planet, because at the time I wasn't home enough to watch much TV anyway...and I didn't have a pet. I still think it's weird that you have to have a box for basic plus...
Posted by: TheWeyrd1 | 11 April 2009 at 09:41 PM
Ummm, Susan? I happen to know Christie personally, and, although you don't get what my comment was about, she does. I'd say, think before you speak. Last time I checked, I can pick on a friend, especially if that friend knows and understands that I'm picking on her OCD-ness.
Posted by: Red | 12 April 2009 at 04:56 PM