Television... Or Lack Thereof

In front of my couch, an Ikea "Pilbo" table sits atop a multi-coloured rug, and then an empty space looms in the distance. That empty space should clearly hold a big TV stand/shelf unit with a television, DVD player, and so on. But I've been here for six months now and the spot is empty. And honestly I'm not in any rush to change that. My reasoning for this is multi-pronged:

Televisions Are Expensive - If I wanted to get a nice, new set to watch my DVDs and such, after taxes, a cabinet, cables, and more, I'd be spending between $1000 and $2000 right there. And frankly it is more important for me to have money to spend on a vehicle in case the Camry craps out on me. That vehicle is starting to show its age... Its days are numbered. This is also why I'm not setting any date for throwing money done for a new MacBook.

LCD vs. Plasma - This big fight is by no means settled. Technology is continually improving and the customer will be the winner. Time is on my side, and waiting will only mean the prices will come down and technology will get better.

What's On TV Anyway? - I got tired of broadcast television many years ago. The truth about television is that we, the viewers, are the product and our eyeballs are being sold to advertisers. The programming is just a "necessary evil" that allows this business model to flourish. And honestly, I resent being treated as just a mindless pair of eyeballs. It's demeaning. And there's no way I will pay Rogers $40, $50, $60 per month for the privilege of being part of the networks' slave-harem of viewers. No thank you.

The good TV shows can be bought on DVD anyway, which confers many advantages on the viewer: Watch it in DVD-quality videos. Watch it whenever you want. Watch it as many times as you want. Pause, rewind, slow-motion. No advertisements. DVD extras, interviews, etc. Resell it on eBay when you're done. I have hundreds of DVDs sitting around that I've been watching on the computer. Watching these on a bigger screen from the couch would be my main incentive for getting a television. That and the Wii.

The HD War - One of the big draws to new televisions is HD resolution in anticipation of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, plus upscaling of existing DVDs. But my take on the HD war is unconventional. I think that the present high-definition battle will end up in a stalemate. The vast majority of users will avoid the early-adopter prices and stick with DVD until they know who "won" the format war. Who wants to buy a video playback device when nobody is releasing movies for it? The war is so hyped up that nobody will fight it. And as such, neither standard will be adopted and DVD will continue to reign supreme. And again the industry will have spent billions of dollars on nothing, learning what they should have learned decades ago. Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD in terms of movie delivery systems will be relegated to the same side-show as Super-Audio CDs, DVD-A and DAT. I think that if I spent big money on an HD display with fancy HDMI support and all that, it would ultimately go to waste. That's not a good way to spend my money. In my opinion, it's the next format after Blu-Ray / HD-DVD that will supplant DVDs.

My Computer Monitor Is Fine - I've got a 19" Dell 1905FP LCD. Unlike most LCDs, this one has 8-bit colour accuracy. My DVDs look just fine on it. It's not landscape mode and a bunch of people can't sit on the couch and watch a flick, but it is good enough for now. And I can live with that.


And that, in a rather large nutshell, is why I'm in no rush to buy a TV. Dear Rogers, if you want me to be a part of your business model, you'll have to give me the display and programming for free, and then maybe I'll choose something to watch. Maybe.