Digital Devices For You

IP-007 Why?

America needs change. I’m Russell, and I approved this Internet Pumpkin message.

Change can be a double edged sword. It can be good, and it can be bad. Having been in Electronics for thirty muffled years, I’ve seen my fair share of change. In most cases, it’s been for the better. I remember the horizontal and vertical hold controls were right on the front panel of the TV because you had to adjust them  you changed channels. Often even in the middle of a show! Manufactures found a way to sync the picture better, and those controls moved to the rear of the set and seldom needed to be touched. Today, the only such controls are to center the picture left, right, top and bottom in a menu, and perhaps a frequency control to match a PC resolution.

Carol Evans, former Assistant Chief Engineer for WITN-TV always quoted “The only thing in television that remains the same, is that everything changes”. It has been my motto ever since, and is still true not only in TV, but everywhere. Each Manager at NBC 17 has a triangle on their desk. Not to remind us where we live, but as the mathematical symbol for Delta, Δ, or change. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade, or bake a pumpkin pie with that IP.

Many people fear change, and with fear comes anger and a whole lot of emotions both good and bad. “It’s been working fine all these years, why mess with it now?” I’m in my comfort zone, leave me and my TV alone. How much is this going to cost me? Why?

Some of us will run the gambit of emotions before we reach the pinnacle of enlightenment and experience the “ah! factor”. That point when you get all the signals scanned in crystal clear, and then you say to yourself “how did I put up with snowy pictures all this time”? It’s very similar to the grieving process, and yes, I believe the TV is part of the family as I have posted earlier, but in this case, we are giving Gramps a face lift, new legs, and a clear voice. It will be better. It is better.

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