Home Entertainment Technology
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
We now have so many different forms of electronic entertainment in our homes that it is getting to the point of ridiculousness.
The forms are many but here are the most common : Cassette, Tuner, Vinyl, CD Player, Minidisc, ( and associated amplifiers), Video, DVD, TV, Computer Games (for the TV), Personal Computer, and now Digital TV.
There are many problems created by this excess, not least of which is finding enough power points and adaptors combined in a safe way.
Other problems include miles of tangled cables behind the "entertainment centres", at least 3 remote control units, and the responsibility of one person in the household who knows how it all works and interacts. This person is normally also the one who always has to set up the video/digital TV!
One problem which the author finds annoying is that the Digital TV doesn't work properly anyway! It is supposed to have an on-screen TV Guide. But as anyone who has used this "service" will know, the information is sometimes so slow to come up on the screen that it would be quicker to walk down to the shops and back for the Radio Times!
But what annoys most is that most of this stuff overlaps each other. Why can't we buy one bit of kit which has a screen for your personal computing needs and your TV, a CD player for your PC software, your music CDs and DVD, a built in tape deck, Minidisc, tuner, amplifier and tape video! Then there would be just a power cord and TV/Cable line in and 2 speaker cables out! Perfect!
