Digital Home Thoughts: Is Your HDTV Your 'Precious'?

"Mine eyes have seen the glory. It is a high-definition television, or, as I call it, "Precious." If you are considering joining the HDTV club, let me give you some advice: In terms of your productivity and value to society, you might as well take up heroin. Not that anything I say will sway you once you enter the gravitational pull of a Circuit City or Best Buy or any of the other dens of gadgetry. I, too, was warned. I was told that I would find myself watching sporting events that otherwise would hold no interest. I was told that I would stare for 30 minutes at a show about squirrels when actual squirrels frolicked right outside my window. I thought I could quit whenever I wanted. That was back when I thought. Now I mostly watch. I used to exercise, read, eat at the dinner table and shower regularly, too. It’s not like I am even into electronics, generally. I certainly couldn’t decipher the Sanskrit that passed for the directions of how to hook the thing up. But then it sprang to life. The first thing I saw was a baby turtle struggling across a sandy beach. It was quickly devoured by something or other. I was smitten."

I have to admit I had much the same reaction when I had the cabel company hook up my HDTV box. The only thing on in HD at the time was horse racing. I swear I've never been so facinated by a horse race pre-show! :) An amusing article that basically warns you that once you go high-def, you'll never go back. Kind of like when I upgraded from a 15" to a 17" monitor, or from dial-up to DSL. Definitely no going back.