TV or Not TV

That is the question. We are up at the island where, although it is available, we have no cable. Thus, no Golf Channel, no HBO, no MSNBC, no PBS, no Home and Garden. Instead, we have an antenna which only picks up three Canadian stations. I actually like watching Canadian, particularly the news. We were here when the Iraq War was heating up and their coverage was very civilized and objective with no flags waving in the background. But I tire of hockey and don’t watch TV here very often. One of the reasons is that it is actually more fun looking out the window, noting the changes in wind and tide and the coloration of Mt. Baker. Back in Ashland, which will soon be our former home, I am equipped with premium cable and TiVO—the great invention of the late Twentieth Century. With TiVO my channel surfing days ended much the relief of my mate (women do not understand channel surfing). In Ashland, I am a TV addict. With TiVO one accumulates a huge inventory of programs through the use of the Season Pass and the Wish List. The Season Pass will automatically record all the Daily Shows, all the Colbert Reports, all the Project Runways and America’s Top Models, all of The Wire and The Office, all of Survivor, This Old House, Playing Lessons with the Pros and all of Masterpiece Theater. The Wish List will find and automatically record every Hugh Grant film or each appearance Helen Mirren makes on any talk or interview show. Finally, TiVO (and all Digital Recording Devices) allow one to skip commercials. I no longer have the desire to buy anything. TiVO reminds me of those little fishing games they used to have at school carnivals. You threw a line over a curtain and someone tied a prize to it. It was always a surprise. I love to turn on the tube and see what TiVO has captured for my viewing pleasure. It’s often surprising. But we are moving to the island and technology is changing. The wise young men say that the future of TV is “on demand”, and on the computer. So, I am going to hold off until this new technology resolves. Lots of shows are currently available and a growing inventory of DVDs offer all the favorite shows and more a short time after their first run. I, in fact, have just won the entire second season of Boston Legal, a show I have never watched and possibly have no interest in. We’ll use Netflixs as a holding action and enjoy high definition like pictures on the laptop with sound pouring through Bose Headphones. The gigantic HD TV will have to wait until the tech geniuses come up with a solution as elegant as, say, the iPod.