The Electronic Revolution

I have always lagged behind in adopting technology in my home. It is a strange personality trait since I do embrace tools and gadgets that are useful. I did not own a CD until the mid ‘90’s, then again I did not own a CD player until this millenium so I had a CD that I could not play in very many places for like 7 years. I did not have a cell phone until about 7 years ago when I missed a dates because of miscommunication on a meeting location. Women are a great influence for justifying purchases.

I have been thinking about getting a new computer, HDTV, and car for years now but always come back to the same conclusion my 7 year old computer, 10 year old TV, 11 year old car work just fine for most of the stuff I do. The car is a biggie because I did go through my quarter life crisis. For someone that does not drive very much since I walk to work it become extremely difficult to rationalize such an expensive depreciating toy when I have a vehicle that is good for another 120,000 miles (about 20 more years at my annual driving mileage).

Last week after replacing the battery in the remote of my cheap DVD player the remote still does not work, but the DVD player works. Yes there are universal remotes out there but is it really worth it for a $30 DVD player? I should just get a new DVD player, and if I am going to do that I should get a Blue-Ray one. Since Blue-Ray’s are $300 I should just get a $400 or $600 Playstation 3. If I get a Blue-Ray or PS3 then I should get a HDTV to take advantage of the higher picture quality.

A couple days later I get a call encourage me to purchase a new computer so that I could join in on some high-powered Internet games. That got me started thinking about all the possibilities. I love to design figure out strategies. I started with the computer that of course I would have to get a high powered one because it is my favorite toy. Then I figured I should make it wireless capable so that I could get my Wii, my work computer and my girlfriend’s computer online too. If I put the computer downstairs in the main living room I could make it my Blue-Ray DVD player if I got a wireless keyboard and mouse and wouldn’t need the PS3. When I bought the 40” HDTV I could use that as the computer monitor.

Then I started to figure out how I would going to put all this stuff downstairs and what to do with the old TV and DVD. I saw a nice design for an entertainment center at The Container Store. It was pretty much a wall mounted shelving system, something I would never have considered an “entertainment center”. It was so simple that it was exactly what fit my minimalist personality. The price tag was $1700; I rolled my eyes at that. How expensive could it be to buy 4 metal supports, some anchors, screws and pretty boards? I may try to build that even though I only have one saw, which probably is the wrong type of saw for the job.

$1700 Entertainment center
$55 Router
$1000 Computer
$800 HDTV 40”
$120 Wireless mouse and keyboard
$100 Tray top for remote seating

$3775 Subtotal
$245.38 Tax
$4020.38 Total just to play some high powered video games.

So far I just settled for router and a GPS unit. It is just a matter of time before I get a HDTV; just not today. When I bought the GPS unit was programming the home position and it defaulted in Taiwan. I was wondering why the unit has Taiwan as the home position when the only maps that are loaded are the USA maps. I wonder how it intended to tell me to drive from North America to Taiwan.