I don't know how many of you have DVRs, but I really really love my DVR! After my husband went to bed tonight I watched a silly show I had recorded and I was recording something else at the same time. I started thinking about how TV viewing has come such a long way. I'm old enough that we had 3 stations and they went off the air at midnight and played the national anthem. And that was that for TV watching for the day. There were no VCRs or DVD players. Or cable, or anything. Then we got a few independent channels. And at Halloween one station would do an all night spook spectacular with all the old classic horror films. That was an EVENT. But I think I've probably posted about this before. ~
But what I hadn't thought of before was when the VCR first came out. This sounds so stupid now, but when a good movie would come on TV, we'd try to record it without the commercials. You know, hit record, then stop, then record after the commercials and so on and so on. That seems so remarkably stupid now. I guess it took a while to figure out that it was MUCH easier to just fast forward during the commercials. But here's something even dumber: The first time Star Wars came on regular TV, we recorded it. Well the night it aired Texas was having weather. And when Texas has weather it's a very big deal, so the entire movie had weather alerts running under it, weather maps in the corners and occasional pre-emptions with dire predictions of even more weather. So when we'd watch the recording after that we'd forget it was a recording and jump up and look out the window. I really love my DVR.
16 comments:
You are so right about how far TV Watching has come....Of course I am old enough to remember when there wasn't any TV...We had "radio"...And 'Radio' was a God-Send in every way...! I was in Hog Heaven when I got my first VCR--a 3/4 inch one---"professional" VCR...Before VHS came into being...! You couldn't record anything longer than an hour, but that was okay by me....That I could record anything at all was such a miracle...! Fade Out....I still habe a three-quarter incher plus 4 VHS machines, two now with DVD Capability...And TWO DVD Players, too.
I do not have a DVR or a TIVO. I am waiting till I can record two things at once AND watch a third--at the same time....lol!
I laughed when you were describing trying to record stuff using the pause button for No Commercials...INDEED! I remember that well, including making mistakes quite often....where I would push the wrong thing and be recording the comercials and cutting out the movie....lol!
We've come a long way since all of that.
Remember the test pattern? The black and white bullseye thing with the Indian chief in the corner?
I also remember when TV specials were a huge event, like Roots, when everybody watched and then talked about it the next day at work.
As for trying to delete the commercials, some of the most enjoyable viewing I find is the old commercials from stuff I recorded back in the 1980s.
I had a friend who recorded every episode of the Simpsons, without commercials. He'd lay on his stomach in front of the TV, because his family had lost the remote some time before, with his finger poised over the pause button and hit it as the show faded out then wait to hit it again when the commercials ended.
It seemed like lots of insane work, to me, but the tapes were great to borrow for a nice Simpsons hit.
LOL! I remember those days!
I'm so old fashioned, I don't even know what a DVR is. Hang on while I go and look it up...
...okay, it's either a Digital Video Recorder, a Discrete Valuation Ring, a Distance Vector Routing, or a Derwent Valley Railway.
I'm guessing it's a Digital Video Recorder.
I'm still figuring out how to use the remote for my DVD player. :-)
I remember the first VCR I bought was a Betamax from Sony... we thought it was so grand. Then VHS killed betamax and there I was with an obsolete machine... I had to buy a VHS machine to be able to watch rented films.
Now I have a DVD player/recorder with a 250 gig hard disk. So now I can record shows and be able to burn them onto a DVD to use with my students... As for the fight between the new systems (BlueRay and HD DVD) I'll wait for a clear winner. Got burned once, learned my lesson.
Oh my gosh! I remember us getting our very first TV when I was about 8 years old. Black and white. Ed Sullivan. Howdy Doody. Mickey Mouse Club (the original!)
When my husband heard that a neighbour had bought a Beta, he went out researching and bought a VCR. We were the first people we knew who owned one and I remember doing the same thing trying to record a movie.
Now I have a DVD/VCR player and I still can't figure out how to program it to record something. If hubby were still alive, I'm sure we'd have all the latest gadgets like a wide screen TV, Blue Ray, DVR, etc.
We don't even have Teevo (don't even know how to spell it) here in Canada! Probably a good thing, cuz it'd just confuse me more. lol
Naomi,
~~I use to do local programming for the cable company when I was young and we worked with 3/4". When I left the job, I brought two tapes home. I was too naive to realize I'd never be able to play them in my house!
Ian,
~~I do remember the test patterns! I think there have been different ones. After color I believe it was color bars. I imagine some of those 80's commercials must be rather interesting now.
Ticknart,
~~Did your very tenacious friend go on to use his special skills in his career? A brain surgeon, an air traffic controller?
Tai,
~~If the internet stays around forever and this is found 100 years from now, people won't have a clue what we are talking about!
Josie,
~~Yes, that's what it is. It's built into our cable box, so we don't actually own it. We don't even have a DVD player, we use our xbox360 to watch movies. I'll help you with your remote!
Big Brother,
~~We had a friend that bought one of those and we watched a few movies over there and they were SO sharp! Then boom, he couldn't really find movies anymore. I didn't even know they made DVD players with CD burners on them!
Leslie,
~~Awww, the old Mickey Mouse club with Annette! When I was in daycare that was on very early in the mornings and we were allowed to watch that and Captain Kangaroo as all the kids were arriving. I guess I got there early.
We got one of those a few weeks ago. I love it too.
I remember the first time I went into a video rental store. My friend and I kept laughing because we said "how can this place stay in business? Like, how many times are you going to rent a movie??!" That was when the stores would let you rent a VCR player for a few dollars, too. Shows how much I knew!!
I usually get my movies from the library but do rent movies, too. I don't know anything about DVRs yet but maybe in the next 10 years or so I will get with it!! By then the technology will be so advanced you will be able to download a movie in 2 seconds with your wristwatch or something! Maybe people are doing that now...
Umm, I just made an arse of myself thinking out loud "what's a DVR?" i said and didn't quite finish answering myself before mark started to mock.
Jazz,
~~A DVR??? First a digital camera and now a DVR! Welcome to the 21st Century! Now go out and get a computer. (And I hope you are having a blast on your vacation! Thanks for taking the time out of your fun to stop by.)
Russell,
~~I remember a lot of people thought it wouldn't last, and yes I think "the kids" are downloading movies to their phones and stuff. I hope I never have to watch a movie on a 2 inch screen
Hageltoast,
~~A Tivo is brand name type of a DVR. Most people know what that is. I guess it would be like knowing what a "kleenex" is without knowing the term "facial tissue."
I tossed mine away.Okay, I gave it to my son in law.I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to work it.
This post brought me back to those simpler times. Yes, they were sweet, but how much nicer it is now with DVRs. I don't miss anything. I like your story about the weather warnings in your earlier recordings. :)
kewpi,
~~Maybe he was meant to have that one, but a GOOD son-in-law would have just showed you how to use it.
Scarlet,
~~Yes the DVR is so much better. It's embarassing how many times we would be confused and say, "Really? But it was so nice out earlier?"
I have a new blog now if you want to pop in and visit.
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