Spring Break
Bigger televisions: A sign of growth or decay?
Jason M. Wallace
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: Opinion
Technology is an exponentially growing machine that feeds off new scientific feats and consumer demands. But how much bigger will airplanes, military ships and buildings grow in our lifetime? More interestingly, how much will consumer electronics grow over the next few years?
Televisions started as interactive pieces of furniture. An old cathode ray tube television from the 1950s looked like a small dresser with a glass screen. The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada highlighted Panasonic's 150" plasma television. It was nicknamed "the life wall" because the television could easily take up an empty wall in any living room due to its massive screen and its depth of only one inch.
The television that was in my parent's house when I was growing up was in a large, polished wooden frame with simple stripes carved into the sides to give it some character. It swiveled on a heavy, wooden floor mount. It served as a piece of furniture as well because we decorated it like any other piece of furniture in the house ¬-with ornaments that suited the season or upcoming holiday. Sadly enough, the tube in the wooden box burned out a few years ago, and now my parents are in the process of buying a flat-panel television.
Like early radios, televisions have become standard necessities for our homes. They provide us with news, entertainment and connections with the world around us. Television brings us together and sedates our minds for a few hours after a busy day. But what does it say about our culture if our demands have produced a wall-sized television? Is the futuristic technology of Fahrenheit 451 upon us today? Do we consume television, or is it consuming us?
A big television and an extended cable package is just another status symbol, next to diamond rings and fancy cars. The images used in commercials for Cadillac and high definition televisions seem to be blending--they're used for marketing purposes. One of the big advertisements for leasing a room in The Bellamy apartments is that every living room is furnished with a 32" flat-panel television.
When people camp, a source of running water is usually the best place to set up the tent. Is television as much as a necessity as water? It seems so-without television, how would we know about Pur water filters and other such consumer goods that are intended to make life more enjoyable?
It's getting ridiculous that televisions and other electronics are now consistently being viewed as necessities in life.
We should be concentrating on more important issues than how cool the new flat screen, LCD TV is.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
Televisions started as interactive pieces of furniture. An old cathode ray tube television from the 1950s looked like a small dresser with a glass screen. The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada highlighted Panasonic's 150" plasma television. It was nicknamed "the life wall" because the television could easily take up an empty wall in any living room due to its massive screen and its depth of only one inch.
The television that was in my parent's house when I was growing up was in a large, polished wooden frame with simple stripes carved into the sides to give it some character. It swiveled on a heavy, wooden floor mount. It served as a piece of furniture as well because we decorated it like any other piece of furniture in the house ¬-with ornaments that suited the season or upcoming holiday. Sadly enough, the tube in the wooden box burned out a few years ago, and now my parents are in the process of buying a flat-panel television.
Like early radios, televisions have become standard necessities for our homes. They provide us with news, entertainment and connections with the world around us. Television brings us together and sedates our minds for a few hours after a busy day. But what does it say about our culture if our demands have produced a wall-sized television? Is the futuristic technology of Fahrenheit 451 upon us today? Do we consume television, or is it consuming us?
A big television and an extended cable package is just another status symbol, next to diamond rings and fancy cars. The images used in commercials for Cadillac and high definition televisions seem to be blending--they're used for marketing purposes. One of the big advertisements for leasing a room in The Bellamy apartments is that every living room is furnished with a 32" flat-panel television.
When people camp, a source of running water is usually the best place to set up the tent. Is television as much as a necessity as water? It seems so-without television, how would we know about Pur water filters and other such consumer goods that are intended to make life more enjoyable?
It's getting ridiculous that televisions and other electronics are now consistently being viewed as necessities in life.
We should be concentrating on more important issues than how cool the new flat screen, LCD TV is.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
jimbo327
posted 10/09/08 @ 11:20 AM EST
"The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada highlighted Panasonic's 150" plasma television. It was nicknamed "the life wall" because the television could easily take up an empty wall in any living room due to its massive screen and its depth of only one inch. (Continued…)
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