Do you know what it’s like to be trying to come up with an idea on some nights and nothing strikes the brain?



I have worked in the technical side of what is affectionately known as “the media” for over 20 years. As I look around there are times when I get nostalgic over the way things used to be than in the current 500-channel (with 100+ channels of hi-def) environment than from the days when we first got cable in the house when 30 channels seemed like a lot to even my childhood days of over-the-air television when you actually had to get up to change the channel. In those days I also loved that the black-and-white TV in my room could pull in stations from other cities under the right weather conditions. I used to love watching the promos and see shows at different times and even shows that weren’t running on my local channels. During the years that I have worked for my employer I had a free cable perk which allowed me to get all the channels plus internet when that came along for a small amount of money. At least when I lived alone and I didn’t have to use as many boxes or a separate internet connection. But, in recent months, our division was spun off into a separate company from the cable company and I recently lost the cable perk although I am getting the triple-play discount. And now that I am paying for it, it seems that I am starting to re-evaluate my viewing habits especially when looking at the rate card and realizing that the regular cost for just basic plus the digital package costs more than what the whole package including all premiums cost some 15 years earlier. Sometimes flipping through the guide to see what’s on (when I’m not trying to catch up on my DVR recordings), it seems like there was more on TV when there were fewer channels than there are now.

I wonder how many other people feel the same way? This is coming from a person who used to pick up the local edition of TV Guide everywhere he traveled which is no longer possible since TV Guide discontinued local editions 6 years ago. Since I couldn’t think of much else, here’s some old tidbits. Enjoy!