June Renew: Day Twenty-Three
My Set-Up
I don’t have a cable box. I haven’t had one for the past decade or so. Haven’t needed one. I’ve got all I need on my custom-built supercomputer. There’s at least ten terabytes worth of space where I can put all the movies or TV shows I want on it. Plus I’ve got an internet connection, which means YouTube videos as far as the eye can see.
It’s a comfortable enough setup. There’s no TV shows or live events I’m dying to see. And I can always download them later. The only thing that gets particularly irritating is when I have to work from home and I can’t readily watch the show while we’re on air. But that’s few and far between. Other than that, it’s just me and my Smart TV that isn’t used for anything other than a fancy computer monitor. And because I’m not using this piece of technology to its full potential, I wonder if it’s beginning to take notice and punish me for doing so.
Way-Too-Personal Devices
Weird things keep happening with this Smart TV. Sometimes, well, most of the time, when I turn it on, it says it has no connection to the remote. Which is curious, because then how did I turn the thing on? Anyway, I have to simultaneously press two buttons on the remote to reconnect it, so I can choose the PC option in the menu. Because for some reason it doesn’t want to show my booted up computer after I’ve brought it back from sleep mode.
I’ve done multiple things to try and fix this innocuous yet obnoxious problem. I bought an entirely new remote thinking that would fix it, but the same problems persist. I’ve changed the batteries in the remotes multiple times, which I’m flush with thanks to my panic-buying proclivities. I’ve even called into Samsung tech support, who remotely connected to my TV and reset the system. And nothing seems to work. So I’ve resorted to one last method that does nothing but makes me feel good: yelling at it.
There’s still a sense of paranoia I have that these Smart devices are listening in on everything we do, say, and possibly think. So I make it very clear to my TV that it needs to stop acting up each time I turn it on, asking why or pitching a fit when I think the problem resolved. I do the same thing with my computer. I personify it, asking it why it woke up from its sleep prematurely. Or I’ll tell “whoever is controlling the internet” to stop knocking me offline at random intervals. It’s a weird thing to do. It’s a weird thing to think that all these devices we’ve let into our homes “have” personalities that need to be tended to, and to not upset so they can keep working for us. And based on the advancement of algorithms and A.I., this notion may not be too far off from every day life.
Talking Tech, Literally
I’ve never really been one to need the latest gadget. I don’t ever update my iPhone. I don’t use Airpods and see no need to upgrade my laptop. I do want a new TV that won’t defy me and pretend like it doesn’t know my friend the remote, but I don’t feel like dropping $600 and then calling my super to help hang it on the wall. It’s just too time consuming and expensive right now, so I’ll just deal with this minor inconvenience until the day I don’t have to.
Technology isn’t perfect, and it never has been. But they’re working on bettering it every day. I just hope whoever is programming has the right intentions in mind. Because if I’m living in a world where these devices are actually listening to us, they’d better start paying attention a little more. For now, I just want a good balance of the convenient and the practical without selling too much of my soul to the tech. Or maybe I just need a new TV. One that won’t sass back this time.