Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

I don't want to be one of those people who resist change.  Makes me feel so old.  But I also don't believe in change for the sake of change, especially when it comes to technology.  So I wasn't too keen to switch out my 2 year old PVR for the latest edition.  Some background...

Remember how I changed my cell phone plan, saved a bundle, and announced the cable bill was next?  Well, I finally got around to doing that yesterday after receiving my latest statement showing a $16/month increase.  I have my cable, Internet, and home phone (yup, I'm a dinosaur...still like the old land line) bundled together and the monthly bill has been creeping up ever so slightly over the past couple of years.  But a $16 increase?  So I took a long hard look at our cable package and realized we don't watch even one third of the channels we pay for.

Off I toodled to the Shaw office and, lo and behold, they have some better packages than they used to.  You know the ones I mean -- you have to take a gazillion channels you don't want to get the one you do.  Now they have some smaller packages, some of which you can break down even further.  We pared it down and I ended up with a package that would cost $65 instead of $93 including a couple of new hockey channels I didn't have before.  And the recent increase in my bill?  Attributed to my 2 year service contract expiring and my now having to pay for the PVR box.  But...if I signed a new 2 year contract it would be free again.  No brainer.  But did I want to upgrade to the new box?  Nope, I didn't.  The old one worked very well, thank you very much, and did everything I needed.  But oh, what's this?  I can't sign a new service contract unless I upgrade the equipment.  Which, I'm assured, I can take home right now and install myself.  Yeah, right.  But for $15/ month I guess I can figure out a new machine -- which now records 6 programs at the same time as opposed to the 2 on the old one.  Just how much TV do they think I watch?

Home with the new machine, remove the old one, hook up the new, improved version of exactly the same thing.  Except now it won't do what the instructions said it would do upon plugging it in.  Push this button, unplug that wire, start again, and nope, still won't do what it's supposed to.  Put in a call to service and push this button, unplug that wire as instructed.  Then wait for 30 minutes while they do whatever they do on their end.  And then -- success!  I have picture. Thank you very much.

Until I start to explore around the dial.  (The dial? That doesn't make me sound too old.) And what's this? The HD channels are fine but all SD channels are coming in fuzzy and the picture does not fill the screen.  Not like with the old machine where everything was crystal clear on every channel.  Call service again.  Explain what's what. Oh, we can fix this over the phone.  Hit the Menu button.  Oh, the Menu button isn't bringing up the right screen? Hmmm... well... guess we'll have to send out a technician.  I express my displeasure at being forced into the new equipment which is apparently not as good as the old, and the fact that if we stretch the picture to fit the screen, it will only be taking a fuzzy picture and making it fuzzier.  All said in a very nice way, by the way, because I do like the always helpful people who work for Shaw.  But I'm frustrated so I think I'm entitled to a mini rant.

And now I have to reschedule my day around waiting for a technician.  He arrives, fixes my screen aspect ratio or whatever it's called.  But he just can't seem to grasp what I'm saying when I tell him all the channels used to be clear with the old box.  We go back and forth on this topic until I pull out the old remote control and he has an AH HA! moment -- the old box was an even older piece of equipment than their newest old piece of equipment even though it was only two years old.  He tries to reassure me that there are some great new things coming for these new boxes.  Will it make and serve me a drink? I ask.  Reluctantly he shakes his head.

Bottom line?  I've now wasted the better part of two days pissing around with something I didn't want in the first place to save about $25/month while sacrificing ease of operation and quality of product.

Technology.

Ok, maybe I am getting old.