I remember in the 1950s our first television coming into the house, the black and white images as my brother and I sat with our noses practically to the screen. Now we have big screens that lurk with black hostility in the corner of the room.
So the new tv came yesterday, a 'Smart' Panasonic, and the chatty installer walked us through its delights. Now in this part of the world, ie, the countryside reception for tvs and mobile phones is dire so this was one of the reasons we were changing. There are two (amongst many) functions 'freeview' and 'freesat' on the new tv, we have an inherited satellite dish which was never used which will help with the reception. But Rupert Murdoch and Sky are not allowed in this house, Amazon is also going the same way.
He was a lovely chap and knew his job backwards as he thumbed through the set-up procedure, pleased to know that we are on a small provider called 'Beeline' for our internet. Apparently, and he did not have a good word for BT, they are much faster, especially as Beeline have just upgraded their speed (without even telling us).
So what is wrong with British Telecom, well 70 year old copper piping is wearing out, all that crackling on the line is water in the pipes. He says the set-up speed can last up to 50 minutes and then the whole thing crashes and you have to start again. All to do with not investing in fibre optics over the last 20 years, which is pretty expensive now.
We are happy with Beeline, they send friendly little messages out during the month, and there is a lot to be said for the local tv people as well, you get to talk face to face with them. The larger companies need you to run round them before you can get a proper answer.
What I have against television, it can take up your time with junk, but hopefully once we have invested with Netflix we should be able to watch what we want in the evening. Anyway big screen (well 49 inches diagonally) means we can watch in full colour horror;)
The snow still lies on the ground and my daughter is coming for the weekend, I hope it does not snow anymore, I have to take kettles of hot water to release the doors on the chicken coop.
Wow, I thought everyone went to fiber optics. I remember when it first came out decades ago as the wonder transmission.
ReplyDeleteWell it is in the big towns but the cost of bringing it out to the wider area, which should have been done years ago, makes it prohibitive. Read somewhere we lie at 16th place in Europe with regards to fibre optic. Very poorly served by a service that should be efficient.
ReplyDeleteMy Smart t v arrives on Tuesday Thelma. I am rather overawed by the thought of it - but you sound pretty au fait with things, so if I get stuck I shall call on your expertise (after all you will have a three day lead on practising)
ReplyDeleteAs long as it is set up properly you shouldn't have too much trouble. Got Netflix yesterday afternoon and Paul watched a favourite Sci-fi. You will also have U-tube, which manages to cover everything you want to know ;)
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