Technology Articles

The Mother of All Inventions

WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT inventions of the last 200 years? The BBC tried to answer that question recently and I think they did a poor job. A few other places have done a better job. By a wide margin they listed the bicycle as being first among all inventions. I find it hard to believe the bicycle had a more profound impact on society than the light bulb, automobile and telephone. Of course, I amy be biased.

It has been more than 35 years since the United States landed a man on the moon, arguably the greatest technological achievement in our coutry's history. Since then advances in technology have been much more subtle. Some even contend that we are entering a dark age of innovation. I hope they are wrong.

In an effort to spur conversation and dialogue I came up with a better list of the most important inventions since 1800. They include:

What do you think? ■

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Spaghetti Free

JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, when are all the brilliant minds in America and Japan going to come out with wireless stereo equipment? I know Radio Shack sells wireless speakers, but their quality is definitely not up to par with those that the average American guy has hooked up to his 300+ watt receiver with Monster Cable.

But imagine (if you will) a DVD player, TiVo and/or video game console without external cables or wires. With a push of a button it would locate the receiver and configure itself. The mess of spaghetti of cables peeking out from behind the television and stereo equipment would vanish, the time consuming pain of hooking-up stereo components and configuring them would be gone, and those of us who are called upon every time a friend or relative needs their stereo hooked-up would be much happier.

Ah yes, spaghetti free! ■

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Lazy Bones

I DON'T WATCH A TON of television or listen to the stereo as often as I would like, but when I do, I want to enjoy it as much as possible. Lately that hasn't been the case.

My stereo receiver came with this enormous, complicated remote control that doesn't make me very happy. It's far too large, it isn't comfortable in the hand, the LCD screen is slowly losing its brightness, it is impossible to read, and the controls are not at all user friendly.

I began my quest to find a new remote control many months ago, but couldn't find anything that appealed to me. I also wanted something that appealed to my girlfriend (who is the quintessential technophobe). I hate needing to use multiple remote controls, so a universal remote control is a must. It needs to be functional and it needs to be easy to use. Up until recently my quest ended in failure.

The first television remote control was invented in 1950 by Zenith Electronics Corporation and it was called the "Lazy Bones." Lazy is right. I know it is probably smarter to get off my hind quarters and change the channels manually, but who does that any more? Besides, channel surfing, especially during commercials, is a must.

Lisa doesn't understand my need to channel surf. She always worries that I will forget to change the channel back in time. But I have this instinct; a sixth sense. I know when two minutes is up and when the commercial will be over. I tell her not to worry. And with atomic clock-like precision, I always manage to flip back to the previous program at the exact moment the commercial ends...unless she's watching the Lifetime Movie Channel and I am deliberately stalling.

I think I found the perfect remote control, though. Logitech has come out with a new product called the Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote. Until recently, I didn't even know Logitech made a remote control. Everything about this device has me mildly excited. If I buy it I'll let you know how well it works. Until then I'll manage to get by with my other one. Then again, maybe I'll get some exercise and change the channels myself. ■

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HDTV: I Can See Clearly Now

A NEW BILL WAS INTRODUCED in Congress requiring broadcasters to convert to digital TV operations and give up analog spectrum for public safety use. The latest in a series of unenforceable deadlines would occur on December 31, 2006. Will the broadcasters finally broadcast in digital before? I hope so.

So far the HDTV experiment, in my opinion, has failed. The first HDTV television sets began appearing on store shelves in 1998...almost seven years ago. Those who made the mistake of buying early models are now finding they can’t take advantage of the latest and greatest features and peripherals. Broadband component input/output connections gave way to FireWire, which gave way to DVI with HDCP connections, which is now being surpassed by something called HDMI.

Also, television sets are still far too expensive, the technology is too complicated, and programming is still very limited. It seems only nature and sports are available on HDTV. While I do enjoy watching football in HDTV (football was made for HDTV), I wish more programming was available. It's high time the U.S. government kicks the industry in the behind and finally delivers HDTV to the masses. ■

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