A 32 Inch Television for the Living Room

There is nothing sillier than walking into a tiny living room and seeing a 32 inch television. For some people, their television set is the center of their lives. It sits there, regardless of whether there's room for it or not, with huge, surround sound speakers. In times gone by, families used to gather around the radio. Now, it's the TV that dominates, sitting in splendor like an altar.

I would like to have a big, flat screen set with the latest state of the art HD quality and all the digital recording gizmos, but only if I had room for it. It would be great to watch sporting events on it and movies. The way things are going, everyone will have a mini theater in their home. And who can blame them? A night out at my local movie complex costs me well over $20 and I have to deal with noisy people, over-priced snacks, and sticky floors! A 32 inch television is just the tip of the iceberg. There are even bigger screens and they'll get bigger still. The big sets of a few years ago were really not worth buying, because the screen resolution was so poor, but that problem seems to have been solved now.

My family is usually about five years behind the times, in terms of technological development, so we haven't even got a widescreen yet. When we watch DVDs on our set, not only is it a mere 27 inch TV but there is an annoying gap at the top and the bottom of the picture. All the DVDs sold these days, are in the widescreen format. Even more than a 32 inch television, I'd like a screen that fits into the wall. The futuristic films of the 1960s and 1970s predicted a future where we would all own big, wall screens.

I find all the technical jargon very confusing. I'm not technologically minded and I need these things explained to me as if I'm seven years old. As for setting the timer on the DVD recorder, I usually manage it after a period of trial and error and recording lots of programs I didn't want to watch. By the time we get our dream 32 inch television, it will be old fashioned and a dozen other innovations will have overtaken it.

I'm looking forward to the day when we can have one unit in the living room that serves all our entertainment and information needs. There will be one big box, built around the central 32 inch television. It will contain the computer, DVD player, internet access and games consoles. It will also answer the telephone, send faxes and make the coffee.