Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Seniors Beware: Modern Technology
By William Weatherstone of The Diesel Gypsy
With having a new flat screen TV equipped with high definition capabilities, I wished to upgrade my DVD player to a Blu-ray model to get the full benefit of my viewing.
After purchasing a unit (the same brand as my TV so as to have a single compatible remote), it was just a matter of unplugging the old standard unit and plugging in this advanced viewing experience.
I watched two movies in glorious high definition and then was all cranked up to view the movie Avatar. I had the pop corn all buttered up, the beer was chilled to perfection and away we go.
Pushed the magic start button, had a swig of beer and then WHAMO - the screen went scarlet red and said that this video cannot be played until the player has been upgraded. UPGRADED? Are you kidding? This machine is six days old.
I immediately called the salesman and got a stupid answer: “I don’t know.”
How do you upgrade a video player?
I have since learned, by research and picking a lot of brains, how to cure this problem. (No thanks to the sales staff, their interest is only selling for a profit.)
Upgrading is possible if you have access to a computer and the internet, or send it back for a financial refund.
The way it works:
First, you (on the PC) punch up the brand name of your player. Second you find the model that you have. From there you check for the download section. You then download the upgrade for your particular machine that you have.
NOTE: I forgot to mention that you will need a portable flash drive (memory stick or whatever you want to call it). You will download the upgrade to the flash drive and when all is finished, you will download to you printer, (hopefully you will have one) the PDF file on how to install this upgrade.
Simple, eh? Yeah, right!
Then the next step is to take the flash drive and stick it in the back of the player (This is not a dirty action - ha-ha) and follow the instructions that you printed off. It will show your progress on the TV itself.
Aha! Finally you can watch the movie that you were restricted from. If all else fails, and you either fluffed the procedure or you do not have the savvy or equipment to complete this procedure, the outcome solution can only be...
...take the machine back to the sales person and tell them to either fix it or stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
The Diesel Gypsy said that.
[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Instructions for submitting are here.]
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.
Good Lord, I can't even program my phone! What has this world come to? Or I should say, what hath man wrought?
Posted by: Lyn Burnstine | Tuesday, 27 July 2010 at 06:31 AM
Ah William, Hello !
I wondered what had happened to you.
Glad to know you're still with us and striving to keep up with all the latest technical 'stuff'. Overwhelming ain't it?
Adapt or die with an old TV remote grasped firmly with both hands,even though it no longer works.
Every time I purchase some new gadget I begin to groan, and my eyes cross at the idea of trying to decipher the instructions.
Good to see you here again.
Posted by: Helen | Tuesday, 27 July 2010 at 12:11 PM
Or....you can watch Avatar in a theater.
Shoot, I couldn't even set the clock on my VCR.
Nice to hear from you, William. Glad your popcorn's buttered and your beer chilled.
Posted by: Jeanne Follett | Tuesday, 27 July 2010 at 12:47 PM