Quoting:
And none of the channels were near each other on the dial so you had to keep turning it and turning it but not too fast because then you will break the dial and have to get a pair of pliers to use. :)  How about those rabbit ears with foil??
End Quote

Ah yes!  I remember using pliers to turn the channel.  The good old days!!   ;D

Quoting:
I remember when we had to get out of our seats and flip the dial and t was sometimes painful. >:(

Howard
End Quote

It WAS painful and my brothers and I would fight to see who had to get up and turn the channel. ;)

Quoting:
We only had 2 channels growing up!  But I remember that I fashioned a long pole with a slot in the end that would fit on the channel changing knob on the TV and I could change channels from the couch!! I was and am still lazy!!
End Quote

You had it going on with that invention.  You should've sold it and made a million.   :D

Quoting:
If I can't find the remote, I won't watch TV.  It's not so much lazy it's just that I need to be contantly changing the channels unless something real good is on.  We have 4 on our coffee table now, TV, Stereo, DVD, and Digitial Cable, could have another if we still used the VCR to any degree.  
End Quote

I'd rather not watch if I can't find the remote either.  I'll spend more time looking for the dang thing than the amt of time that the program I wanted to watch was on.     ;)

Quoting:


You had it going on with that invention.  You should've sold it and made a million.   :D
End Quote

D*mn! I should have!! New from K-Tel....Jonman's ChannelStick! Amaze your friends! Amuse your neighbours! Never get off the couch again!!  ;)

Quoting:


D*mn! I should have!! New from K-Tel....Jonman's ChannelStick! Amaze your friends! Amuse your neighbours! Never get off the couch again!!  ;)
End Quote

Quoting:
I remember having a remote-control TV in the early 1960's.  It was a Zenith.  The on-off switch was a push-pull type, but the remote only had two functions--change channel and on-off; and if you turned the TV off with the remote, you had to push in the on-off switch to turn the set off at the set.  But the change channel worked well since it was preset to the only three channels that we picked up.  The manual channel changer was in the back of the set, and there was a fourth channel we could pick up, but never cared for.  And when we got our next TV with a remote in 1990, I found out that you couldn't live without it!
End Quote

Wow, I never knew such a thing existed.  Your family must have been RICH!!   ;D ;D ;D

Quoting:
Does anyone remember those early remotes that were attached to the t.v./vcr? I didn't have one but my sister did. I thought it really sucked because you had to sit very close to the set in order to work it. You might as well just get up to change the channel.

I remember having the wire remote with my VCR...you're right, it did suck.   ;)



Cat
End Quote

Quoting:


Wow, I never knew such a thing existed.  Your family must have been RICH!!   ;D ;D ;D
End Quote

Actually, we were quite poor…I think someone gave us the set…

Quoting:
just imagine,if they never had invented the remote,We all would be changing the channel by hand. ;D

Howard :)
End Quote

The horror! The horror.  :o        





Cat

Quoting:
just imagine,if they never had invented the remote,We all would be changing the channel by hand. ;D

Howard :)
End Quote

No, we'd be using Jonman's invention and he'd be a multi-millionaire.   ;D

Quoting:
I used to throw my brother at the TV.  Unfortunately he's bigger than I am now so I can't do that anymore ;)
End Quote

You silly guy, Rice!  ;D

Quoting:
having a channelstick? How would that work?

Howard
End Quote

I'm not sure, but for a price, I'll bet he'd show you.  Hey, he lost out on making that big money a long time ago, so he'll surely charge you for showing you.   :D

Quoting:


I'm not sure, but for a price, I'll bet he'd show you.  Hey, he lost out on making that big money a long time ago, so he'll surely charge you for showing you.   :D
End Quote

Oh Yeah,Squirrel? How much? ;D

Howard :)

Quoting:


Oh Yeah,Squirrel? How much? ;D

Howard :)
End Quote

Send $1000 in small bills to me and I'll be sure to relay the info to you.  Honest.  Trust me.   ;) ;D

Quoting:


Send $1000 in small bills to me and I'll be sure to relay the info to you.  Honest.  Trust me.   ;) ;D
End Quote

Do you take checks? Sorry,can't send $1000 in the mail.Probably get lost or something..... ;D

Howard

Quoting:
Ahh, yes.  I remember the days when I had to get up off my * and change the channel.  

Now, I just holler for one of the kids to bring me the remote control and I can change the channel from the comfort of my spot on the sofa; not even disturbing the bowl of chips resting on my gut.

;)
End Quote

That's the spirit cs!! Isn't that what kids are for anyway? Heheeee

Quoting:
I must admit that it does bother me when people put the remote on top of the t.v. What is the sense in having one if you have to go to the t.v. to get it?



Cat
End Quote

But if you have a one year old who doesn't respect the word 'No' yet then the top of the tv is the safest place for it.  Stops him changing channels randomly cause he's pretending it's a phone or wandering off with it, putting it in the bin or any of the other things he thinks the remote is for.

If we lose the remote I haven't the foggiest how we'll change channel.  I'm sure we can do it but just don't know where the button(s) are.

Quoting:
I must admit that it does bother me when people put the remote on top of the t.v. What is the sense in having one if you have to go to the t.v. to get it?



Cat
End Quote

If no1's watching the TV, it's a great common spot to put it so everyone knows where it is.  Like anything else, best to consistently put it in a certain (and logical) place so the next person (perhaps you, yourself) can easily find it.  On the TV is logical cuz...it's the TV's remote!  (I also put our VCR and DVD remotes up there.)   :)

Quoting:
We have 4 remotes in our house. ;D

Howard :)
End Quote

We have 4 remotes in just our livingroom. Then there are the ones that are in the bedroom.




Cat

Quoting:


Do you take checks? Sorry,can't send $1000 in the mail.Probably get lost or something..... ;D

Howard
End Quote

Nosiree, I don't take checks!!   ;D  You hide my cash in that envelope...I'll take my chances.

Quoting:
I remember looking in the back (where the slits were and you can see the insides) looking to see if the tubes would light up. If they lit, then I knew the t.v. would turn on. If it didn't, I would spend I don't know how much time banging on the side, unplugging it and plugging it back in, just to try to get it to work. End Quote

You can't bang appliances like you used to to get them to work anymore.  Used to be you could get anything to work by banging or shaking or spitting in the socket.  
Go ahead... whomp the side of your CPU right now a couple of hard ones and see if that makes it work any better.   ;D

Quoting:


You can't bang appliances like you used to to get them to work anymore.  Used to be you could get anything to work by banging or shaking or spitting in the socket.  
Go ahead... whomp the side of your CPU right now a couple of hard ones and see if that makes it work any better.   ;D
End Quote

I guess they just don't make things like they used to. lol




Cat

Quoting:
I remember having a remote-control TV in the early 1960's.  It was a Zenith.  The on-off switch was a push-pull type, but the remote only had two functions--change channel and on-off; and if you turned the TV off with the remote, you had to push in the on-off switch to turn the set off at the set.  But the change channel worked well since it was preset to the only three channels that we picked up.  The manual channel changer was in the back of the set, and there was a fourth channel we could pick up, but never cared for.  And when we got our next TV with a remote in 1990, I found out that you couldn't live without it!
End Quote

:)In the mid 1960's my dad bought us an Admiral Color Console,with a state-of-the-art(for that time)remote.The remote had the TV's on/off switch and a channel changer dial,the dial's inner knob was for VHF channels,and the outer dial was for UHF. Which was all a moot point because our Margate NJ neighborhood had CABLE TV (primitive by today's standards but getting both Philly AND New York channels was a BIG DEAL at that time).

Quoting:
We just added a few more remotes. We just bought a couple of DVD players (one for the livingroom and one for bedroom)




Cat
End Quote

Us too,Cat.Today My Father bought a DVD player so now we have 5,I think? ???


Howard

Quoting:



Us too,Cat.Today My Father bought a DVD player so now we have 5,I think? ???


Howard
End Quote

I really lost count-the livingroom-t.v. VCR, DVD, stereo, dish. The bedroom-t.v, VCR, DVD, boombox-you count them. (I can't count that high. lol  ;))



Cat

Quoting:
Another question:
How did we live without
CABLE?
End Quote

I don't know. ;)


Howard

Quoting:
We only had 2 channels growing up!  But I remember that I fashioned a long pole with a slot in the end that would fit on the channel changing knob on the TV and I could change channels from the couch!! I was and am still lazy!!
End Quote

Quoting:


Ah yes!  I remember using pliers to turn the channel.  The good old days!!   ;D
End Quote

Quoting:
How about they invent a talking remote? You command it to say "FF,REW,PLAY",etc....and it does it when you speak into a small mic.Wouldn't that be good?

Howard :)
End Quote

Quoting:
Ahh, yes.  I remember the days when I had to get up off my * and change the channel.  

Now, I just holler for one of the kids to bring me the remote control and I can change the channel from the comfort of my spot on the sofa; not even disturbing the bowl of chips resting on my gut.

;)
End Quote

Quoting:
If I can't find the remote, I won't watch TV.  It's not so much lazy it's just that I need to be contantly changing the channels unless something real good is on.  We have 4 on our coffee table now, TV, Stereo, DVD, and Digitial Cable, could have another if we still used the VCR to any degree.  
End Quote

I know what you mean. I have a few remotes (one to control the 5.1 Speakers) but I get confused sometimes. I end up turning the VCR on when I mean to switch to DVD.  ;D

Quoting:
Another question:
How did we live without
CABLE?
End Quote

I can't cope with the four terrestrial channels we have to pay a full TV licence for (BBC1,BBC2,ITV,C4 - though in theory a TV licence only cover BBC1 and 2 as the others use adverts to fund themselves). I would rather pay a bit extra for the SKY anyday.  :)

Quoting:


I can't cope with the four terrestrial channels we have to pay a full TV licence for (BBC1,BBC2,ITV,C4 - though in theory a TV licence only cover BBC1 and 2 as the others use adverts to fund themselves). I would rather pay a bit extra for the SKY anyday.  :)
End Quote

Why in some countries do people have to have a license to watch TV? Oh yeah,in many places here in America you MUST pay for CABLE or SATELLITE to get decent reception! What the heck,those old rooftop antennas were ugly anyways,and dangerous in thunderstorms.

Quoting:
Oh, Jonman, you gave me such a belly laugh ;D :D...I wonder if you were one of those who were determined to 'invent' something.
We had 2 channels. Both were Buffalo, NY.
My father was determined to become famous by inventing color TV so he used transparent colored cellophane from our Easter baskets. He put us kids to work cutting out little squares of pink, yellow and blue cellophane then put it together like a puzzle and taped it to our modern 12" Admiral TV screen. All the kids in the neighborhood came to watch the FIRST and ONLY colored TV Saturday mornings...that was the only day cartoons were on back then and at 11PM, the National Anthem was played signaling the end of that day's broadcasting, and God help us if we ever stayed up late enough to hear it.


End Quote

My family's first COLOR set was an Admiral,I've posted in other places on this Decades board about it. That TV was beautiful as well as functional. It was made in the era when TV cabinets were made of gorgeous REAL wood finishes,not the plastic TV's we have today.

Quoting:
other TV inventions some of us can't live without-the VCR,DVD player,and TiVo! I also posted on another Decades post how the FIRST Videotape recorder was created. It's pretty interesting how far video recording has come from that first machine.
End Quote

Video game systems too...MUST......HAVE.....XBOX!!

Quoting:
Why in some countries do people have to have a license to watch TV? Oh yeah,in many places here in America you MUST pay for CABLE or SATELLITE to get decent reception! What the heck,those old rooftop antennas were ugly anyways,and dangerous in thunderstorms.
End Quote

You don't have to pay TV licence, Tony S N Jnr Fan !?!  :o

Wow. Get this. In Britain we have to pay £116 ($200?) a year to keep two channels on the air. Nothing else.

Quoting:


You don't have to pay TV licence, Tony S N Jnr Fan !?!  :o

Wow. Get this. In Britain we have to pay £116 ($200?) a year to keep two channels on the air. Nothing else.
End Quote

Does the license go to support the BBC?  I have high regard for the BBC, notwithstanding recent controversy.
I'm surprised such a licensing system is still around.  Americans would never put up with that.  I mean, Americans have no problem paying outrageous fees for services, as long as it's not charged by the government.  Our Public Broadcasting System is only minimally funded by the government, and it's still a favorite target for piggy right wingers.
Anyway, I'd be interested to understand how the British TV licensing works.
I learned recently that South Africa refused to set up television at all until 1976!  I guess the government felt radio was good enough for South Africa, and that's that!  By the '70s, the market pressure must have forced the change.  Even though only a small portion of the population could afford television, it seems to me there may have been things the reactionary apartheid state didn't want people to see.

Quoting:
Does the license go to support the BBC?  I have high regard for the BBC, notwithstanding recent controversy.
I'm surprised such a licensing system is still around.  Americans would never put up with that.  End Quote

The licence allows you to watch all five terrestrial TV Channels but it usually goes to fund The BBC as the other 3 channels are supported by television adverts.

Here is an anti-licence website based in Britain. Make of it as you wish . . .

http://www.tvlicensing.biz/

Quoting:


You don't have to pay TV licence, Tony S N Jnr Fan !?!  :o

Wow. Get this. In Britain we have to pay £116 ($200?) a year to keep two channels on the air. Nothing else.
End Quote

What you pay for TV here in America depends on whether you have plain 'basic' cable, digital cable(which in my area carries HBO and other premium channels NOT carried on basic service),or satellite TV such as DirecTV or Dish Network. We pay 14.95 per month for basic cable. Those with digital cable PLUS premium service really get hit hard in the wallet-almost $40 US Dollars per month!

Quoting:
What you pay for TV here in America depends on whether you have plain 'basic' cable, digital cable(which in my area carries HBO and other premium channels NOT carried on basic service),or satellite TV such as DirecTV or Dish Network. We pay 14.95 per month for basic cable. Those with digital cable PLUS premium service really get hit hard in the wallet-almost $40 US Dollars per month!
End Quote

So the most people pay in America for TV is $40 (£30?). Well we pay for our TV licence and it can be paid over 12 months (probably £10 a month now) and then we would have to pay for our Sky TV/Telewest cable subscription on top if we want it which can be anything from about £15 ($30?) to £40 ($70?) a month - I'm surprised people aren't protesting.  >:(  :-/