Battery life

The last time I set a clock it was to recover from a flat battery on my PDA. That was about 6 months ago, and the PDA has languished in my desk for that time period, I’ll probably have to repeat the process, but that’s the punishment I get for not using it. The reason I don’t use it anymore is that I’ve upgraded from PDA’s to laptops. This has been quite a step for me, the changes in what I am able to do once I’m out of the office are considerable, I can now work anywhere I feel like, with the biggest stubling block being the battery life.
But, on to the actual reason why I am writing about video timers and complexity, several years ago there was a company called VideoPlus+, which produced a little remote control gizmo that could be used to set a video recorder to the appropriate time and channel and start recording you programs when you wanted it, the only thing you needed was the special sequence of numbers on the TV guide, and providing the video plus remote control was close enough to the video recorded and satellite receiver, it would change the channels and start the video recorder by using infra-red beams.
The problem was the hidden complexity of this machine. You had to inform it what brand of satellite receiver and video recorder you had. Then you had to program in the correct date and time on the remote control. If you didn’t then the system would not work correctly.
Now we have the TiVo, and Sky+, both of which allow you to record your shows. They have reduced the cost of learning to use the systems quite significantly, you don’t need to set the date and time on the boxes – this information is pulled remotely. You don’t need to type in some magical number sequence, you choose the item you want from the list of programs.
How does this change things? Well quite simply it means that none of my family are harassed by my parents every time they come over – set the video for this, can you make sure thay this is recorded while we’re on holiday.
What a huge change this little thing has had on us!