Modern Technology

I admit it. I love gadgets. Being your classic early adopter (otherwise known as unpaid beta tester, so to speak), I purchased one of the very first videotape player machines. It was a truly impressive (meaning very big and very heavy) piece of equipment into which you inserted giant “walkman” tapes that allowed you to watch movies, yes real movie theatre movies, on your television. The tapes were only $80 to $90 each, so if you watched one just 14 or 15 times, it was almost as cheap as going to the real movies.

This wonderful machine looked a lot like a giant “walkman” player, complete with doors that popped open, trays that jumped up and huge buttons that only required two hands and a bit of leverage to depress. It was a steal at only $999.99. So, from a wide selection of over two dozen movies, I also purchased two recent movie titles to watch on my marvel of modern technology. As I remember, I purchased Midnight Cowboy and The Graduate. A bit racy, perhaps, for the times (Midnight Cowboy was in fact X rated), but I was now on the cutting edge of consumerism. Decorum be damned.

My new video tapeplayer machine gave me many many weeks of reliable service and continued entertainment. Granted, the pop-up tray stopped popping up after a couple of days, but a carefully inserted butter knife remedied the problem, with the added bonus of the tray popping back down all by itself. Everything else on this wonderful machine worked as promised; and except for the names on the buttons quickly wearing off, I had had no real problems.

I couldn’t afford to purchase any additional movies for my player, so I watched the ones I had several times. I did stop discovering new and subtle nuances of character and plot after about 15 viewings. I stopped looking after about 30. I would have been happy to trade movies with my friends, but none of my friends had a videotape player machine or movies to trade. They were not, unfortunately, early adopters. They foolishly preferred to spend their money on such things as food and shelter.

None the less, I took comfort in the fact that I was a pioneer. I had the very first video tape player machine in my neighborhood. I could watch real movies on my television. I was a man of vision. When my friends were just purchasing their very first machines, I would already have an impressive collection of videotape movies.

Unfortunately, my vision may have been a bit short-sighted. I was an early adopter (a beta tester, so to speak) of a BetaMax.