Connections

I stared at the mass of cables behind the TV stand. I had just disconnected and taken out the old TV which had stopped working. I had assumed it was a simple matter of swapping out the old for the new and reconnect the various cables back. But obviously it was not going to be that easy. I had had the old TV for more than a dozen years which is a very long time in consumer electronics. Whereas the old one had myriad options including S-video, and VGA to connect to components like amplifiers, DVD players, etc., the new one presented a small sleek set of connectors. 

Manufactures often change the type of connectors forcing us to spend on acquiring new ones with any upgrade. Or they eliminate options to connect accessories again making us buy costly wireless alternatives. These new gadgets are obscenely expensive making me wonder if the whole idea is just to fleece us. You find that the latest model of the phone comes without a charger included. The cable is included, however, it will not work with the old charger (I am looking at you, Apple!).

It is not just in consumer electronics you run into this problem. For example, Apple and Microsoft often do not play together nicely in the conference room. I have sat through many meetings where the room is supposedly wired for all kinds of connections to project content on the screen. But the person presenting uses a Mac and it will not work without a special adaptor - 'Sorry, I forgot to pack the adaptor. Let me just email the file to you and you can project from your PC' (yeah, that's disruptive technology for you!). 

My amplifier is almost vintage by today's standard and I was beginning to fear that I would be unable to connect it to the new TV. I could buy a Bluetooth sound bar for the TV but why should I when I have a perfectly functioning sound system with six speakers? This venerable system is twenty years old and has served me very well over those years. I looked at the back of the TV closely and discovered that it had a digital audio output which was compatible with my sound system. And wonder of wonders, I actually had the requisite connector. Crisis averted, connection made! If the amplifier had a LinkedIn profile, it would have boasted of a new connection. With seven inputs and six speakers connected, it has about as many connections as I have on LinkedIn!

I sometimes feel like the amplifier. The ways of connecting with the world at large are changing constantly. With all the advances in technology, we interact less and less in person with others. We order stuff online and have it delivered at our doorstep. With the pandemic, this has certainly been very useful but I wonder about the larger implication. Will we turn into isolated cells with just the one connection (the internet) to manage all connections? 

A long time ago (but still within my living memory), the milkman would bring his cow to our doorstep and milk the cow while we watched (to ensure there was no adulteration with water!). This invariably led to some pleasant albeit banal banter. The vegetable vendor would bring her heavy basket of produce balanced delicately on her head (she would need help unloading and loading from me or one of my brothers) to our homes. There was an unwritten agreement between the her and my mother - my mother would always buy something so that the vendor would retain an incentive to keep bringing her produce to the house. But in the process, she would usually engage in some haggling over the price adding a little drama to the interaction. 

We have seen an incredible amount of change in our day to day life over the last few decades. Milk can now be ordered in aseptic cartons and delivered at the click of a mouse. Yes, milk now comes from the mouse! Renting video cassettes with expert advice being thrown in by the video library staff is ancient history. We have moved to streaming content online and binge watching. The list of startling changes happening at a frenetic pace is too long to enumerate. Strangely, they seem to have happened almost seamlessly as we have adapted quite remarkably. But through all this, like the old amplifier, I think I have retained the ability to interact with my old connections - the people that I have known through the decades who too have experienced all the changes and who, like me, can still relate to me on the old channels. 

To old connections, may we continue to meet and engage in our banal banters!