My husbands grandparents have been using the same TV for the last 20 years. It's one of those great big floor models and surprisingly enough, it still works. They have cable but only the local channels.
If they weren't huge television viewing fans, I wouldn't care their TV is as old as I am but they watch it all day long. They catch "The View" in the morning, Jeopardy in the evening and then The Late Show at night all on their 70s TV. I wish they would understand what a nicer television could do for them.
It's not as if they don't have money either. They were successful their whole life. They made good money, provided everything we ever desired and they were able to retire early.
I just feel that since they made so many sacrifices for us it's time they expend some of their money in their own enjoyment. HD televisions are not that pricy in relation to many other things in life.
They could buy one for a few hundred dollars and they wouldn't even miss it. I have taken them to Ulimate Electronics a few times to demo them the new HDTV and HD pictures on them. They are both impressed and sometimes it takes a while for me to get them out of the HDTV area.
They are mesmerized, which is why I know they would love it if they had one. I am not saying they should throw out their old TV because a part of me thinks they have an sentimental attachment to it.
They could always move it to the added bedroom and even watch it if one of them wanted to watch something different. Change is troublesome, I know this, and I know they have a difficult time getting use to new technology like HDTV.
I asked them if they would like me to buy it for them or if they would be mad if I bought it for them as a present. They denied both and said they don't need a new television and to stop talking about it. A few days after they said this to me, their tv finally died.
They considered getting it worked on but then broke down and bought an HDTV. Would you believe they called me and said they should have bought it years ago? They said the HD picture was out of this world and they have no idea how they dealt with the old one for so long.
I didn't tell them, "I told you so" but I certainly was thinking it. They now watch their new HDTV as they did before but with a completely new mind set.