[RitchieMars]

I think that if you understand the feeling of adventure and accomplishment that comes with restoring a classic, then understanding the reasoning behind those who actually use them as originally intended should come quite naturally. To me, the concept that antique electronics are merely "novelties" rather than being of any real use in the modern world is absurd. I mean when they stopped broadcasting in digital around here, they kept going on about converter boxes and reminding everyone about it. Still, some people continue to look at me and my old television as if they're completely clueless about these things. "But... can you even watch anything on that thing anymore?" Of course you can! It's a television!

As for why you'd choose to have an antique television in your living room, it's all up to personal preference. I'd imagine that many collectors have a favorite set that they like to watch a lot, and once you become entranced into the hobby, it's hard to look at a flimsy, black plastic, Japanese-made flat-screen television the same ever again. Many grew up with a simple black and white television and for them, they don't feel like they're missing out on very much.

So what about a younger enthusiast like me? Well, I think it's just that the more I listen to these older folks and read stories about the things that went on decades before I was ever born, I've grown to realize just how cheated I am to have been born in the 1980's. It's not so much that life in past was infinitely better than the present, but it's all in the way that you experienced that life. For instance the experience of putting a needle on a spinning record and hearing that first little crackle of static before the music starts, or waiting for that first little hint of sound to come through as the tubes warm up, or watching that black and white image shrink into a little dot after you've turned off the television. The technology itself wasn't as advanced as it is now, but that's not the point. It's the little things you had to do in order to get it to work. It had more character, both in the way it was manipulated physically and in the way it looked, sounded, and felt to people. I believe these devices left more impact on the people who used them; much more so than their disposable counterparts of today.

That's why I think it's the experience of actually being able to use my television that drives me to restore it much more so than the sense of accomplishment. The feat will have a much more prolonged sense of appreciation if I actually get some use out of it. Not to mention, I didn't grow up with a black and white television like my father's generation did. The experience is completely foreign to me, and I think that also makes it much more fascinating.