3 ms·
I am surprised at the number of comments to this effect on a site where I am normally in awe of the depth and breadth of technical knowledge, and the willingnes
by throwaway049 10y ago
I am surprised at the number of comments to this effect on a site where I am normally in awe of the depth and breadth of technical knowledge, and the willingness to learn by doing, that is displayed. I found VCRs easy enough to use and only ever got caught out by Programme Delivery Control.
- mirkules 10y agoI completely agree with you about programming VCRs. Despite being in my teenage years around their peak usage, I found it quite easy to do. Xerox and fax machines, on the other hand, are the work of the devil.
- agildehaus 10y agoThere's a major difference between people on this site (who likely had no issue scheduling a VCR) and the average consumer. A sizable chunk of humanity, from my experience, is scared to even try.
- throwaway049 10y agoI should have been more clear: Several posters here on HN indicated they struggled with VCRs, and that is what I found surprising.
- Delameko 10y agoMy aunt used to have two VCRs and an alarm clock. She'd use the alarm to remind her to hit record. She struggled with the timer, but I don't think she trusted it to record what she asked it to. It's now 2016. She's got two DVRs... and an alarm clock.
- baddox 10y agoTo clarify, I'm not claiming that programming a VCR actually is difficult. I don't know, because I'm slightly too young to have ever tried it. I was merely pointing out that "VCR programming is difficult" is or was a cultural meme.