I think in many ways television is better than ever. Television SETS however, have become very annoying.
Old analog TVs displayed a crude picture, but at least they were simple. Rabbit ears, a wall plug, twist the dial, within a minute you're watching a show.
Today, you need AT LEAST two remotes, the one that came with the set, and the one for the box from the cable company. But why is it that every TV needs a separate box to work? If the parts inside this box are so crucial, why don't they just put them IN the TV set to begin with? And then, this whole assembly has to be plugged into a cable, the computer network, the stereo, the security system.
I have friends who need seven active remotes just to watch Seinfeld re-runs.
The new smart TVs don't have to warm up, like the old TV's with vacuum tubes. Except the smart TVs have so much to think about, they take just as long to come on as the old ones. And they have an attitude. They sometimes demand a password. Sometimes they want money - in addition to what you just paid for the TV, and what you pay every month for cable and electricity!
But now, Apple is reported to be almost ready to unveil its iTV. One of the last projects Steve Jobs worked on. In fact right before he died, he told his biographer - in his cryptic way - that he'd figured it out: how to re-make TV.
For example, instead of a basket full of remotes, the iTV will let you control it without ANY remote - you would just wave your hand while wearing a special ring. That sounds exactly like what Steve Jobs would do. Make a TV so appealing we don't just want to watch it - we want to marry it.