Not long ago I was flat on my back behind a home entertainment equipment cabinet, helping to install a young friend’s new surround-sound receiver. A top-of-the-line model with an out-the-door price of well over two grand, it delivered power to six full-range speakers and sent an audio signal to a seventh—just for the bass—that had its own amplifier. Jammed together on the extra-large back panel of that receiver was an uninterrupted expanse of connecting jacks. With a magnifying glass in one hand and a flashlight between my teeth, I was intent on making sure that each of the more than two dozen cables dangling next to me wound up in its proper place. All the while I kept thinking “is this really necessary?”
At one time, when I was my young friend’s age, that thought wouldn’t have occurred to me. Of course it was necessary! If the Gods of Technology decreed that my hardware was deficient, I’d genuflect and rush off to effect the necessary upgrade and/or addition. I embraced the cassette as soon as it made the (considerable) leap from its original function as a dictation medium to one of near-high fidelity. When the Compact Disc was introduced, with its much-ballyhooed promise of “Perfect Sound, Forever,” I immediately started to replace my library of scratchy vinyl records with their tiny, shiny counterparts.
Tipped off by the near-simultaneous introduction of three competing and incompatible formats, I managed to avoid being taken in by the short-lived 1970s quadraphonic fad. Still, I wasn’t immune to the siren call of four-speaker surround sound. It went by the name of ambience simulation in those innocent days before audio and video converged to form home theater, and was available with either analog or first-generation digital technology behind the front panel.
At this stage in my life, however, my answer to “is this really necessary?” is an emphatic and unequivocal “not so much.” I, along with many of my colleagues and peers, have reached a point where the leading edge of technology is no longer alluring in and of itself. We don’t wish to waste our time and, it must be said, money on products that are costly and confusing to operate. This is especially true when their performance is, at best, only marginally better than that of products that are less expensive and much easier to install and use. This is not to say that we are anti-technology. Rather, our goal is to give usability the weight it deserves in the decision-making process, and eliminate the blinking 12:00—in whatever form it takes—from our lives.
I’ve spent the last three decades explaining technology to readers in order to make them more educated buyers and users. During that time I’ve been a writer, editor, and packager of articles, magazines and buyers’ guides covering home, car, and portable audio, home theater, personal computers, and various other technology-oriented subjects. Almost by default, I’ve gained considerable expertise in those subjects, and have made a host of industry contacts who constitute a rich and unique resource. My enthusiasm for technology is complemented by hands-on experience testing and reviewing hundreds—thousands—of products.
The Grown-Up’s Guide to Technology, as it evolves and expands, will cover products ranging from universal remote controls to corkscrews.
-David Drucker