Some months ago I was up north and visited a guy who is very tech savvy. He is a pretty well known video game designer, a free lancer, who keeps up with the hardware because he is constantly rewriting code for older games.

He asked me if I had gone to a 4K 3-D set yet and I said no, I was just limping along with my old 1080i. Then he told me to not worry about the newer sets lasting only a few years. I asked him, "Why?"

Because technology is changing so fast that three years from now you will want to buy a new set anyway. So why should you care if your set only last three years?

OK, maybe he has a point. The thing his his thinking reflects the thinking of the makers and designers of these sets. He works with these people and had picked up this attitude from them.

But I'm old. I grew up with color TV's costing two months pay and lasting for twenty years. I guess I should not gripe since today I can buy a TV that runs rings around that old 25 inch screen for less money I pull down in two days.

But I still do.