Quit Complaining: Our Entertainment Opportunities Are Better Than Ever
For generations, we have spent our days and nights in the living room being entertained.Once upon a time, we had books to read. Then, we were able to turn on a radio and hear some music and shows. Televisions launched to provide us with even more enjoyment. And now, we have computers, tablets, and smartphones that afford us even more opportunities to sit back, relax, and allow entertainment to wash over us.[Image credit: Ben Dodson]
As I sit here writing this on a laptop in my living room, I'm keen to the fact that I can flip on the television and watch hundreds of channels, play a video game on one of my three consoles, listen to music on my Apple TV, or watch streaming content on Netflix. If none of those appeal to me, I can watch video clips from the Web via YouTube or read a book with my Kindle. No matter what I'm looking for, it's literally only seconds away.
And yet, there are some of us who are still unhappy with that. We complain about the cost of iTunes music tracks or our cable bill. We wonder why we need to pay $8 a month for Netflix content that has been out for years. We get annoyed when we need to sit through a 30-second commercial before a 10-minute online video clip. We get upset when a service experiences a brief outage or if a bill goes up a few dollars.
In general, we are a very unhappy people when it comes to entertainment in the living room. And all the while, we want more and more content.
It's about time we all stop complaining. Yes, I'm as frustrated as others when certain issues occur, but we should be happy with the fact that we have more entertainment opportunities available to us than ever before. No matter what we're in the mood for, we can have it. That's a nice problem to have.
So, rather than complain about every little thing that goes wrong, maybe we should remember that we have dozens of other ways to entertain ourselves in that moment. And for a relatively small amount of cash each month, we can access practically everything content providers around the world produce.
We can do more today than we ever have in the living room. And going forward, things will only get better. It's time we celebrate that.
Now, excuse me while I put this laptop away, turn on my television, go to my DVR, and pop on one of the shows I recorded last night. Actually, you know what? I think I'll play a video game instead.