A basic question of demographics.
In our home we have a component stereo system of the sort that it's
hard to find in stores anymore. It was purchased long ago (even if most
of the parts have been changed over the years) and frankly the adults of
the family would be quite pleased if they could make use of it for pleasurable
listening purposes. But with relatively small, and constantly growing,
children in the house, having enough quiet in order to actually use the
stereo for listening to music is a rare occurence. Along those same lines,
we also have a turntable which is mandatory with a record (yes, real vinyl)
collection such as ours. But it also rarely sees use (the kids have even
begun to ask what it does). In both of these cases we couldn't imagine
living without these technologies, though they rarely find any real use.
One day, in the not too distant future, we may reach the conclusion
that we need cable television. At present we're still a one-television
family and aren't really ready to change that fact. But the question of
who decides what's going to be watched is already a problematic one - a
problem that the availability of cable only complicates all the more. So
our ages, and the ages of our children, have a rather direct affect on
the technologies to be found in our home, and the extent to which we make
use of them.
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