View From the Phlipside - TV and Your Clothes

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, Radio, the Movies and more.  I love them and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View From the Phlipside.

The folks over at Pew Research are always coming up with all kinds of fascinating data to consider.  At the same time whenever I’m about to read the latest poll numbers or research results I remind myself of Mark Twain’s wise dictum that there are “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics”.  You always want to approach the numbers with a certain reserve or even a certain disbelief.

For example our buddies at Pew Research recently asked folks about the various technologies in their lives.  What’s the most important technology you have to deal with every day?  What’s the one you could least afford to lose for your daily routine and comfort?

Once upon a time that might have been the television.  It’s easy to forget what a big deal TV was in the ‘50s when having the first set on your block was some major social juice.  Or in the ‘60s and ‘70s when TV was a major social force.  These days are hard for the old boob tube.  The latest research shows it taking a big hit since the last survey.  TV’s had dropped 10 percentage points in the last year.  Only 42 % of people consider it necessary.  That drops it into 8th place on the list.

What tops the list is no big surprise.  This is the United States of America and we can’t live without our...cars.  It’s some of the rest of the stuff that interests me.  Sure we want our microwaves, our clothes dryers and our air conditioning.  They all made the top 7 ahead of the TV.  But so did the landline phone.  Which finished in SECOND place a full 12 percentage points ahead of the cell phone.

The home computer finished in fifth place but a mere 7 percentage points ahead of the venerable TV.  So perhaps all is not lost just yet.  But then the other big surprise jumped out at me.  What DIDN’T finish ahead of the TV?  (OK, you may have noticed that while a clothes dryer finished up high I haven’t mentioned a clothes washer.  For some reason that didn’t make the top list of 13 at all.  Dishwasher yes, clothes washer no.  Draw your own conclusions)  Both the internet and cable slash satellite TV were considered more expendable than the television.  As the King once said, it is a puzzlement.

Of course once we all get our internet hooked up to the TV directly everything may change again.  In the meantime let’s see about making that clothes washer a little more important in our lives.


Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010