Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Well-worth Reading

9/2/2013

2 Comments

 
Given that this whole influx of postings today are due to the IFA tech trade show, I figured that a wonderfully funny column by Bruce Cameron about Life with Technology was a perfect fit.

(Depending on what order you read this website, that last sentence might make zero sense -- but it will when you come to the "From the Management" posting below."  Feel free to skip to that now.  We'll hold your place until you get back...)

A few years ago, my brother sent me a newspaper clipping from a column that he thought I'd like, as somebody who occasionally writes about tech and therefore he knew is often asked to give assistance.  (To be clear, no tech whiz am I.  I understand some things, but mainly I know enough to ask the right questions and can explain the answers reasonably well.)

The column was hilarious.  Some local guy who had a regular column in the local Wisconsin paper, describing the convoluted adventure of trying to explain how to use a DVR to his parents.  I've sent the column to a lot of people over time, and thought it would be fun to post a link to it here.  Unfortunately, I only have a PDF file of it, that I send around, so I searched online to try and track the column down.  All I had to go on was the guy's name, Bruce Cameron, and the text.

Well, I not only found it, but also discovered that Bruce Cameron is no local guy, but appears to have a syndicated column.  And more than that, one of his columns he turned into a book -- Eight Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.  Which became the TV series.  He's subsequently written other books and sold some screenplays.

Once I got past the embarrassment of, "Oh, okay, that's who Bruce Cameron is, and why he's so," I placated myself on having fine taste.

Here's the opening of the article, and then I'll link to the rest.


Tech Support for Mom
by Bruce Cameron

When my mother calls and says, "Do you have just a second?" I know I'd better find a comfortable chair because this is going to take awhile.

"Your dad and I want to watch a DVD, and I can't remember how to make it work," she says.

"OK," I say. "Is the DVD player on?"

"Should I turn it on?"

"Yes, that would probably help."

"OK. Do I use the DVD remote or the TV remote?"

"The DVD remote."

"Or, what's this? This is the cable remote."

"The DVD remote."

"Is this ... there's another one here, what's this one?"

"Use the DVD remote."

"OK. The DVD remote. What button do I push?"

"The one that says power."

"OK, I pushed it."

"What happened?"

"The lights went out on the DVD player."

"Oh, OK, that means it was already on. Push the button again."

"I don't remember turning it on."

"Push the button again."

                                                *  *  *

Trust me, there's more.  A lot more.  This is only the preamble.  You can find the rest of the column here.
2 Comments
Carolyn
9/4/2013 07:28:57 am

My mother loved Murder She Wrote, but, alas, it was on when she played pinochle with her brothers and sisters every Sunday evening. So, we bought her a VCR and programmed it to record Jessica Fletcher.

We had this conversation every Monday morning... <g>

Reply
Robert Elisberg
9/4/2013 08:32:01 am

Ha. Well, as the saying goes, I feel your pain...

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.

    Picture
           Available on Amazon

    Picture
           Available on Amazon

    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2025
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like