Proud to be CRT Free

September 10, 2004

Today marks a milestone in the Nobot household. It's a red letter day around here. Yes, today marks the first day where the final CRT has been laid to rest.

This process started a few years ago when I decided that it was time to replace my old 17" trinitron with a flat panel display. That was an excellent decision. The clarity of an LCD cannot be touched by even the finest of CRTs.

So the score: CRT: 3 (arti's computer, work computer, TV) LCD: 1 (zs computer)

Soon after, my machine at work started looking waaaay to fuzzy for its own good. The final straw was when we were reorganized into "bullpens", where three people shared the space of two cubes. I got the "middle" spot, which left no room for a keyboard once the 20" CRT was placed on the meager desk space. The others in the cube were positioned in the corners, so they had sqrt(2) times more depth than me for a monitor.

I tried and tried to have work pay for an LCD for my cube spot, but they wouldn't budge. So I showed them ;-) -- I bought a new LCD for home, and brought the "old" one in to work on. Haha ... suckers.

Score: CRT: 2 (arti computer, tv) LCD: 2 (zs computer, work computer)

We then decided to get a new computer for arti, and subsequently traded monitors, since I was doing most of my work at home on a laptop (with an LCD), so she got the nice display.

Score: CRT: 2 (zs computer, tv) LCD: 2 (arti computer, work computer)

Working on the laptop in the living room was nice. But then I got to thinking -- working on a GIANT LCD in the living room would be even nicer!

So out goes the TV set, in comes a 37" LCD. Oh yes.

Score: CRT: 1 (zs computer) LCD: 3 (arti computer, work computer, tv)

The final step in this saga came today. After talking with some old workmates, I learned of a new company policy allowing those in bullpenned cubes to get LCD monitors to compensate for the reduced desk space. Off went my request to IS, and in came an "official" LCD display for my work computer. Back home went my "old" LCD, and in the trash heap went the final CRT.

Score: CRT: 0 LCD: 4