When I was growing up I had an aunt, or a cousin or some relative who had the seats in her car covered with plastic. I always thought that was a little strange, to take this nice comfortable fabric and cover it with hot, sticky plastic, just so it wouldn’t get dirty or wear out. I don’t remember for certain, but I think she might have had the furniture in her house covered in plastic too. People used to – probably still do – use plastic carpet runners to keep people from walking on the carpet. I’ll admit that I can see the logic in covering carpet with carpet runner, in the winter, when it used to snow, and we people would come in the house with snow on their boots. But in the middle of summer? Nah!
Today, we can’t buy a cell phone without being offered a “screen protector.” I don’t understand why I would buy a fancy new phone with a gorgeous display and stick a piece of foggy plastic on it. So it won’t get dirty? It’s a touch screen, for Pete’s sake! It’s going to get finger marks on it! When I bought my last laptop, one of my students was appalled that I hadn’t paid another $50 or more for some rubberized piece of goo to cover the computer. I said, “someone went to a lot of trouble to make this computer look so nice, why would I want to cover it up?” We get sold $10 UV filters to put in front of our camera lenses, we can buy “skins” to cover up our cameras and lenses, but for what? So it won’t look like we use them? Come on, we don’t use them enough as it is, why cover it up with some aftermarket stuff someone thinks we need, just to keep our gear looking nice.
I have no idea why that was stuck in my head today. Well actually I do, and I feel much better now. Thanks!
You can buy screen protectors for the LCD panels on the backs of most cameras now but i never purchased one for the Nikon and it’s still in good shape after 5 years. But I try to take good care of my cameras since they are not easily replaced.
I bought a 12-pack of screen protectors for my very first digital camera, thinking that “protecting my screen” was somehow important. I recently threw away the other 11.
Ha, that’s a riot. We must have had the same aunt.
Good post, glad you are feeling better about this now.
Thanks, Tom. Writing this stuff is good therapy for me, and it’s even better when someone else reads it!
I also have the same aunt. 🙂 When I bought my last lens the guy in the store suggested I buy a UV filter for protection of the lens. There is no way a filter is going to protect my Nikon 80-400mm VR I broke while in the Smoky Mountains a few years ago. I can’t see how that glass can do anything but defeat the purpose of the special coating they put on my lens. If the couch is trashed then maybe you need to cover it but if it’s nice why not show it off. Again, Tom, a nice little rant to kick off the day. 🙂
If someone feels that they need a UV filter, they need to spend the money to buy a good one, especially if they are putting it on a good lens. There is a limited use for them, of course. But mostly they are an extra-profit item for the salesperson.
I feel the same way, Tom. No screen protector on my iPhone, though I do have the rubberized skin on it because I like the way it feels. On my cameras, I always discard the plastic on the rear LCD because those things just mess up the display and the displays are pretty darn scratch resistant.
As for the plastic covers on couches and such, I remember having neighbors like thta. Seemed that they had runners, too. 🙂 As for those UV filters, damned if I’m going to put a $10 filter in front of a $1,000 lens. Doesn’t make sense.
I’ve seriously considered a “non-glare” screen protector for my iPad, which would really come in handy at the beach or on a cruise. Especially since I often find myself in one of those situations. 🙂 But if I need something to read I can usually find a book! Again, they are mostly just an extra-profit item for the salesperson.
One of the most extreme “protections” I’ve seen in the “tech world” are those soft but surprisingly thick molded keyboard protectors that you can hardly type through. I had someone once tell me they were certain their keyboard was bad because it wasn’t recording key presses accurately — I removed a rubber cover and it was a miracle, the keyboard was fixed. People!
Enjoyable post…. 🙂
LOL – Earl, I forgot about those things. I never paid them much attention as they looked quite ridiculous!
Paul, do you suppose Earl has a pocket protector? 🙂
But at least they didn’t have to worry about crumbs and dust in their keyboard, right? Never mind that they couldn’t actually use the keyboard!
Well, as much as I agree with most of your “rant”, I do have a screen protector on my iPad. Yes, it does make things a little “fuzzier”, but it also prevents my son from scratching it with his grubby paws every time he touches it.
Oh, and maybe I should have gotten a screen protector for my 60D, I somehow managed to scratch it when it was only 8 months old. But I still refuse to put a UV filter on my 100-400mm L lens.
Kids and pets might be a good argument in favor of a screen protector. I have to agree with that!