I sit here, waiting for the Verizon Fios techs to get here. I'm singing the "anticipa-a-tion" song in my head.

I'm pretty excited about it. I am so sick of all the problems we've had with Comcast -- picture pixelating, sound dropping in and out. Wireless connectivity spotty at best. So I really have my hopes pinned on Fios being a better product, though I really do realize that it is a "your-mileage-may-vary" product and service.

One very funny thing happened when the sales guy came to our door. He was young -- under 30, I'd say. He was extoling the virtues of the Verizon Triple Play - TV, internet and phone. My husband, Joseph, had some questions about the phone service, which the sales guy only sort-of answered. For those of you who know Joseph, he can get pretty intense in his questioning.

So Joseph's question was basically: why get Fios phone service when our old fashioned phone service works great?

The salesman's answer - The battery backup gives you peace of mind. If the power goes out, you will still have phone service for around 8 hours.

Joseph said we have better than that now. We have phone service for as long as power is out.

The sales guy said but this is better because you have a battery backup.

Well, needless to say, this went on for a ridiculously long time, with each of them getting more and more frustrated. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I explained to this youngun that the old-fashioned phones, the ones you plug straight into the outlet with no power cord needed, worked whether or not there is power. He was amazed.

Talk about a generation gap! Sometimes less technology is better.

UPDATED 11/7/07

Well, it's installed and, so far, it's terrific! Internet speeds are great, the TV picture is sharper (we don't have Hi Def) and I'm happy. It'll take a while to get used to the new remote and menus, but that's normal. So far, so good! --Susan

(C) Susan Pruden.