In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter SS2

Author Story: Buying a TV 

To be honest, I’ve never really understood the concept of buying replacement consumer electronics. 
Sure, it made sense when the old appliance was completely dead and couldn’t even turn on, but as long as it worked properly, no matter how many years it served you, I just didn’t see the need for a new one. 
For example, my microwave oven has been with me for tens of years now. It lacks modern convenience, is loud, and can’t go beyond 3 minutes, but it warms my food just as well as it always did, and for that, it lords over the top of my fridge to this day. 
Up until about a year ago, the same could be said for my TV — a 14 inch CRT. Many were dumbfounded when they heard that, but it wasn’t broken and did its job fine, so I just stuck with it. 
But of course, the years eventually caught up with it. The TV’s sound volume began to spontaneously rise, drop, or disappear altogether, and I concluded that it was over and that it was time to buy a new one. 
I spent the next morning walking around the electronics store in front of the station, looking for the right TV for me until I finally found one. It was white, thin, large, and could form a wireless connection to tuners, removing the need for antenna cables and letting it be placed anywhere in the room. I asked them to send it over to me in a few days and returned home. 
It came just as it was supposed to, and I went on to use it for months without any problems to speak of. However, I eventually felt like playing some retro games and dusted off my Super Famicom. And yes, though I was ignorant of home electronics, even I knew that modern TVs didn’t have the ports to connect to such an aged console. And so, I ordered an HDMI converter for the cables and linked them all, elated and fully ready to game. 
But then, nothing. The TV gave no response. In fact, its remote didn’t even have a button to switch to the game, and I hadn’t even the slightest clue as to why. 
I read through the TV’s instructions, repeatedly turned it on and off, but I didn’t get even a single sound. 
Confused, I looked at the rear side of the TV’s tuner — at its HDMI port — and lo, I saw the words “HDMI Output.” 

Hahahah. Well, of course it wouldn’t work when it was connected to “Output.” It had to go to the “Input” one. Laughing at my stupidity, I unplugged the cable and tried to connect it to the “Input” port, but then realized it was a fool’s errand, for the port simply didn’t exist. 
Yes. The TV had a port for HDMI output, but not one for input. Stricken by panic, I took to the internet and researched my TV to discover a horrific reality. 
You couldn’t play games on this TV. 
“No way,” I said, collapsing to the ground. 
“A 21st century TV you can’t play games on? How does that exist?” 
It was partially my own fault for not asking the store employees about it, but who would’ve guessed? 
The console used didn’t matter, either. The TV could support neither the retro SNES or the modern PS4. 
The coming release of the Nintendo Switch made me resent this fact even further, as I knew I would have to sell the TV and buy a new one just so I could play video games. 
Of course, I soon found out that the Nintendo Switch could be played without a TV. 
“Oh. Well... fine, I guess,” I figured, forgetting the whole “selling and buying” idea. 
The non-gaming TV is with me to this day, and I can’t help but find it ironic how I’d learned of that Switch feature through a commercial I saw on it.