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Author Topic: Free from cable!  (Read 1048 times)
fezzyfestoon
Junior Chimp
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« on: July 19, 2012, 07:04:45 PM »

I just had to voice my support for the lack of television. I first noticed years ago when I stayed with my friend in Sweden for a bit and had no TV that it was far preferable. I noticed again when I moved to Austria and didn't miss it one bit. Upon returning to the US I found myself watching an ass-load of TV I wasn't at all interested in. I struggle with moderation when it comes to most everything I do. I know definitively that my problem is a common one among my fellow Americans, especially when it comes to TV (and food). So let me let you in on a little secret...TV is nothing compared to almost anything else you could do. Every time I had a hint of boredom I would just plop on the couch or jump on the computer. Without that option even being there, it's been a totally different world. And I can only imagine it getting better without the internet. The reduction in information pollution alone would be even more staggering than getting rid of TV. I urge you all to try it out. TV blows. And that's not to say that I don't watch any shows. I do love some of the stuff the networks put on, but I can find all that commercial free in a hot second. Money saver, time saver, brain saver, life enhancer...what more could a life-decision be? And thus concludes my brief and lazy campaign against TV! Smiley
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Joe Biden 2020
BushOklahoma
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« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2012, 07:08:34 PM »

I am not willing to do it.  I enjoy watching political news and sports.  How does one watch those live without a TV?  There is the Internet, but it would take up my screen and I couldn't do anything else on the computer.
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fezzyfestoon
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2012, 07:14:44 PM »
« Edited: July 19, 2012, 07:16:43 PM by fezzyfestoon »

I am not willing to do it.  I enjoy watching political news and sports.  How does one watch those live without a TV?  There is the Internet, but it would take up my screen and I couldn't do anything else on the computer.

"Live" is profoundly overrated. Information is long term. What am I going to do with it immediately that I can't in a few hours or days? What is so urgent these days about finding things out within milliseconds of it occurring. You knowing changes nothing about its occurrence, it will be the same information when you hear about it 35 seconds later. We hear so much so fast our brains are being wasted on an information faucet with no filter. We are inundated with the unimportant and it is so sensationalized we think each time we get blasted with an update, it's the single most important one yet. And its only value is being the last thing you heard. And yet you forget about it six lines of information later...which probably translates to 20 seconds. Which brings me to your other concern about being able to multitask. Who cares? Why are you trying SO hard to relax and be entertained. Nothing has any value anymore outside of its massively minuscule novelty. Take some time to invest your interest in something worthwhile and interesting for more than the moment you first see or hear it.
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Holmes
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« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2012, 07:23:38 PM »

When I'm at home from school during the summer, my TV is never on. I actually turned in on this morning for about 5 minutes, the first time since maybe May. When I'm at school, living with my boyfriend, it's usually on quite a lot, but more as background noise than anything else. I'll look if something catches my eye, but usually I'm reading, studying, playing a game...

I prefer getting my news, information, all that online. It's much more accessible and I can choose what I want to read and know, and what I don't.
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Yelnoc
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« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2012, 08:45:35 PM »

I'm with you, Fezzy.  We have a TV, but I rarely watch it.  However, the internet is way worse for information pollution.  Of course, I justify it by the ability to multitask and work on projects or what not while absorbing all of that excess information, but that does not mitigate the fact that my brain is crammed full of information that I neither want nor need. 

But can you really cut out the internet?  I know I can from a survivalist standpoint, but as someone who was born after the internet was created, doing so would be certainly be discomforting, at least at first.
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Atlas Has Shrugged
ChairmanSanchez
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« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2012, 08:50:09 PM »

But can you really cut out the internet?  I know I can from a survivalist standpoint, but as someone who was born after the internet was created, doing so would be certainly be discomforting, at least at first.
I always have been a wannabe survivalist. I picked up hunting and fishing recently, to little success, and plan to pick up canning as well. I can survive in a world where the grid goes down, but what I will miss most is the internet.
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fezzyfestoon
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2012, 08:52:38 PM »

Ah, see I still have the fleeting and self-modified version of my internetless childhood motivating my potential freedom from that. But I don't want to be free of the internet, just free from its dominance over my life. TV was an actual negative experience for me despite its allure. The internet is extremely useful to me and I enjoy what it can bring me.
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memphis
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« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2012, 09:33:24 PM »

I haven't had cable in years. It got to be way too expensive for what it is. I pay $9/month for streaming netflix instead. Although I do watch some shows (particularly the Daily Show) streaming on the computer.
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Joe Republic
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« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2012, 10:24:13 PM »
« Edited: July 20, 2012, 11:02:40 AM by Joe Republic »

A few years ago my then roommate parked his large amp in front of our TV temporarily due to a lack of space in the apartment.  'Temporarily' turned into three months, until eventually he moved it somewhere else.  A short while later we flipped on the TV only to find that the magnets inside the amp had permanently warped the TV screen.  That was the point we figured we don't even need TV if we had gone so long without missing it, and had pretty much destroyed it anyway.  We canceled our cable service the next day.
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Хahar 🤔
Xahar
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« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2012, 10:38:34 PM »

I am not willing to do it.  I enjoy watching political news and sports.  How does one watch those live without a TV?  There is the Internet, but it would take up my screen and I couldn't do anything else on the computer.

Dual-monitor display.
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opebo
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« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2012, 01:47:58 PM »

That's a nice idea, fezzyfestoon, but the problem is 1) I can't figure out how to get internet in my house, and 2) even with internet, I have never been able to figure out how to download movies (can you still do that?).
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The Mikado
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« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2012, 03:06:38 PM »

As far as I can tell, there's only one real reason to have cable anymore: if you're a sports fan.  Sports are basically the only form of entertainment that benefits from live broadcast.  With pretty much anything else, cutting yourself off from watching the original broadcast and watching it later doesn't affect the entertainment value.
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Bacon King
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« Reply #12 on: July 23, 2012, 02:13:13 PM »

As far as I can tell, there's only one real reason to have cable anymore: if you're a sports fan.  Sports are basically the only form of entertainment that benefits from live broadcast.  With pretty much anything else, cutting yourself off from watching the original broadcast and watching it later doesn't affect the entertainment value.

That's what Sports Bars are for! Or watching at a friend's place or whatev, if you're budget conscious

I haven't had cable TV for four years, and doubt I ever will in the future. Good to see you make the change, fezzy!
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Hatman 🍁
EarlAW
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« Reply #13 on: July 23, 2012, 08:37:28 PM »

The more channels there are, the less there is on TV. Whenever I'm at my parents' house, I always end up flipping though the channels, bored. Why should I be a slave to the Cable networks? The internet has been great.
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