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I told her that the two people who lived in our house, didn't watch TV, and could care less (which is essentially true)... The telemarketer then went on to push their broadband service, which gave me a chuckle, because we get our broadband from them already.
She then informed me that we actually got basic cable (almopst 60 channels) included with our broadband service.
Oh? Now THAT was news to me. We've had the broadband here for nearly two years, and it never occured to either me or my fiance to try plugging the coax into the back of the TV (yes, we do have one - for Videos and DVDs).
I mentioned it to my gal later that day, and she was equally surprised. We both then stared at the box in the living room suspisciously for a moment, then got on to reading Nat Geo and Sci-Am.
Two weeks later, we actually got around to plugging the cable into the back of the TV. For a half hour, we sat stuporously flicking through 60 whole channels of.... Stuff we had no interest in. We turned the thing off and went to the pool for a swim.
In the month and a half since we plugged the cable into the back of the TV, I think we've watched a total of 5, maybe 7 hours of TV.
Are we freaks? Out of step with the pop culture? Or are there more and more people out there who could really care less if they had cable? Even if it's free?
chadmg - must be nice... I've been tromping to work every day. Even with my boss in France. Downtown is such a mess.
I challenge anyone with a TV to go without it for 3 weeks - then they can decide how addictive the tv really is! I found that TV made me stay up longer and when I was tired instead of sleeping I would watch just one more show - I feel much less tired nowadays and do not feel so much stress!
I watch TV some, usually it's in the background while I do other stuff. I like the news channels and I have them on some during the day as well as I like the music channels and some series.
However all the reality shows, talk shows and so on doesn't interest me that much.
Naked News!
So I banned television from my life. Replaced it with reading and travel. It was the best thing I ever did.
Television watchers are wasting their time watching other people's lives. It is truly a tremendous loss of youth. I am actually sad when I see those same friends inside watching a game when its 85 and sunny outside.
The best benefit of leaving your television for good is how your mind continues to develop, you have energy because your naturally more active, and you live your own life.
I'm "no longer relevant" just because I don't watch TV? Really? You mean I can't keep in touch with world events and cultural trends by going online, or reading old-fashioned printed magazines and newspapers? Is TV really that important to my currency as a human being?
Of those that I know, the ones that don't watch TV are the ones who are most socially awkward.
Really? Why? Because you can't think of anything to talk about that doesn't involve TV, thereby leaving us with nothing to say to you?
TV can make me laugh, cry, think, or just simply entertain me.
Funny, books can do that to me. So can movies. So can talking to my friends (online or in person). So can reading the newspaper.... but regardless of whatever other interests I have, regardless of whatever else is going on in my life, you're saying I'm an irrelevant, socially retarded snob just because TV isn't on the list?
I don't recall anyone in this thread saying that TV watchers are utterly worthless human beings just because they DO watch TV... and yet you're basically saying that about all of us who don't. Interesting.
Read the post before yours.
It's all good though. I read, I watch tv, I read online, I TiVo and I TWoP; therefore, I am. Or something like that. Oh, and I occasionally venture out of my house; albeit, often unwillingly.
He said TV was a horrible waste of time, not that the people who do it are socially maladjusted or irrelevant.
I don't think anyone in this entire thread has been a fraction as insulting and just plain nasty about their comments as the post I was responding to.
Whatever you do, don't EVER move to Alaska then... ;)
One word, shoutcast.
Too many advertisements on TV
I'll go a step further, too many advertisements on dvd's. I am to the point where as soon as I get a new dvd I run it through a program that lets me copy the actual movie onto the hard drive. I even edit out the opening company logos and ending company logos. I then burn the movie, and just the movie, onto a new disc. I am not talking about rented movies, but movies I own. How many times must I spend 30 seconds of my life watching a universal or columbia tristar logo scroll across the screen? I've seen some movies have over two minutes of logos before the movie even starts, aren't opening credits boring enough.
Feeling left out of the loop
Even though I can't list any of them here, there are countless websites that take anything of interest on tv and cut them down to 30 second video snips. I not only keep up on everything going on in the world I am usually the first to know. For example, I didn't have to sit through a 3 hour commercial and brand name logo fest to watch ashlee simpson make a fool of herself, ifilm gave it to me without any of the hassle. There is about 30 minutes worth of incredible television a week split up over hundreds of channels running 24 hours a day.
Got to see TV
After being bombarded with advertisements for months before the airing of new material, you then have to watch as a show either sinks or swims over the following months. The shows will end up on DVD later that year. Now I can read a couple of reviews on Netflix and without months of commercials or the pain of watching a show sink, I can make my own decision as to wether or not I want to squander away the precious hours of my life watching it.
I only pay $xx amount for cable, it's worth it
I made a decision about 9 months ago. I was paying $65/month for about 120 television stations and still going out and renting movies, going to the theater, and doing pay-per-view movies on top of that. So about $100/month on entertainment that I watched on my 36" TV. I thought, what else could I do with $100/month and still be entertained. So I cancelled cable and...
I bought a projector ($45/month) and a 100" screen ($15/month) and signed up for a 5-at-a-time netflix deal ($30). Now I am paying $90/month to watch dvd's on a 100" screen. I haven't been to a movie theater in 9 months because my digital projector just looks better than my local theater. I hardly have time to watch the movies I get, but all time I spend in front of the screen is watching movies or tv-to-dvd shows that I want to watch. With 25,000+ movies at netflix I doubt I will run out of things to watch anytime soon.
I hate advertising
Since I don't have cable this year my wife has been going to her freinds house to watch american idol. I was over there for awhile and caught the last half hour of the show. I was so bored that I became aware of the ludicrous amount of advertising that was being thrown at me. As I watched the 4 judges slowly spin and drink their coca-colas while the endless barrage of little advertisments popped up in the bottom corner of the screen. I actually started counting how many times a product or logo was on the screen. I was at about 20 when I just stopped counting. Wow, I can't believe I used to watch TV all the time.
Reading Google news and RSS feeds
Just pointing out what I am going to do after typing this incredibly long post. Besides, Jerry Seinfeld just came on the shoutcast comedy station I am listening to, want to give jerry my full attention.
P.S. I just finished watching "Once upon a time in the West" on dvd tonight on my 100" screen through my digital projector. A few years ago AMC had the movie in it's lineup. I sat and watched it on my 36" TV on my $65/month cable. I don't think I will ever be going back to cable.
Ha ha, very funny. If you like tv that's fine, personally I think the entire medium sucks, it's just low quality.
Don't own a tv currently, happy days, had to be around one last year though, so I got to see just how much tv has degenerated.
I'd second the suggestion made above: stop watching tv for 3 weeks if you can. If you can, you're not addicted, if you can't, you are.
Each to their own. I just prefer not having that kind of information input, it's a choice.
I could go on.
My TV goes on before my monitors do. I know the day’s weather before I know what bots tripped the trap....
Is Television relevant? I know now is not the time to point out how subjective the question is, but Television is relevant.... to me.
"Has the PC replaced the TV?" hadn't even crossed my mind.
Maybe I should invite a bunch of people over next week for a superbowl party. We can all gather around my laptop and watch it on the web :)
Entities have a pre-disposition toward perpetuating their own existence,
Macro, are you always the life of the party?
Here is a little test to try, record 1 hour worth of commercials, make sure a majority are repeated multiple tiems. Sit down and watch the entire hour. If you can do this and feel like you weren't cheated out of an hour of your life then you should definately keep your TV.
Everyone should have TiVo. The ultimate time & sanity saver. During the regular football season (I like Super Bowl commercials - except probably this year with the sanitized versions), I'd make sure to start watching the game 30 minutes into it so I didn't have to watch commercials every two minutes. Then, when I was caught up, I'd take a computer break (not looking at scores). A three hour game = an hour. My own instant replays.
I've had TiVo for five years and it's one of my favorite gadgets ever. Obscure shows, actors, movies, subjects -- all easy to find and record.
4 minutes worth of commercials every 15 mintues
That's so funny. I'm sure there are boys/men around the world who watch sports on TV only because of this impression that it's geeky (or effeminate) not to. Personally, I can't see the fun in watching a bunch of other people run around. I used to be a professional athelete and I'd rather do than watch. But, hey, there are some who get excited watching snooker, darts, and even bowling! To each their own. I keep abreast of what's happening via the summary in newspapers and elsewhere.
>>Macro, are you always the life of the party?
If you've read a few of my posts you'll know that I'm one of the less serious members around here; you'll find mischief, repartee, and, hopefully, a fair bit of humour. At parties I'm definitely not the one watching the "box". It looks like I'd be bored at one of your parties (particularly if a TV/webcast was at it's core).
[edited by: Macro at 11:04 am (utc) on Jan. 28, 2005]
Mind, I'm not a Yankee.
I HAVE been known to get sucked into the Stanley Cup playoffs if the home team is involved. Not much chance of that this year, though.
I'm amazed this thread has gone on so long, or brought out such strong opinions.
To me that means that you're not American. Sports fans in the US may get the impression you don't "bat" for a certain New York baseball team. They're a breed apart! ;)
It looks like I'd be bored at one of your parties (particularly if a TV/webcast was at it's core)
errr...that is like me saying I would be bored at your parties iof everyone was reading newspapers...
But I am seriously interested - Are there men who do not watch any sports on television (other than Macro)?
Only if I threw a "newspaper" party :) where the highlight of the party was the newspaper (like the TV is at yours :)).
>> Are there men who do not watch any sports on television (other than Macro)?
You can safely take it that those who said they don't watch TV at all don't watch sports on TV. There may be others.
i dont.
I played baseball and football all the way through school and I love the games. But it seems that every sport has been invaded by whining-arsed, performance-enhancing drug junkies. There are few sportsmen left. Instead, there are ill-mannered, rude, addicted, foul-mouthed, self-centered incubators for sphincters that are more concerned with the paycheck than the game.
So when I want to watch a game now I watch little league baseball or football and as long as the parents are quiet I can watch kids play for the pure enjoyment of the sport.
But I am seriously interested - Are there men who do not watch any sports on television (other than Macro)?
Sports? What's that? I don't watch either. Once in a great while, I'll catch a Nascar race. But some would debate if driving is a sport. Where I live, it is a contact sport. :)
But I am seriously interested - Are there men who do not watch any sports on television
How does that saying go?
There are people who do,
There are people who want to do,
and There are people who watch those that do.
(*something like that)
I have never watched an entire football, baseball, basketball, or for that matter any sporting event in my entire life.
I have always spent my free time doing something. I have played guitar for 12 years and also own a bass and drums which I dabble in. I rollerblade or bike, depending on the weather, eleven miles a day (looping bike trail near my house). A majority of my time is spent either working on my computer or spending time with my four year old.
I am baffled how people find the time to sit down and watch a three to four hour baseball or football game a few times a week. It seems sad, if thats all you know how to do to pass the time.
