Could You Cut the Cable or Satellite Cord?(markevanstech.com)
markevanstech.com
Could You Cut the Cable or Satellite Cord?
http://www.markevanstech.com/2010/11/25/could-you-cut-the-cable-or-satellite-cord/
9 comments
The only reason I have pay-for television is I'm punished if I don't.
Boston is referred to as the "hole in the fiber donut", where Mayor "Mumbles" Menino refuses to give Verizon a tax break, which is reciprocated by a complete lack of a FIOS rollout in Boston proper (but in every city around Boston... just to rub it in).
This leaves DSL and few other viable options. So I have Comcast. Additionally, if I don't have a qualifying cable TV package, Comcast charges another $10/mo. So I pay $13.60 for "Basic Basic" cable, which is mostly the major networks. QAM works fine. So for $3.60/mo I don't have to deal with an ATSC antenna, nor do I have to deal with a carrier set-top box (which on top of leasing fees, will actually consume $6 to $8 of electricity a month!)
However when's the last time I've watched broadcast television on the television as it aired live? A perfectly good question. Virtually none in the past 3 calendar years.
Boston is referred to as the "hole in the fiber donut", where Mayor "Mumbles" Menino refuses to give Verizon a tax break, which is reciprocated by a complete lack of a FIOS rollout in Boston proper (but in every city around Boston... just to rub it in).
This leaves DSL and few other viable options. So I have Comcast. Additionally, if I don't have a qualifying cable TV package, Comcast charges another $10/mo. So I pay $13.60 for "Basic Basic" cable, which is mostly the major networks. QAM works fine. So for $3.60/mo I don't have to deal with an ATSC antenna, nor do I have to deal with a carrier set-top box (which on top of leasing fees, will actually consume $6 to $8 of electricity a month!)
However when's the last time I've watched broadcast television on the television as it aired live? A perfectly good question. Virtually none in the past 3 calendar years.
I've been without TV for about 5 years now after noticing a creeping & growing revulsion for what I saw on it.
Even if I'm not more productive, I'm less desensitized without one.
Even if I'm not more productive, I'm less desensitized without one.
No argument there. The vast, vast majority of TV content is abysmally bad. I like that I get to just pick what I want to watch and don't have to mess with the rest.
If I could get NFL Sunday Ticket and fine a box/plan that had everything else I needed...yes.
Right now, Apple TV is simply more expensive (the content, not the device) than it's worth, and Hulu+ is missing some good stuff.
I find it odd that the music industry is moving towards single monthly and unlimited watching, whereas the TV industry seems to be moving in the other direction.
Right now, Apple TV is simply more expensive (the content, not the device) than it's worth, and Hulu+ is missing some good stuff.
I find it odd that the music industry is moving towards single monthly and unlimited watching, whereas the TV industry seems to be moving in the other direction.
Watching TV mostly makes me angry. Idiots selling idiotic things to idiots. In the past month, at least three times I started yelling at the TV and left the room, only to realize that I was being melodramatic.
Made that break almost ten years ago, never miss it.
Now I'm trying to move past optical media, I hate it.
Now I'm trying to move past optical media, I hate it.
Just did it. Bought an HD antenna, got an HD tivo. Cut DirectTV. Not looking back.
I don't miss it. Almost all of my TV watching happens on a secondary monitor while I work, anyhow; dedicating time to just watching TV feels terribly unproductive.