I don't think I've ever heard of someone giving up cable/TV and regretting it. I don't have a TV, and I don't watch shows online either. I've been entirely TV-free for close to a year, and I haven't missed it once. I watch movies once a week at most, usually much less often. Don't miss that either.
Honestly, I don't see how people find the time for it. Between work, keeping up my home, and spending time with my wife, I already feel like I don't have any spare time.
I just dropped my cable TV, I never watch it and anything I do watch comes from Netflix, including TV Shows (like Mad Men and Dexter right now). Still playing with what / if I want to get a replacement box (Google TV / Apple TV / Roku) but for now, now cable tv for me, and frankly I won't miss it either.
Of course Charter in their infinite wisdom decided that they were going to cut of my "cable" which means TV AND Internet. The level of incompetence of ISPs have reached these days is mind boggling.
If you stopped watching the movies, would you miss them? That is basically how I feel about the few remaining shows I do watch - they have been selected for awesomeness, and I consider the time I spend on them worthwhile.
I don't think I would. There have been whole months where I didn't watch anything and didn't miss it. When my wife and I do watch a movie, it's generally more about the experience (of having a movie night, making popcorn and drinking soda [neither of which we otherwise consume on anything approaching a regular basis]) than the movie anyway, in the same way that going out for drinks with friends is more about the conversation than the beer, however delicious beer may be.
We got rid of our cable about ten years ago and never regretted it - not even our kids, who seem to recognize that most of it's crap anyway. With some of the savings from not having to pay a monthly cable bill, we occasionally spring for DVDs of the few TV shows we actually enjoy.
It may be just my own selection bias, but it seems to me that the best TV shows are getting progressively better - by which I mean more connected rather than episodic, as well as smart and content-dense enough to hold up under repeat viewings. This may be a response to the increase in the ratio of home library : broadcast viewings.
On the other hand, I've also noticed that embedded advertising seems to be getting more common. In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, the credits identify Cadillac as a sponsor after one character calls another "the Cadillac of rebound guys".
I really, honestly, cannot wait to join the growing trend of ditching cable / satellite TV. I consume the vast majority of my content through Netflix, Hulu, and simply downloading episodes.
That said, until the NCAA and NFL are willing to provide a stand-alone service that lets me subscribe to Georgia Tech and Atlanta Falcons football games, the whole concept of ditching cable is a non-starter for me. Since I'm no longer local to Atlanta, I have to have an option for viewing. ESPN3 is great for NCAA games but requires a partner cable subscription. I still usually resort to finding illegal streams of falcons games online since I have literally no other option.
I recognize that HN might not be a bastion of football fans; but having grown up in Atlanta, GA, football is a part of fall that I'm just not willing to go without.
Live sports are really the last stronghold that cable & satellite have.
Fortunately, with ESPN3 I think things are getting better (and we'll eventually get to the point of full IPTV), but until every big game is available officially online, there's just going to be no way for me to ditch cable completely.
There's a whole slew of shows which would whither and die without a cable subscription model.
Think Food Network or Discovery or any show which isn't a serialized story model. Would you actually buy a season of Mythbusters?* I watch those shows all the time, but usually when I'm just browsing. I'm not sure I'd actually buy them ala carte.
BTW NFL and NCAA aren't holding out on streaming. The rights to internet broadcast games are tied to their traditional cable and broadcast deals with cable providers and the Comcasts and TWCs of the world are locking in those restrictions. MLB is the only one who kept their streaming rights.
* Note I'm not saying no one would - but I don't think enough people would
When I had Tivo, I definitely watched things like Modern Marvels, Mythbusters, etc, more than other things like whatever was supposed to be on at 8PM. If the model was based on recommendations and voting, like Tivo, I think a lot of those shows could definitely survive.
Between dumping cable and using an ad blocker in Chrome, the only political ads I saw this past election cycle were the occasional billboard. It was absolutely blissful.
Here's hoping ad buys on Hulu continue to remain so expensive that politicians can't get in on it.
We've not had cable tv service in 8 years. Don't really miss it.
When my, then, fiance and I bought our house, we never bothered to get it connected because we were going to be travelling so much to MI with wedding stuff.
We just never hooked it back up. About 2 years ago, I built out a mythtv server and hooked it up to an OTA antennae for local content. The rest of the stuff we would "acquire" and then buy the DVD box sets when they came out. We also had Netflix.
Now, with Netflix streaming, we rarely watch anything except what MythTV has picked up (usually PBS shows for the kids) and whatever's available on Netflix. We listen to UofM games during football season over the internet.
I'm an America who lives in the UK and I have yet to use any sort of cable/sat provider since moving here.
Setup:
Acer Aspire Revo - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225756 £300
+ Loaded with Boxee
+ Proxied to an old laptop at my parents house in the US
Services I use:
1. NFL overseas Gamepass package (~$250 for whole season) - every game in full HD (yes literally just as good as watching it on cable HDTV...NO JOKE)
2. Hulu (via proxy)
3. Netflix (via proxy)
4. BBC (awesome programming) -> BBC iPlayer
May I ask what ISP and speed your parents have? I'm also abroad and while I could set a proxy up their house I'm worried that it would use up all the upload bandwidth. They are on DSL 800kbit/7Mbit up/down
I love the idea of an overseas subscription. It seems like living in another country makes it depressingly difficult to buy content from your home region (DVD regions, game regions, iTunes/Amazon/etc. are regionalised as well).
Come on dude, don't be a troll. Here we have a personal blog post of a guy who isn't bragging about not having a TV, but explaining the flaws he sees in American TV. It's a blog - it's the guy's thoughts. He's not constantly bringing it up at your house parties or anything.
Benevolent message, but .. far more people than you can imagine have "quit TV". In fact, my entire twitter graph, people on IRC, social networks, even the local pubs I frequent, and everyone who responded in this thread have all quit TV. Stories of triumph over the tube are abundant, and the reasons nearly identical. People have been unanimous on two things: 1) their disdain for TV, American or otherwise and 2) their love for puppies.
I think it's worth talking about. For half a century, nearly the whole country has been glued to the TV and told (sometimes more subtly than others) what to think. That we are breaking free of that is newsworthy.
Massive shifts in TV usage haven’t happened yet. It is increasing or stagnant, even among young people. While some countries show very coy declines in TV usage among young people (on the order of one or two percent) you have to consider that TV usage only ten years ago was way down compared to today.
Multitasking seems to become the predominant usage model. Americans use media on average for twelve hours per day, that wouldn’t be possible if they weren’t using some things at the same time.
So quitting TV and quitting cable are two very different things. Even the article you link to is about cord cutting - not TV cutting.
The current industry trends are not actually people leaving cable all together (though that did happen last quarter but in relatively minor amounts). The scariest thing for the cable operators is people backing off of their premium offerings. People aren't going to pay $10 an month extra for Showtime if they can just buy a season Dexter on Amazon for ~$25.
People love their TV (average 2.5 hours per day watched in the US) they're just finding new ways to get it.
"I was sickened at the negative focus of broadcast news. Each and every morning hundreds of millions of Americans are watching and listening to these messages...."
Each time I see things like this, I can't believe people don't seem to see the irony. People now do this with twitter, reddit, facebook etc. Even Hacker news has its fair share of gossipy rumour "Mike doesn't like Jason any more!". It's even worse than TV. We're turning society into school kid gossip mill mob rule idiots.
It's like the people who laugh and mock people who get most of their news from Fox news, and then get most of their own news from Reddit and the daily show.
Whilst the internet has replaced TV for a lot of society, is that actually a good thing? Is the internet really that much better for society than TV? I'd argue that on balance, no it's not. You get hyperbole stories everywhere. A large amount of Reddit type websites etc is "You should be outraged by this!!! (Until tomorrow by which time you'll have forgotten)".
The argument about TV will vary massively with where you live though. I'm in the UK, and would happily pay the BBC a far higher license fee, simply because the quality of programing they put out is fantastic. They even employ real journalists who investigate, ask tough questions and provide balanced information. (We do not have any of that sermonistic preaching that seems to happen all too often in the US which personally creeps me out)
Tech melodrama is something I can tune in or out, and it doesn't have the same emotional damage. It's more like eating too much popcorn for your brain.
The issue with cable tv and news is that many still rely on it to keep up to date on current events. The portrayal of current events is sinister.
I have been without cable tv for about 5 years now. I dropped it because I never watched it and when I did I was watching dvr'd shows. Since I have subscribed to netflix for my entertainment needs and invest in the occasional purchase on iTunes through my apple tv. Sports are a bit o a problem but MLB.tv takes care of that. Either way it's a great way to save $600 a year.
Hands down the best thing about giving up cable (and broadcast) television is that I never just turn the TV on to "see what's on". If I turn on the TV it's because I make the conscious decision to watch something specific. The first month, in particular was illuminating. I found myself thinking about turning on the TV, but then, when faced with the decision of what to watch, I found it was easier to keep it off.
31 comments
[ 0.21 ms ] story [ 82.2 ms ] threadHonestly, I don't see how people find the time for it. Between work, keeping up my home, and spending time with my wife, I already feel like I don't have any spare time.
Of course Charter in their infinite wisdom decided that they were going to cut of my "cable" which means TV AND Internet. The level of incompetence of ISPs have reached these days is mind boggling.
It may be just my own selection bias, but it seems to me that the best TV shows are getting progressively better - by which I mean more connected rather than episodic, as well as smart and content-dense enough to hold up under repeat viewings. This may be a response to the increase in the ratio of home library : broadcast viewings.
On the other hand, I've also noticed that embedded advertising seems to be getting more common. In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, the credits identify Cadillac as a sponsor after one character calls another "the Cadillac of rebound guys".
That said, until the NCAA and NFL are willing to provide a stand-alone service that lets me subscribe to Georgia Tech and Atlanta Falcons football games, the whole concept of ditching cable is a non-starter for me. Since I'm no longer local to Atlanta, I have to have an option for viewing. ESPN3 is great for NCAA games but requires a partner cable subscription. I still usually resort to finding illegal streams of falcons games online since I have literally no other option.
I recognize that HN might not be a bastion of football fans; but having grown up in Atlanta, GA, football is a part of fall that I'm just not willing to go without.
Live sports are really the last stronghold that cable & satellite have.
I understand you, I only get cable TV for NBA finals. Then I cancel it again :) On a big TV, ESPN3 is not always great enough quality.
There's a whole slew of shows which would whither and die without a cable subscription model.
Think Food Network or Discovery or any show which isn't a serialized story model. Would you actually buy a season of Mythbusters?* I watch those shows all the time, but usually when I'm just browsing. I'm not sure I'd actually buy them ala carte.
BTW NFL and NCAA aren't holding out on streaming. The rights to internet broadcast games are tied to their traditional cable and broadcast deals with cable providers and the Comcasts and TWCs of the world are locking in those restrictions. MLB is the only one who kept their streaming rights.
* Note I'm not saying no one would - but I don't think enough people would
Here's hoping ad buys on Hulu continue to remain so expensive that politicians can't get in on it.
When my, then, fiance and I bought our house, we never bothered to get it connected because we were going to be travelling so much to MI with wedding stuff.
We just never hooked it back up. About 2 years ago, I built out a mythtv server and hooked it up to an OTA antennae for local content. The rest of the stuff we would "acquire" and then buy the DVD box sets when they came out. We also had Netflix.
Now, with Netflix streaming, we rarely watch anything except what MythTV has picked up (usually PBS shows for the kids) and whatever's available on Netflix. We listen to UofM games during football season over the internet.
Setup: Acer Aspire Revo - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225756 £300 + Loaded with Boxee + Proxied to an old laptop at my parents house in the US
Services I use: 1. NFL overseas Gamepass package (~$250 for whole season) - every game in full HD (yes literally just as good as watching it on cable HDTV...NO JOKE) 2. Hulu (via proxy) 3. Netflix (via proxy) 4. BBC (awesome programming) -> BBC iPlayer
Seeing as I am 6hrs ahead of them I'm not really concerned about bandwidth stealing of theirs ;)
Has it already been a decade?
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
Don't be the crazy hobo outside the bar.
Just from 4 days ago, front-page:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1850998
Multitasking seems to become the predominant usage model. Americans use media on average for twelve hours per day, that wouldn’t be possible if they weren’t using some things at the same time.
The current industry trends are not actually people leaving cable all together (though that did happen last quarter but in relatively minor amounts). The scariest thing for the cable operators is people backing off of their premium offerings. People aren't going to pay $10 an month extra for Showtime if they can just buy a season Dexter on Amazon for ~$25.
People love their TV (average 2.5 hours per day watched in the US) they're just finding new ways to get it.
Each time I see things like this, I can't believe people don't seem to see the irony. People now do this with twitter, reddit, facebook etc. Even Hacker news has its fair share of gossipy rumour "Mike doesn't like Jason any more!". It's even worse than TV. We're turning society into school kid gossip mill mob rule idiots.
It's like the people who laugh and mock people who get most of their news from Fox news, and then get most of their own news from Reddit and the daily show.
Whilst the internet has replaced TV for a lot of society, is that actually a good thing? Is the internet really that much better for society than TV? I'd argue that on balance, no it's not. You get hyperbole stories everywhere. A large amount of Reddit type websites etc is "You should be outraged by this!!! (Until tomorrow by which time you'll have forgotten)".
The argument about TV will vary massively with where you live though. I'm in the UK, and would happily pay the BBC a far higher license fee, simply because the quality of programing they put out is fantastic. They even employ real journalists who investigate, ask tough questions and provide balanced information. (We do not have any of that sermonistic preaching that seems to happen all too often in the US which personally creeps me out)
The issue with cable tv and news is that many still rely on it to keep up to date on current events. The portrayal of current events is sinister.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...