Comments on: Is No TV a Trend of the Future?

By: Ed Hunsinger

Ed Hunsinger — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:41:00 +0000

I was just commenting on how there is nothing worth watching on TV when a friend pointed me to your post. I truly think I could do without the television. All I really watch are Comedy Central and Discovery/TLC/etc. If I didn't need to have cable for my internet connection, it would definitely be axed.

I think this is a trend, and I think further down the line the consumer demand for the shows they want and only the shows they want will start to grow. Why pay for 60 channels when you really only watch 3? I'd love to pay for shows a la carte for a quick and easy download and viewing.

Like so many others, I spend more of my time online, and the TV (when on) usually ends up just being background distraction and a reminder of how much time I've spent working every 30 minutes when a show ends.

I would love to see the stations set up "podcasts" of their shows, letting each new episode get delivered, and watchable when you want. I'd set up one for The Daily Show and get both my "news" and comedy at once.

As I plan to move cross country on my own, I think more and more about how nice it might be not to have to move that big honking TV. Maybe it's time to just ditch it and fall back to a computer monitor that doubles for movies on occasion.

By: Rage

Rage — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 01:46:00 +0000

When I was a kind, my family owned just one TV in the living room, which my sister would occupy after school to watch silly cartoons and even worse tv shows. In the evening I would watch some news, football or sometimes a movie with my family.
Later on my sister bought herself a tv and is now constantly watching it in her room with her boyfriend or friends.
I used to have a tv card in my pc, but rarely used it, since I was moving my pc from place to place and had no cable outlet nearby. Anyway, the Internet and before my LAN with my neighbours was much more interesting.
Now I moved to Hong Kong and would have to pay for cable/satellite; only got 2 free over the air channels.
I rarely turn on the tv, just for the news and recently for the worldcup.
Every other thing I want to watch is on the net or in cinemas, so why bother?
(tv came with the flat, wouldn't have one otherwise)
The only thing I miss is the great cinema experience I had when still living in Germany (cinemas here aren't very good), but at least I can get DVDs for less than 1$.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 23:17:00 +0000

Definitely, this is a future trend. We dropped cable and broadcast both in 2002, and haven’t looked back. We do have a large hi-def TV to watch DVDs and my hub plays XBox on it. We have two small children, and I think we are far better off raising them without TV. The way they have grown up is thinking a show has a definite “end” and it’s shut off after a movie or video is over. So the constant hours-on-end TV watching absolutely does not happen. They also are used to turning a movie or video off even if it is in the middle, because they know they can always watch the end later (if they remember, which is rare!) Also the constant influence of commercials is completely negated. It took a while for my hub to get used to it, but now he really likes it. If he ever starts to miss it, all it takes is an evening at his parents’ house (who have satellite TV) to remind him of what he’s missing out on, namely, nothing.

By: Paul A. Houle

Paul A. Houle — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:18:00 +0000

We haven't had a TV for eight or nine years. I think TV has an oppressive presence when you have it on all the time, like a lot of people do.

We've got a few computers around the house, and lately we've been watching YouTube. Lately, my son and I have been watching Sailor Moon fansubs, where I read the subtitles.

Sure, the quality sucks on YouTube, but give it a few years and a real business model and it will look as good as SDTV.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 19:31:00 +0000

we’re another media-loving no-tv family. we watch lots of video, but on our computers or in our movie theater. we get shows and movies on dvd (bought and netflixed) and lots of short-form online. the driver for us is that we don’t want the commercials in our home.

By: Trevor Hill

Trevor Hill — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 12:36:00 +0000

I have been thinking of going this way too.

Don’t worry about the kids. Just rent some kids DVDs from netflix or buy them. There’s really no need for the TV. Once they can read, it’s much better for them to do that anyway. Maybe my son can be convinced TV is just for kids that can’t read yet.

However, I will maintain either a TV or a projector for watching DVDs. I think that’s worth it. If there’s really a great series (maybe Lost) I want to watch sometime, I’ll wait until it’s all over and rent the DVDs.

Everyone knows you just waste precious time when you sit infront of the tube and watch random crap. Even with a Tivo, you’ll record all sorts of stuff you don’t really care about and think you should watch it all. We all need to become more self-directed and prioritized about what we do with our limited time in this world of unlimited ways to waste time.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 11:49:00 +0000

I have lived for 9 of my 17 years without a TV in the house, and I believe I'm the better for it. It allowed me to spend a great deal of time reading (about 60 books a year) and gave me a lot of free time to spend with friends. It also gave me an entirely new perspective; I began to realize how much of what is on TV is absolute crap, and how moronic most advertising is.

I watch my favourite shows online - South Park and The Daily Show to name just two. I watch an average of 45 minutes a day of TV shows on my computer, and I honestly like it better this way; no ads, no cost, and I can watch anything on demand.

A couple other bonuses: I had time to learn computer skills, I had time to exercise, and I found a number of rewarding hobbies I wouldn't have ever heard of otherwise.

So, if this is a future trend, I fully endorse it.

By: Will Divide

Will Divide — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 10:37:00 +0000

Have not had a tv for nearly ten years, since the wife left. I can’t tell you how much peace fills up your life in its absence. In the interim I bought a quitar and learned how to play and I’m about half way through writing my first book. (YMMV) I do a LOT of reading.

Don’t have a car, cell phone, kids or microwave either…

By: Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 07:14:00 +0000

Joe, reading books has definitely dropped in my case. I much prefer reading online and have found my attention span has gotten continually shorter and shorter. The last book I tried to read was Bob Dylan's autobiography and I couldn't get through it and had to quit midway. I sold it to a used bookstore.

I still buy books but they are mostly photographic art books. I could imagine a world where I never read another book again. Too much competing content to consume in better form.

Thanks for the insightful conversation.

By: azra'el

azra'el — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 06:58:00 +0000

when i moved from CA to FL back in 2004, i had to drop my directv due to the fact that my apartment doesnt face the correct direction. i thought about hooking up cable, but my tv was on a moving truck that took a month to get to me.

luckily i had my computer with me and i had the cable company just hook up my broadband. when my tv finally arrived, i realised that i never really watched it anyway and i didnt need to watch tv anymore at all.

since 2004 my tv has been off with the very rare occasion of a movie on my dvd player.