How do people live without television?

After living with a roommate for 3 years, I was ecstatic when he went broke and asked for help paying the cable bill. I fell right into the tv-killer snob mode, and haughtily refused.

Since then, the roommate has slept in his bed instead of on the couch in front of the TV. I no longer struggle to fall asleep due to distracting noise pollution. I can quietly sit in my living room, and when the roommate comes through the door, the TV is not instantly turned on.

TV production has taken a turn for the worse in recent years, in my opinion. Shows and averts are too often designed to generate anxiety in viewers, in my opinion. They are targeted at people with attention spans similar to fruit flies. These qualities give me a headache, and I prefer to be without it.

I never used to hate TV, but after living with a couch potato, it has gotten a bad name with me. I love being without it. I also love going to someone's house and watching one of the rare good shows. I miss PBS and the movie channels, but I have netflix anyway.

I am moving in a few weeks, and I have no intention of buying a TV. It is a wonderful feeling to not have that crutch sitting in the living room...more creativity, more conversation, more peace, more likelihood of picking up a guitar, and less invasion of horrible consumer culture.

I do admittedly have a hard time talking TV with people, since I have not seen anything they talk about, but I do not consider that 'intelligent conversation with my fellow man' anyway.

PS I also miss the rare occasion ESPN shows a soccer match instead of poker...*sigh* I heard Arsenal was on the other day...

"'You shift time to the television,' said Annie Lang, a professor of telecommunications at Indiana University. 'If you start watching television, there's something else you're not doing. Who knows what you were doing before?' Reading, seeing friends, bonding with partners, theater, film, restaurants - toast."

Has anyone bothered to refute that?

Yeah,.. I own a TV.

In fact I own three.

I watch 'em too.

Yup,.. got one in the living room, garage, and the bedroom.

............

Gotta take the one out of the bedroom though...





My wife and I don't have sex anymore.

Lampbane: Not having a TV is different from not watching TV. I said I watch TV shows. I also said I don't like having a TV in the house. I also like reading this site to see what people have to say about the shows I watch, just like everyone else does.
It looks like a few people are getting defensive. I never said I was better than people who have a TV, but it looks like I'm a fair bit more sane than some.

precisely, why are these people on here?
it's like someone going to a real estate seminar and saying "yea real estate really isnt going anywhere, or for me". um what are you doing there then?

That's what I was wondering.

I'm confused, Star: if you don't watch TV because it just bores you to tears, why on earth are you reading this website??

I think the only thing that's bothering me right now are the people who say "I don't watch TV, I watch DVDs or download stuff to watch."

Don't be an ass. You're watching TV. Just because you don't watch it live doesn't mean you qualify for the "I don't watch TV" honor. It's all the same media, regardless of when you consume it. That goes for you DVR people too!

I grew up without cable...well mostly. The only time I had cable was if I visited relatives or friends, or if I moved into a new place and the cable wasn't shut off. I remember being in Okinawa, Japan for 4 years and we only had 2 american channels and there was no cable option. (Satellite was too expensive). IIRC, There were 2 american channels. This probably caused most of my hatred for commercials because the AFN commercials were so lame. (But I've been hating commericials since I was 6 or so anyways).

Since 1998-2006 I've been buying TV shows on DVD and that's how I've been watching "TV" ever since. I did put on the bunny ears last year to catch a show or two but the advertisements pissed me off as usual and I hated that fact that I couldn't control the TV content. (When shows came on, advertisements, etc). I don't buy into the whole cable/satellite deal because I do not like paying for something that I won't watch or that is dumbed down. (Advertisements, censored content, cut shows for time, etc).

DVR's can alleviate some of this but it just seems like alot of effort (Wether you'll be able to forward/skip through ads, if they'll change the ads or limit your ability to do things, having to put up with if you can record protected content, etc, etc.). (OpenSource DVR's can help out alot there too but it's still to much effort)

It's far easier to just pick up the DVD and watch it. I'm far happier this way because if I had to watch "TV" I would probably have very high blood pressure and would have had a heart attack by now.
Picked up Nip/Tuck Season 1 and 2 from Best Buy Friday for $25 bucks each! :)

I really don't watch tv. It's not that I ever consciously *chose* not to watch--it just bores me to tears.

I do read a lot, so I guess that's my entertainment fix.

Not watching tv does present problems sometimes during social conversations, making me the queen of the vacant look.