Get rid of Cable TV
What would it take to get rid of cable TV. Have you thought about it? No more fighting with Comcast, waiting through 4 hour windows, with them arriving on the 5th, to perform a service that you don't really need to be home for. Overpaying for cable, with fees and taxes that mean nothing to you, nor do you see any benefit of having. Or Direct TV and the satelite going out, and don't forget that Southern exposure, God forbid you don't have a clear line of sight to the Southern hemisphere. But is there really an alternative thats feasible?
Imagine turning on your TV and scrolling through the channels, all 6 or 7 of them. Nothing's on, but the news and some programming that seems outdated. So where do you find the balance? and what is it you truly would miss without cable? For me, its the flexibility to have 60, 70 channels to scroll through and hope something catches my attention. If not, then I have movies as a back-up plan. And its the programming as well that keeps me hooked. Mad Money on CNBC, all of the sports on ESPN, Animal Planet, Comedy Central, FoodTV, to name some of my favorites. Channels that no matter what, don't let me down and its as simple as pressing a button. Yet I don't spend that much time watching TV, its more or less on for background noise. The actual hours spent watching are probably a few hours a week, at best. But why would I give that up? and for what?
It's costing me over $1,000 a year to have TV enjoyment, yet I can't seem to break away to an alternative viewing routine. WIth the increasing popularity of TV's shows replaying online for free on sites like HULU, and the library of movies on Netflix, the possibilitty for endless entertainment exists. So what holds us back?
I think largely, its the remote control and technical skill of connecting your lap-top to your TV. If only the interface were seemless, or similar to that of most cable company's digital guide offering, I think you'd see a lot more people switch to unconvential ways to watch TV. The fact is, its not like we even watch TV "live" that much, unless for sports and a few shows here and there. For the large part, most people with DVR's end up forgoing watching TV at the time that their favortie episodes are on, record them, and watch them at their convenience. The transition is on the horizon, but in the meantime, until the interface changes, I'll continue to overpay and underwatch just because its what we do.
