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No I really don't watch TV

Josh BytesJosh Bytes
edited August 2010 in Everything Else
Sunday my brother had to move back in with the parents. He offered to let me use his TV because he didn't have the room for it plus the parents have a huge plasma TV in the living room. I responded with I don't watch TV. He stared at me blankly and kind of just ignored what I had said. He asked again later that day. With well you play video games don't you? I play them on the computer I responded. I told him I would hold onto his TV. But I stated that I don't watch TV. Yesterday I got a call from Att to subscribe to there U-Verse (cable tv) service. I told the operator I don't watch TV. Got the same response. She paused then continued on to try and sell me the service. And I restated. I don't watch TV. I don't think she believed me or my brother either for that matter. Is it so hard for folks to believe other people just don't watch TV anymore?
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Comments

  • RymRym
    edited August 2010
    Is it so hard for folks to believe other people just don't watch TV anymore?
    Outside of our geeky circles, not watching TV is like not having a daemon in His Dark Materials. It's crazy, fringe behavior. Most people cannot fathom how one can be entertained or even function without access to broadcast television. In fact, many people will treat you just as strangely for having OTA TV, but no cable.

    You're a crazy outlier.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • theknoxinatortheknoxinator
    Yeah, even amongst my friends, who are all geeky in various ways, they can't understand how I don't have any TV broadcasting. I have a TV, cause I need something to hook my consoles up to, but any shows or movies I watch are through Netflix. The only real disadvantage I've found is that due to my not having TV broadcasts is that no one wants to come over and hang out. It's like they simply can't function without having something playing in the background.
  • RymRym
    The only real disadvantage I've found is that due to my not having TV broadcasts is that no one wants to come over and hang out. It's like they simply can't function without having something playing in the background.
    This is intensely annoying, but luckily no one in our circles is like that. I have enough trouble enjoying bars and many restaurants just for the fact that they tend to have music blaring or annoyingly loud live bands, preventing real discussion, so I'm certainly not going to purposefully add distraction to my own social gatherings.
  • RochelleRochelle
    The only real disadvantage I've found is that due to my not having TV broadcasts is that no one wants to come over and hang out. It's like they simply can't function without having something playing in the background.
    That's not necessarily a disadvantage. Less people pooping in your toilets or eating your food and making your apartment messy. :P
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I have no TV. I'm happy with that. I grew up in a home with no TV. I have not suffered in any way, and I think it was of the things that led to the life I have today, which is awesome.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    edited August 2010
    I have no TV either, just a 1080P monitor. I'll probably be getting a TV soon as my monitor's quality is so so and if you want 1080P (which I do cause it matches the resolution of the videos and games I play) you need a HDTV. I still won't get TV service though.
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • JasonJason
    This attitude was common regarding home phones as cell phones were being adopted. Now that cell phones are ubiquitous, I know no one who has a land line. Give online content delivery systems a couple more years to mature and television will be done, just as predicted by Star Trek: The Next Generation, aka the Bible According to Picard.
  • RymRym
    Now that cell phones are ubiquitous, I know no one who has a land line.
    People over 40 still freak out that I don't have a landline by and large.
  • beefybeefy
    I don't know if television will be die, but it will certainly change quite a bit in the near future. They only TV I watch now, is stuff like the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, and a few others. I haven't watched Network TV in years. I mostly use my TV for Netflix now. I know all of my kids barely watch TV either, my oldest son just has his for his console and DVD's. My Daughter and her boyfriend don't even have, nor want a TV, they watch everything online. And for my youngest son, he just uses his TV for his xbox, WII, and PS2. Almost everything else he gets online. So I think as time goes by, and you young "punk kids" :) get older, Network TV is going to die a slow painful death.

    I would love to see TV go to the Iphone model of being able by shows like apps. Just let me buy the History channel app. or ESPN app, or HBO and screw the rest of the crap that is on. But I don't know if that will happen any time soon.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    edited August 2010
    People over 40 still freak out that I don't have a landline by and large.
    I really should have a landline, my cell reception in my apartment is shit.
    I would love to see TV go to the Iphone model of being able by shows like apps. Just let me buy the History channel app. or ESPN app, or HBO and screw the rest of the crap that is on. But I don't know if that will happen any time soon.
    I'm supporting this by paying for things like Netflix and Crunchyroll.
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • AprecheApreche
    People over 40 still freak out that I don't have a landline by and large.
    I really should have a landline, my cell reception in my apartment is shit.
    Femtocell.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    People over 40 still freak out that I don't have a landline by and large.
    I really should have a landline, my cell reception in my apartment is shit.
    Femtocell.
    It's like $250, adding VOIP to my cable service is not much.
  • AprecheApreche
    It's like $250, adding VOIP to my cable service is not much.
    That's BS. People who let the phone company put towers on their property get paid, but a mini-tower you have to pay? Fuck them.
  • RymRym
    That's BS. People who let the phone company put towers on their property get paid, but a mini-tower you have to pay? Fuck them.
    Exactly. It sucks.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    That's BS. People who let the phone company put towers on their property get paid, but a mini-tower you have to pay? Fuck them.
    Exactly. It sucks.
    *nods* I'm also moving soon so the problem may sort itself without needing me to spend money.
  • gomidoggomidog
    I was raised without a TV in my home and I have trouble when one is turned on in the room, in that I find it more distracting than most people.
    Conversely, I was also one of the first people at school to have a computer and the internet, and my family's entertainment has been centered around the computer since the VHS days. Therefore, although I enjoy popular entertainment, I dislike "push" media, and loath having to watch a given media at a pre-determined time.
    The only time I watched a large of television was when I was in Japan and my host family would keep it playing during breakfast and afternoons.
  • AprecheApreche
    We still need a reasonable sports solution, other than that, TV can die in a fire.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    I was raised without a TV in my home and I have trouble when one is turned on in the room, in that I find it more distracting than most people.
    I have ADHD, so the flashy lights and movement immediately grab my attention. If we ever go to a restaurant with TVs you'll probably see me looking at them most of the time.
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    edited August 2010
    I find that a lot of people that say, "I don't watch TV," do watch television shows, just not on a television. It is simple confusion of terms. A person may watch hours of "television programming" via hulu, downloads, etc., but just not watch it on a television set.
    (This is Kate. Silly Adam is logged in on my computer again.)
    Post edited by GreatTeacherMacRoss on
  • JasonJason
    Devil's advocate says: Is there nothing desirable about having a cultural touchstone around which to gather? I kind of miss the old days of "big event" programming where you could look forward to the masses having a shared experience.

    I remember when Thriller premiered in prime time television. The first time Burton's Batman aired on network TV was an explosive event. Gathering to watch the Challenger disaster on the news; dorms packed with students watching the World Trade Centers burn; the Seinfeld finale; Wrestlemania in the college lounge; who shot J.R.; Urkel on TGIF; the Oliver North hearings; the M*A*S*H finale; Jim Carrey ganging up with the Butabi brothers on SNL; the Super Bowl Shuffle; Johnny Carson's final episode of The Tonight Show; the original V.

    I don't want pop culture to become to fractured that it no longer binds us together.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited August 2010
    I find that a lot of people that say, "I don't watch TV," do watch television shows, just not on a television. It is simple confusion of terms. A person may watch hours of "television programming" via hulu, downloads, etc., but just not watch it on a television set.
    (This is Kate. Silly Adam is logged in on my computer again.)
    Yeah, but there's still a difference between internet viewing and sitting in front of a set and just shutting down your brain.
    I don't want pop culture to become to fractured that it no longer binds us together.
    The internet is the new pop culture. Internet memes and viral videos are today's Seinfeld finale.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • JasonJason
    I did not say the first thing you quoted. That was Adam. As for the second, there's a difference between shared culture and time-shared culture. I think there can be virtue to everyone tuning in to an event at a given time and sharing that high in the moment, rather than in a time-shifted cascade.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    I did not say the first thing you quoted. That was Adam. As for the second, there's a difference between shared culture and time-shared culture. I think there can be virtue to everyone tuning in to an event at a given time and sharing that high in the moment, rather than in a time-shifted cascade.
    Sorry on the first quote. I'm unsure as to how that happened.

    As for shared experiences, I dunno. I mean, Renoir wasn't time-shared, and every painting he put out is a billion orders of magnitude better than anything produced for television.
  • JasonJason
    edited August 2010
    There is no reason one must displace the other. Renoir was great, but Shakespeare filled the theater. Television doesn't have to die to make way for on-demand media.
    Post edited by Jason on
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    There is no reason one must displace the other. Renoir was great, but Shakespeare filled the theater. Television doesn't have to die to make way for on-demand media.
    Of course not. There's a difference, you're right, but I don't think time-shared media has any edge over it's shifted competition.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Devil's advocate says: Is there nothing desirable about having a cultural touchstone around which to gather? I kind of miss the old days of "big event" programming where you could look forward to the masses having a shared experience.
    Nothing wrong with it at all. I did, however, miss out on most of these things as a child. I suffered in no way at all. While other kids talked about soap operas and sport, I was talking about the climbing wall and abseiling tower my father built in my back yard.
    dorms packed with students watching the World Trade Centers burn
    I didn't have a TV at the time, and didn't see any moving footage until about 2 months after. I don't think I suffered in any way here.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    I was talking about the climbing wall and abseiling tower my father built in my back yard.
    I going to do that for my kids. No TV, awesome projects.

    That's pretty much been my goal all along, really. If I ever have a kid, let them read whatever they want, play what they want, and keep the TV (or at least a broadcast tie-in) out of the house. Then, do awesome shit with them whenever possible. I want to fly high-powered rockets with my kids.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Rockets are cool. You know what's easier? Hot air balloons. You cut plastic bin bags into sheets, and sellotape them together into balloon forms. On a cool day, fill with hot air using a fan heater, and launch. Then ride bikes across the city and try to retrieve it from wherever it lands.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    Rockets are cool. You know what's easier? Hot air balloons. You cut plastic bin bags into sheets, and sellotape them together into balloon forms. On a cool day, fill with hot air using a fan heater, and launch. Then ride bikes across the city and try to retrieve it from wherever it lands.
    I've heard of building a basket to hold a can of Sterno and tethering it to a long line of monofilament and seeing how far the fuel will carry it into the sky, but a fan heater is definitely safer and easier.

    Man, I gotta build something soon.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    One of my girlfriend's friends was over one time, and the fact that we don't really watch TV came up. She said "What, so you guys just talk to each other?" :)
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