Starting now, I'm not going to power on my TV at all during the
next 30 days, nor will I watch the TVs at work. The TV will remain
off.
I really don't watch TV much compared to the average American, but still... I realized last night how much of my time is sucked away by it.
My time is valuable. I really don't get that much out of most of the shows I watch. On Feb 25th, I'll re-evaluate my lack of TV and decide what do to next--maybe some heavy editing of my Tivo wishlist?
Posted by jzawodn at January 25, 2004 02:42 PM
the only tv i watch now is via bittorrrent. i even gave my dvd player to my sister. i can no longer get sucked into channel surfing and there is no instant gratification anymore. i have to look at what's available on bittorrent and wait the hours it takes the download. so the only video i watch now is on my powerbook and i make sure to shrink the window into a tiny corner so i can at least be productive at the same time.
Gave up TV in may of 2003. Haven't looked back, except for college football. Amazing what you can do with all that time.
Gave up TV many years ago, except for C-SPAN. I might watch Queer Eye or TechTV if I am invited to, but otherwise I am disgusted by the banality.
So you're not going to watch the Super Bowl?
Commie!
Anyway, not watching TV isn't that hard. It's not that we're anti-television dirty hippies or anything, it's just that most television is horse shit.
I find that sometimes the computer can be an even worse time sink than the TV for some people. For instance, my friends. They may hold interest in TV for maybe 2-4 hours, and then spend 12 hours playing some online game, or chatting online with their friends.
I watch zero TV now..and i'd probably be more happier if i spent less time on the computer..
Superbowl? I've never watched it before, why would I start now?
Yeah, I'll bet you're still going to Tivo it :P
Yahooligans get to watch TV at work????
If your experience is like mine, you'll notice a few strange things.
Early on, you'll notice a strange compulsion to turn on the TV. You might even do it accidentally if you aren't quite thinking about it. Put the remote someplace weird as a reminder.
When TVs are on in restaurants, bars, and the like -- you'll really, really notice them. After a while, they just don't blend anymore.
After you've been away from it a while, if you go back, you'll find that the commercials are universally weird and/or insulting. It's amazing how you get used to being spoken down to and treated like some kind of a dumb reflexive animal.
Yes, the first thing I did was put the remotes in a very out of the way place.
Giving up TV isn't so hard in the UK - since you have to pay a 120 quid licence fee every year just to turn one on. This apparently pays for the BBC, and the fee applies even if you only use the unit to watch DVDs.
They're very strict at enforcing the licence too. If you're caught without one (they do regular door-knock blitzes) you get a 1000 pound fine, no questions asked.
Have given it up years ago. The only occasion I watch TV is together with my girl-friend.
There are just too many reasons not to watch TV:
- Blogs.
- Blogs.
- Internet.
- PHP
:)
I still watch DVDs, but I have no antenna, no cable, no satellite dish. I never feel like I'm missing anything.
I'll admit, I sinned. I watched TV for the first time in months the other night. I watched Road Rules and frankly, I'm scared. The complete crap that my teenage generation is addicted to is pathetic and disturbing.
Actually, the only show I watch reliably on the TV is the Superbowl and I don't pay attention till the commercials come on. Why? Because its Network TV at its best...actually fun.
Hey - sounds like a great idea Jeremy. Since I've got wireless installed at home, i'm finding that i'm watching less and less TV.
Good luck. And you just spent all that time and money upgrading your TiVo!
Wait, does TiVo count as TV?
Don't worry, the Tivo won't run out of disk space. :-)
I kind of lost interest in TV after Farscape was cancelled. And now I have too many other things to do with my time.
Dan, You say they do random door to door checks to see if you have a TV, but what do they consider a TV? What about a little handheld TV, the ever so scarce TV goggle-things or, like I have, a TV card for the comptuer? These may be very American things, I mean, as if we don't get to watch enough TV on the TV set, we also need to watch it on the computer, while going between the living room and bedroom, etc....
For me, it has been a year and half now without broadcast / cable / sat television. And it is quite noticeable how much more time I have for everything else, even while working as a software drone.
Things that seem worthwhile to watch, I download over bit-torrent and view using my modded XBox on the TV, or rent out on DVD.
Since I live in Israel, this has the added bonus of being able to view the good shows (Futurama, Simpsons, 6 feet under, Sopranos) and not the lousy crap that gets syndicated to the Israeli networks.
In his "no tv" experiment, i think Jeremy is quite right in making usage of his Tivo, in my opinion.
In using the Tivo , HE is taking control of the schedule , and HE is taking control of what he wants to watch - this is radically different to the false ideas of control given to us previously -"sure you have control - here's a remote and 500 channels of pure crap to choose from". With the Tivo , he can compile his own TV station.
So, for watching his Tivo programs , i dont think that counts at all towards his "giving up TV" allowance.
Watching the Superbowl in a pub with his mates WOULD count towards his tv allowance.
Maybe Jeremy could provide an RSS feed on his TV exposure. That would be fun - especially if it scales well and he get others to join in.
I cant do RSS on my lowly blogspot site unfortunately.
Hey I just saw this site online. I've been trying hard not to watch tv to. Im a student. The only thing is I like the show Gilmore girls. It is a dissapointment now anyway. I liked reading the message boards. It's great advice. I agree with someone on the internet posting, I don't like spending much time on the internet either. It has a way of taking up time!
Just glad to know other people out there gave up tv to! :)
Thanks
i have been over six years without the "silly box" her in the uk. i called the license enforcers and told them to stop harrasing me for the license which i do not want to pay as i do not use a tv. my step son is the top maths, reader, articulate pupil in his school. my girlfriend and i actually talk and life is beautiful. news, humor, nature? all in the internet. who needs to be alienated, dumbed, insulted, manipulated? say no to tv!!
I left TV not long ago, to discover I feel better about myself (weird, huh?)
http://whatagreatday.wordpress.com/2006/07/18/july-18-2006-unbelievable-greatness/
Great, put that TV in the closet. I did. After one week I realized that I don't miss TV at all.
I got sick of the mind numbing garbage. My wife and I have an 18 month old daughter and we didn't want her getting hooked on that madness either! There is so much violence on TV now that it's literaly insane. And so realistic too! And now there is more time to raise our daughter with love and positive attention.
How about that for reality!
