Another worthless service gone.
Not long after the birth of my daughter…I sat down to eat at the coffee table, while she played in front of the TV, The Simpsons were on as I recall…Anyway, I remember asking her to move…And her being completely oblivious…And my becoming a little annoyed…And then I caught myself…”Why was the TV so important?”. Well, my wife and I decided TV wasn’t that important…
My wife called the cable company the next day and we turned the services off. We kept them off for about five years…And I think it made a difference…Between my ability to focus on a whole host of other things including consulting work, my wife focusing on her art and the kids…And my kids missing out on thousands of advertisements, we were doing ok…
When asked by friends and co-workers if I had seen a specific episode of something during this period I’d say I hadn’t and quickly move on…Eventually I’d have to explain to the co-workers or occasional visitor that we didn’t have cable…And I’d get an odd look, as if I had just poured a glass of water over my own head…I’d explain that we really didn’t see the value, and that we were fine getting our news from National Public Radio vs. the nightly death/dismemberment and debauchery of the local Boston news…
Fast forward to 2008, and with my post traumatic stress from the horrible election cycles of 2000/2004 still lingering, there’s a real shot of a democrat winning the white house…Being a US presidential politics and HD junkie, and with broadcast packages looking relatively affordable…And my wife really missing the TV we opted back in…DirecTV with the HD package set up w/a nice albeit modest flat panel in the living room. I’m ready for Election Night 2008.
Seeing the president elect offer his first words to the crowds in Chicago that night on CNN HD was pretty powerful stuff. Granted, at that point, I was well primed to receive the message…Regardless, it was a LONG time coming for me…Who had supported Al Gore, believed he’d won, watched glued for two months of C-SPAN following the arguments, only to lose in a 5-4 Supreme Court disenfranchising decision, then 9/11 – then Iraq, then 2004 and JFK II in another bitter loss…I had a LOT of pent up emotions…Many of which came out in hoots, hollers and the breaking of a wine glass in my fire pit after the victory.
Anyway, with the FCC’s inability to break the cable lobby stranglehold on packaging bundles and our kids sneaking TV and getter very vocal and sometimes physical when we turn it off, we’re dumping our DirecTV and opting for a la cart via AppleTV. And movies via Netflix and their new streaming package. I save over $100 a month and the kids can’t simply go and turn on the TV to watch Nick and Cartoon Network…They’ll have to ask* to watch a pre-determined program for a set length of time.
TV sucks. Of the two shows I’ll miss, MadMen and Game of Thrones, MadMen’s 2012 season will be available near same day on iTunes while GoT will eventually come to Netflix and I can read the books in the meantime. Live is nice, but it’s only a matter of time before someone cracks that too…Or maybe as my pal John Caples is working out…Perhaps it’s back to an old antenna for HD Live?
Ultimately, I’m very happy to be free of the TV once again.
*Although Oskar has been able to defeat every parental control I’ve enabled…I still may yet have one trick up my sleeve…
