Dropping cable hi-jack

[Dave B]

I didn't want to ruin a perfectly good thread with another direction so started a new one.

For those of you w/o cable or who have dropped it to almost nothing how did it impact your life?

we went to netflix/Hulu+ last summer and just paid for internet. I got sick of the choices, but was able to manage. My wife hated it so much she begged for cable back. So now we have it. I enjoy it until the bill comes around.

Why did you drop all cable?

I felt like i was missing out a bit on things. My students of course are all over it and I wasn't able to make certain connections. Felt weird, but wasn't too dramatic...just felt not with it for a lack of better way to say it.

I could see living a much less "modern" lifestyle, but my wife and almost all of our work culture seems to be sprinting towards technology.

[KidWok]

I don't have cable anymore...or even fast internet. Pay a few bucks more a month to get mobile hot spot on my phone and the speed isn't fast enough to get streaming video on my IPad. I canceled my netflix ages ago.

I'd say my life has improved significantly. What relevance does 90% of the shows out there have to do with my life? None whatsoever. Hardly go to movies anymore either. I'm completely clueless when people talk about the latest tv shows or games. Totally okay with that.

Tai

[rice rocket]

Only thing I miss is televised hockey games, they only show it on a local cable channel and it's blacked out on all other channels even if it's a nationally televised game b/c of exclusive TV rights. But there's always bars for that I guess. And HGTV, although that got old after a while.

If you're exhausting Netflix/Hulu, I think that speaks more about your lifestyle (not being critical, your lifestyle might demand more choices than mine).

Of course, you miss cultural references to television shows and such, but that's a small price to pay IMHO, and you can always pick up the shows on Netflix/RedBox once the season is over.

[alexstar]

I ditched cable for several reasons:

1) prices were getting ludicrous

2) I found that about half the time I "watched TV", I was just idly flipping channels, not devoting my attention to anything for very long

3) I missed having conversations and real human contact; "quality time" doesn't need to involve everybody sitting quietly and staring at the same thing

I watch the occasional movie on Netflix, but I spend most of my time connecting with friends and family (and that's not a euphemism for Facebook), or getting out and exploring the area in which I live, or reading books and some magazines. I think life is too short to spend a large portion of every evening sitting still in my living room.

I feel my life has improved because I feel more connected to my friends and family, like I was in the pre-internet era. We hang out and talk as often as we did in the old days (and I'm only 31...), which I had missed, since these days many people communicate and stay in touch via weak ties on the internet.

[jh_on_the_cape]

We never had cable, does that count?

[Lewis Moon]

Only thing I miss is televised hockey games, they only show it on a local cable channel and it's blacked out on all other channels even if it's a nationally televised game b/c of exclusive TV rights. But there's always bars for that I guess. And HGTV, although that got old after a while.

If you're exhausting Netflix/Hulu, I think that speaks more about your lifestyle (not being critical, your lifestyle might demand more choices than mine).
Of course, you miss cultural references to television shows and such, but that's a small price to pay IMHO, and you can always pick up the shows on Netflix/RedBox once the season is over.

This. There's also Amazon instant videos.
Price for cable is WAY too high and the fact that they won't go ala carte chaps my chamois. I HATE being charged for stuff I don't use. It's like puting a bottle of wine on the table at an Italian resteraunt and then adding it to your bill even if you didn't drink it.

PS: Have you exhausted all the great documentaries on Netflix?

[Dave B]

This. There's also Amazon instant videos.
Price for cable is WAY too high and the fact that they won't go ala carte chaps my chamois. I HATE being charged for stuff I don't use. It's like puting a bottle of wine on the table at an Italian resteraunt and then adding it to your bill even if you didn't drink it.

PS: Have you exhausted all the great documentaries on Netflix?

I haven't exhausted Netflix, I just don't find the older movies and shows relevant enough to care. Not much current, which I understand is a big complaint of theirs.

I didn't mind nothaving TV, I benefit from it as my wife loves her shows. I have maybe 4 or 5 shows I watch, but only a few I truly look forward to.

I guess I am curious as to why folks get rid of it. Not looking for a couse or movement, just interested in not having it for so long and the pros and cons.

[alessandro]

Still have cable, because it's part of an internet/cable package from Burlington's home-grown telecom provider. Also have Netflix and Hulu. I only use the TV for watching cycling (TdF, AToC, Paris-Roubaix), a little football, a little baseball, SNL when the teenagers want to watch it, election nights, Olympics... so not very much.

OT, we dropped the telephone landline 3 years ago and haven't looked back.

BTW, it's not a hijack if you start your own thread.

[zetroc]

Since I dropped cable I find that I read a lot more, I cook a lot more, and I work on projects around the house a lot more. I might watch 2 hours of TV (including netflix/hulu) in a given week. I don't miss it.

Life is too short to sit on the couch.

[gavingould]

i watch very little television. when i want it, can get local channels in HD over the air with an antenna. otherwise my entertainment comes via AppleTV/Netflix/Hulu+/other internet sources. the wife watches a fair amount of show regularly but we almost never watch "live" tv except occasionally the news.

[Ralph]

Here is how my wife and I look at it.

We have a family budget for technology. And we divide it up so we stay within our tech budget. We like cable TV. I'm a news (CNN), financial info (Blumberg and CNBC), and weather junkie. Maybe some auto races on various sports channels. She likes movies and BBC kind of stuff. So we have cable TV. (7 TV's on cable in house...one in garage where I keep up my bikes)
To make our tech budget work, we don't have smart phones with data plans. We do have a cable Internet with Wi Fi all over the house. So we have tablets. We get our Android fix from our tablets and Cable Wi Fi that also feeds our computers.

Another reason I don't have a smart phne is I like the smallest, lightest, cheapest, simplest, phone I can find to carry in my jesey on the bike. I usually just take the free phone with our Sprint family plan. If there is money left over in the "tech" budget, I subscribe another 6 months to Sirius in the car.

[hoonjr]

I have 2 small children. Aged 5 and 7. They were like zombies after watching an hour of television Saturday AM. Since we've cut the cable they've been doing a lot more reading and artwork. I will eventually buy an external antenna to pull in the local channels so we can watch major events but for now we're a cableless household. I do have a Panasonic 65VT50 in the basement for movie night.

[zmudshark]

If I was single, I would just have fast internet and a usenet account. I'm not, so I have cable, but rarely watch it.

[jlyon]

You shoukld never run out of free online movies to watch if you are into Documentarys.




This. There's also Amazon instant videos.
Price for cable is WAY too high and the fact that they won't go ala carte chaps my chamois. I HATE being charged for stuff I don't use. It's like puting a bottle of wine on the table at an Italian resteraunt and then adding it to your bill even if you didn't drink it.

PS: Have you exhausted all the great documentaries on Netflix?

[Louis]

As I said in the cable thread, I gave up on TV in general years ago. I suppose being a single guy makes it easier, since I'm the only decision maker. However, I grew up overseas in a third-world country and we didn't have a TV at home ('cause there was none) until I was in grade school (or maybe it was high school, I'm not sure).

The only thing I really miss is World Cup soccer.

There's way too much interesting stuff to do in life to waste it sitting passively in front of a box.

[Saint Vitus]

I cut it this past Saturday and kept internet. I have a Mac mini for streaming Netflix and watching DVDs and an antenna for OTA stations, the only plus with having cable and a box was the relative simplicity (when the box worked properly) in finding the things you wanted to watch. As it is now, I use either the phone, iPad or laptop with VNC to control the mini, which at the viewing distance can be a bit difficult to resolve the cursor and text (hench using the laptop and VNC).

So far no one has been negatively impacted (not a sports family, movie junkies or TV show addicts) and I'm $80 a month the richer.

[Cinci Jim]

I have a fast internet connection and basic cable only. I have Huluplus and Netflix. I figure I am saving about $1000 a year over cable with all the bells & whistles, so anything I want that is not on Hulu or Netflix I buy on iTunes or Google Play or Amazon. Example - I like Haven on Syfi but the release terms on Hulu were crazy so I just bought it on iTunes.

I have to say I really don't like waiting a year for the new season of Game of Thrones or TrueBlood to come out...

But you can just keep an eye on the schedule and when HBO does a marathon of it just check into a hotel for the weekend!

[tuscanyswe]

I have a fast internet connection and basic cable only. I have Huluplus and Netflix. I figure I am saving about $1000 a year over cable with all the bells & whistles, so anything I want that is not on Hulu or Netflix I buy on iTunes or Google Play or Amazon. Example - I like Haven on Syfi but the release terms on Hulu were crazy so I just bought it on iTunes.

I have to say I really don't like waiting a year for the new season of Game of Thrones or TrueBlood to come out...

But you can just keep an eye on the schedule and when HBO does a marathon of it just check into a hotel for the weekend!

You save 1k a year, wow. Whats the bill for a years cable with all the bells n whistles?

[Chance]

Since getting high definition and four-tuner DVR, TV watching on my own schedule has been great. Its a nice option to have. Doesn't mean we have to spend all free time in front of TV.

[thirdgenbird]

You save 1k a year, wow. Whats the bill for a years cable with all the bells n whistles?

Around here you can't avoid bundling. The only cable provider doesn't actually list a tv only plan.

The top end cable plan is $140 a month but that comes with cable internet. The internet plan is $50 per month but that includes a phone service. The phone service is $10. This means Internet is roughly $40 per month and cable is $100 per month for the most expensive package.

Keep in mind this is only first year introductory pricing. They don't list the price after that.


I live in a horrible market for Internet as well. The only DSL provider won't sell a naked line and the cable provider requires a phone service. Long story short, anything fast enough to stream video is over $40 per month. Version does offer 4g, but their data caps make it a useless option. The same goes for at&t's throttling. My wife and I have sprint phones with unlimited data, but the data connection is so slow you can't do a bandwidth test. Texts take several seconds to send and picture messages can take several minutes. It's not like I'm in the middle of nowhere either. I am 30min from two major interstates and 40min from a city with over 200,000 people.

[Peter P.]

I'm with Louis in that I've never owned a TV.

I'm 53.

I get my news from the newspaper or NPR; nothing is so important or immediate that I need TV coverage. I can search the internet if necessary.

[carpediemracing]

I haven't had cable since the mid 90s.

I can't say we saved a ton of time - I spend a lot of time on the computer, but it's a lot of typing time, not just sitting and watching. For about 5-7 years I played online games as well.

[SlackMan]

...
There's way too much interesting stuff to do in life to waste it sitting passively in front of a box.
^^^^This. The statement above might sound obnoxious, but I would challenge everyone to give "no cable" a try. I didn't have it from age 16-37. Then we got it for our kid to watch kid's shows. Then we dropped it again some years later-the kid watches a few shows on Netflix. Frankly, after cooking, reading, exercising, socializing, etc., I don't see how people have time to watch TV. I say that only to mean that I don't miss cable because I don't have time to watch it anyway given the things that I have filled my life.

Give it a try for six months, and then go back only if you still think you need it.

[JAGI410]

We've spent the past 3 years with Netflix/Hulu/Antenna and it's been wonderful! My kids are happy, my wife is happy, and if there's a game I really want to watch, I'll go to the bar and pay my tab with the money I've saved.

[vqdriver]

i have cable internet cuz it's loads faster than dsl. but no cable tv. the only thing i miss is live sports, but i live with it. all the big stuff is either on network (over the air) tv in fantastic hd or i can stream it thru espn. the only thing we pay for now is netflix for the kids or a season of whatever show we happen to be into.

[thirdgenbird]

While wa are talking streaming service, don't let an ISP full you. A solid 6mbps* connection will stream HD quality netflix all day. I honestly don't think we have ever had to wait for it to buffer with 6mbps DSL. In our old apartment we only averaged 2-2.5mbps (15mbps cable) and we rarely had issues with netflix.

* actual speed, not the rated speed they sell you.

[spamjoshua]

Just $35 (http://www.amazon.com/Google-Chromecast-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B00DR0PDNE)

Open anything in a Chrome browser and stream it to your HDTV and through your stereo.

I use youtube as my radio... Or better... Listen to and watch live shows I wish I had seen... Or better... things like this... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_1b0nZONes&feature=player_detailpage)

Open hulu in chrome... on an ipad or phone or laptop... stream it to your TV... done.

My grandmother requested Baryshnikov's 1977 ABT Nutcracker... so I put it on the big screen for her.

Want to watch MLK's speeches... Here you go...

$35

[pcxmbfj]

I don't watch it but my wife insists on it. Would pull the over air channels by antennae if I had my way.

I have to have internet though.

[false_Aest]

I house sit for my friend pretty often. He's got a high $$ cable package HBO and all that jazz. I still can't find anything I want to watch.

I mostly use netflix as a way to fall asleep now. My brain has a hard time shutting off StarTrek TnG or Futurama are great ways to turn it off and then fall asleep. Cheaper than smoking pot too.

When we had cable I spent a lot of time looking for something to watch instead of just turning it off and reading a book. TV was also a consuming event -- I didn't multi-task, I just vegged out.

WHen I'm not trying to fall asleep I usually have netflix running in the background while I edit photos.

I'm totally out of touch with whats happening in TV pop-culture but I'm ok with that. My students know that I believe the best music was created between 1993 and 1999. They're happy to remind me that I'm culturally irrelevant and I'm OK with that.