Just got my latest cable TV bill...Over $100.00 for a couple of hundred channels, and I really only watch one or two of them (and those are Fox and CNN). The rest of the channels are pretty much garbage. History channel, Sci-Fi, Discovery, all pretty much suck anymore and are filled with garbage...Thinking I might call up the cable company today and tell them to bite it.
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
who here has ditched cable tv?
- Thread starter mtbazz
- Start date
Lonely Pint
New member
Ditched T.V. a few years ago mate. Great move.
Ditched the drink about the same time. Even better move.
Ditched the Bitch about that time too. PRICELESS
I'd rather spend a few hours learning from my plants, than watching people pretending to be other people, having imaginary problems, extaordinary lives, unbelieveable co-incidences and all in the one street.
Get outside, get the fresh air around your lungs, there's plenty of time to watch all that crap in the nursing home. And it will still be the same programmes, hehe.
Cheers Lonely
Ditched the drink about the same time. Even better move.
Ditched the Bitch about that time too. PRICELESS
I'd rather spend a few hours learning from my plants, than watching people pretending to be other people, having imaginary problems, extaordinary lives, unbelieveable co-incidences and all in the one street.
Get outside, get the fresh air around your lungs, there's plenty of time to watch all that crap in the nursing home. And it will still be the same programmes, hehe.
Cheers Lonely
Big_Al_Wang
Member
I am with you, it sux.....bad
I am with you, it sux.....bad
I recently got it turned back on after 2 years without. I cannot believe how expensive it really is. Problem was I am home a lot and one can only watch the same dvds so many times. I am suprised how much things have changed. Even the respectable channels have turned to brain rotting reality garbage tv. Even The Discovery ch. is void of shows that can be informational and teach you something. The funniest is the learning channel "TLC". I have not learned anything at all from watching it. With shows like honey boo boo there is no hope, and channels like "tru T.V" which every show on it is clearly staged and far from tru, I am starting to re think getting it turned back on . Problem is I am falling for it and am hooked on so many trash reality shows it is making me sick. Has anyone seen the show Amish Mafia? OMG WTF is going on today, our next generation literally has no hope. Might get my fix for a bit and go back to the red box every night. Anyone else agree?
I am with you, it sux.....bad
I recently got it turned back on after 2 years without. I cannot believe how expensive it really is. Problem was I am home a lot and one can only watch the same dvds so many times. I am suprised how much things have changed. Even the respectable channels have turned to brain rotting reality garbage tv. Even The Discovery ch. is void of shows that can be informational and teach you something. The funniest is the learning channel "TLC". I have not learned anything at all from watching it. With shows like honey boo boo there is no hope, and channels like "tru T.V" which every show on it is clearly staged and far from tru, I am starting to re think getting it turned back on . Problem is I am falling for it and am hooked on so many trash reality shows it is making me sick. Has anyone seen the show Amish Mafia? OMG WTF is going on today, our next generation literally has no hope. Might get my fix for a bit and go back to the red box every night. Anyone else agree?
DirectTV
$168 a month
500 channels including over 80 movie channels
It's 6 below zero right now, I need my channels
In the summer I do outdoor stuff, but in the winter it's TV, video games, reading, and the gym.
$168 a month
500 channels including over 80 movie channels
It's 6 below zero right now, I need my channels
In the summer I do outdoor stuff, but in the winter it's TV, video games, reading, and the gym.
went years without cable and just got it again because I like the sports in HD.
It's not that hard to go without cable since you can now choose what you want to watch on various platforms such as netlfix, hule, youtube, and all the rest of those services.
cable is expensive for sure, and I have a feeling it's going out the window for a lot of folks these days.
It's not that hard to go without cable since you can now choose what you want to watch on various platforms such as netlfix, hule, youtube, and all the rest of those services.
cable is expensive for sure, and I have a feeling it's going out the window for a lot of folks these days.
Thurston Howell
New member
That's what I did. Ditched the TV part and kept the cable internet. Got tired of surfing through 100 channels with nothing worth watching. It's starting to get almost insulting. I agree with Big Al Wang, those learning channels used to be quite interesting, but even they have been dumbed down to the point of being intolerable. Reminds me of the TV shows the citizens watch in the movie "Idiocracy".
Wireless internet.
Haven't actively watched TV in almost 10 years now. No newspapers, radio or magazines either.
All of my information is actively acquired by myself... through the internet, the library and the people in the world around me.
Because of this... I have a hard time relating to people that watch tv a few hours every day. LOL
Remove broadcast media from your life. I cannot recommend it highly enough. LOL
Stay Safe!
Haven't actively watched TV in almost 10 years now. No newspapers, radio or magazines either.
All of my information is actively acquired by myself... through the internet, the library and the people in the world around me.
Because of this... I have a hard time relating to people that watch tv a few hours every day. LOL
Remove broadcast media from your life. I cannot recommend it highly enough. LOL
Stay Safe!
BullnAChinaShop
Member
I have a couple friends who only run internet + netflix. Netflix is $7.99/mo and you can get an apple tv for $99 that gives you access to netflix + a whole lot more. Plus there is a netflix app for every game console and even is built into most newer high end TV's like the sharp aquos. So for $99 per tv(one time) and then $7.99 a month you can have a very large library of shows and movies. Then you can purchase newer shows and movies off itunes if you want. And if you have young kids, netflix is where it's at!
O
OrganicOzarks
I watch loads of t.v., but I download all of it. No commercials, and no crazy ass cable/satellite bill. I ditched cable a couple of years ago. I pay for the 50mb internet, and download everything instead. Same with movies. I have gone to the movie theater maybe 5 times in the last 10 years, and that was because I was forced to. Why would I pay 10 bucks to watch a movie on a screen that has marginal video quality, marginal audio quality, I can't pause to take a piss, and I sure as hell can't smoke a joint? I can just wait a few weeks after release, and get an hd copy from the interwebs, and watch it in great video quality, great audio quality, pause it when I need to piss, and smoke as much herb as I want.
The media Companies need to catch up to what the people want. I have had my t.v's hooked up to computers since 2005. Now for you youngins that may not mean much, but to get that shit to work back then was a huge under taking. There was only a handful of people doing it, and it was far from user friendly. I think my first setup took me about 2 weeks to get to work properly. However I most certainly was the only person I knew that was watching shit through his computer on a 10' movie screen, in HD in 2005 in my home.
Now it is just plug and play. Much easier, you just buy a computer with HDMI, and you are done. Wasn't that way 8 years ago. Every t.v. I own now is hooked up to a computer. Even the one in the bathroom. What if I want to watch something while in the jacuzzi tub? Don't judge me.
The media Companies need to catch up to what the people want. I have had my t.v's hooked up to computers since 2005. Now for you youngins that may not mean much, but to get that shit to work back then was a huge under taking. There was only a handful of people doing it, and it was far from user friendly. I think my first setup took me about 2 weeks to get to work properly. However I most certainly was the only person I knew that was watching shit through his computer on a 10' movie screen, in HD in 2005 in my home.
Now it is just plug and play. Much easier, you just buy a computer with HDMI, and you are done. Wasn't that way 8 years ago. Every t.v. I own now is hooked up to a computer. Even the one in the bathroom. What if I want to watch something while in the jacuzzi tub? Don't judge me.
In the US, broadcast TV is tits if you are in any metropolitan area. I learned this the hard way when I moved 2 years ago and the cable service that was supposed to be available wasn't. Got an antenna out of desperation.
Now I've enhanced the setup with a large antenna in the attic - considering going back to the roof. I get 48 channels! Some are 60 miles away. Everything digital. Much better HD than I got with cable. Totally free.
I get 10 PBS stations. Their programs are far better than Discovery crap. What you don't get are CNN, MSNBC and Fox Cable. I do get Al Jazera, chines, Japanese and Russian English language news. My life is much better without cable news. CNN was great when it first came out. Now it's just entertainment with pretensions.
Use your unlimited Internet and drop the rest. Now I've just got to wait for unlimited Internet to get here. Really hurt to lose that.
Now I've enhanced the setup with a large antenna in the attic - considering going back to the roof. I get 48 channels! Some are 60 miles away. Everything digital. Much better HD than I got with cable. Totally free.
I get 10 PBS stations. Their programs are far better than Discovery crap. What you don't get are CNN, MSNBC and Fox Cable. I do get Al Jazera, chines, Japanese and Russian English language news. My life is much better without cable news. CNN was great when it first came out. Now it's just entertainment with pretensions.
Use your unlimited Internet and drop the rest. Now I've just got to wait for unlimited Internet to get here. Really hurt to lose that.
norcal_sourD
Active member
Hydro-....wireless internet huh? Where does that signal originate?
Unless you're going off city wide wifi, no one else has that luxury ESPECIALLY in these underserved, overmonopolized rural areas..bottom line is there IS no other options for a lot of folks.. it's bs. Comcast, Time Warner, Cox ALL have us by the short and curlies until white-space broadband is a more viable reality. But in the meantime, one can ditch cable all day long, but one would still need a broadband connection to stream tv or really do anything worthwhile online. So then you pay damn near the same amount for HSInternet ALONE, as you would for a bundled vid/phone/hsi package. Arrgh.
Unless you're going off city wide wifi, no one else has that luxury ESPECIALLY in these underserved, overmonopolized rural areas..bottom line is there IS no other options for a lot of folks.. it's bs. Comcast, Time Warner, Cox ALL have us by the short and curlies until white-space broadband is a more viable reality. But in the meantime, one can ditch cable all day long, but one would still need a broadband connection to stream tv or really do anything worthwhile online. So then you pay damn near the same amount for HSInternet ALONE, as you would for a bundled vid/phone/hsi package. Arrgh.
O
OrganicOzarks
Something else you can do is setup a standard antenna, run it through a computer with windows media center, and use this
http://mcebuddy2x.codeplex.com/
It will convert what media center has recorded, and also take out the commercials. That way you can save some bandwidth if you have a cap on your internet.
http://mcebuddy2x.codeplex.com/
It will convert what media center has recorded, and also take out the commercials. That way you can save some bandwidth if you have a cap on your internet.
Television? What a time suck. It's been in storage for nine years now. I waste enough time on this web site as it is already.
I'm in real rural in northern minnesota, we have a choice of one cable/net/phone provider or go to the airwaves for TV which is better than before (so I've heard). The only net provider is my telephone provider so I'm stuck. I pay about $140 per month for a boatload of channels incl 11 HBO channels, there's still NOTHING on sometimes. I buy into the bundle concept & save.
You can get satellite up here but no internet package so I wouldn't even consider it, plus it still leaves me needing a phone.
Antennae. Plenty of FREE airwave garbage anyway, and I live in a rural area too. I have a 55"LED 3D wifi TV and another 47"LCD. No cable service here anyway. I guess I could get satellite, but why? I watch Netflix movies usually twice a week. I have never quite understood paying huge for TV reception that is already mostly advertising anyway, why pay THEM for the privilege of making me watch that shit? The advertizers now get people to pay for them to invade your household. Freakin' nuts.
As far as I know... from a company that buys bandwidth from verizon or the local phone company. $45/mo $20/mo for voip. Not a bad deal for a mountain town.
Further out of town... your only option becomes satellite... expensive and slow.
Stay Safe!
