who here has ditched cable tv?
- Thread starter mtbazz
- Start date
Dam I fell good and a bit bad at the same time here,,I can access any sat/sig from geo/sats and watch the worlds TV stations,I can get all the Asian and Aussie Sats, and sometimes West coast US stations but the weathers gotta be clear and early in my morning late in the US evening.
I dont have to pay any monthly but did have to pay enough to buy a new truck to get set up.
Biggest reason for TV here,,,,helps me teach my son to speak English....
I dont have to pay any monthly but did have to pay enough to buy a new truck to get set up.
Biggest reason for TV here,,,,helps me teach my son to speak English....
That's funny, I had it removed so the kids would do their schoolwork. It is great for learning English, I know a fellow from Holland that speaks nearly flawless English just from having watched U.S. TV as a kid.
The Professor
Member
I haven't watched TV regularly in a long time. The writers strike which led to the onslaught of all the (phony) "reality" TV was pretty much it for me. There's a couple shows I'll watch online but otherwise I pretty much avoid TV. I find the bias in network TV disturbing at best and absolutely disgusting at worst. I've since become an insatiable reader online, particularly when it comes to news and current events.
Seems way too many people stare at the "glowing box" for hours on end and never fully realize the extend to which they have their opinion manipulated, if not outright handed to them. About everything. People just don't take the time to read these days and you better believe the media takes full advantage of that fact. With the news their message is clear: we'll do your reading for you then decide what you need to know. And what you don't, with our own bias of course.
As far as news I feel you almost have to READ and read from multiple sources to really know what's going on these days. Otherwise you're literally at the mercy of network "programming" as to what you know, and what you don't. I'll be the first to admit that reading is very time consuming. I spend a couple hours every day (including poking my nose in here.)
But I'm also always saying to people "did you hear about... " or "what do you think of... " and it's funny how most TV watchers are like "What? When? I didn't hear about that". No, of course you didn't. Someone already decided whether you needed to know anything about it or not. Remember the incredible lack of media coverage of the various "Occupy" movements? Kinda funny how the 1% decided you really didn't need to know about the 1% isn't it? And their depiction of said occupiers as nothing more than unemployed beatnicks was disturbing, case and point.
I feel the internet is the last stand for free information but most of the time you have to READ. But it's not just the network news either. I mean, an hour long show about cupcakes? Seriously? And you've made it into a stressful high-stakes "competition"? Really? No offense if "Cupcake Wars" is your favorite program, but I simply can't spend my precious time looking at stuff like that anymore.
The other fundamental problem I have with cable TV is there are probably less than a dozen channels which I would ever regularly watch anyway. If you could pick 12 channels and pay $12 a month it might be worthwhile. But you can't do that. You're forced to spend $75-100 a month for 200+ channels of crap. Furthermore, in principle I think that free TV with commercials is fine (like the local channels), and pay for TV with no commercials is fine (like PPV) but pay for TV with commercials is somewhere between an rip-off and an abomination.
Anyway, I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned FTA (free-to-air) satellite.
Go to lyngsat.com and navigate to Free TV > North America > United States to see what's available FOR FREE.
Depending on which satellites you choose to track you can get local, national and some international programming. I can tell you it was really something to get (unrestricted) UK and international programming during the early years of the Iraq war. They didn't have their hands tied to their dick as far as what they were allowed to show (unlike the war restricted US media and their obvious "agenda"). For news I liked Democracy Now! and still frequent their website.
I was set up with a Wave Frontier T90 Torroidal FTA dish tracking 5 satellites using a SonicView FTA receiver. Unfortunately a thunderstorm took out the receiver when it was still new (and pricey) and I just never got around to replacing it. There's a little bit of a learning curve with FTA but all the info is readily available online (if you READ.) And while can be a bit expensive up front after that it's FREE. I loved the shit out of FTA satellite. I wouldn't pay for cable TV if you paid me. ~TheProf
Seems way too many people stare at the "glowing box" for hours on end and never fully realize the extend to which they have their opinion manipulated, if not outright handed to them. About everything. People just don't take the time to read these days and you better believe the media takes full advantage of that fact. With the news their message is clear: we'll do your reading for you then decide what you need to know. And what you don't, with our own bias of course.
As far as news I feel you almost have to READ and read from multiple sources to really know what's going on these days. Otherwise you're literally at the mercy of network "programming" as to what you know, and what you don't. I'll be the first to admit that reading is very time consuming. I spend a couple hours every day (including poking my nose in here.)
But I'm also always saying to people "did you hear about... " or "what do you think of... " and it's funny how most TV watchers are like "What? When? I didn't hear about that". No, of course you didn't. Someone already decided whether you needed to know anything about it or not. Remember the incredible lack of media coverage of the various "Occupy" movements? Kinda funny how the 1% decided you really didn't need to know about the 1% isn't it? And their depiction of said occupiers as nothing more than unemployed beatnicks was disturbing, case and point.
I feel the internet is the last stand for free information but most of the time you have to READ. But it's not just the network news either. I mean, an hour long show about cupcakes? Seriously? And you've made it into a stressful high-stakes "competition"? Really? No offense if "Cupcake Wars" is your favorite program, but I simply can't spend my precious time looking at stuff like that anymore.
The other fundamental problem I have with cable TV is there are probably less than a dozen channels which I would ever regularly watch anyway. If you could pick 12 channels and pay $12 a month it might be worthwhile. But you can't do that. You're forced to spend $75-100 a month for 200+ channels of crap. Furthermore, in principle I think that free TV with commercials is fine (like the local channels), and pay for TV with no commercials is fine (like PPV) but pay for TV with commercials is somewhere between an rip-off and an abomination.
Anyway, I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned FTA (free-to-air) satellite.
Go to lyngsat.com and navigate to Free TV > North America > United States to see what's available FOR FREE.
Depending on which satellites you choose to track you can get local, national and some international programming. I can tell you it was really something to get (unrestricted) UK and international programming during the early years of the Iraq war. They didn't have their hands tied to their dick as far as what they were allowed to show (unlike the war restricted US media and their obvious "agenda"). For news I liked Democracy Now! and still frequent their website.
I was set up with a Wave Frontier T90 Torroidal FTA dish tracking 5 satellites using a SonicView FTA receiver. Unfortunately a thunderstorm took out the receiver when it was still new (and pricey) and I just never got around to replacing it. There's a little bit of a learning curve with FTA but all the info is readily available online (if you READ.) And while can be a bit expensive up front after that it's FREE. I loved the shit out of FTA satellite. I wouldn't pay for cable TV if you paid me. ~TheProf
Somebody did..
The "entertainment" industry is regressive and shitty in general. Got rid of TV a long time ago, video games took longer to get rid of but they're gone now too. Its kinda startling for a while though, you realize that many peoples chief interest and hobby in their own life is other peoples pretend lives. I can't even count the number of times i've had to politely nod and uh huh my way through "conversations" with people bent on describing the tv in detail. I just wanna shake em sometimes, but alas i was there once too and hopefully they'll kick the electronic time sinks one day too. There's a reason why they call it television programming..
frito bandito
Member
my great grandma was a jehovah's witness. she had a black and white tv with rabbit ears that got like 3 channels. thats all she cared to watch. as a little kid from a typical suburban overconsumptive lifestyle i used to roll my eyes as she talked about how most programming on tv is an evil influence, mind controlling, etc. she would talk about how "this wicked system" we live in would soon destroy itself. i would say, well what about all the churches etc? "they're all gonna burn too." none of it made sense to me then, but i see now she was absolutely right, far more right than i could have known at the time.
i havent watched tv in years. been probably about 9-10 years since i watched it on a regular basis. let me tell you, if you are not a tv watcher and havent seen any for a time, a few years maybe, going over to a tv junkie's place and watching it for a while is a WEIRD and slightly scary experience. the airwaves are filled with utter TRASH and it literally gets worse every year. its hard to understand just how bad it is, and how much it affects you whether you want it to or not, until you take a break from it for a while.
by the way, on the subject of JWs, it's interesting to trace this organization back to see who they are and how they got their start and why. where did their beliefs come from? they started around the 1870s-1880s. what was going on in our country around that time? it was just after the end of the civil war, when the jeffersonian ideal of limited government was replaced by lincoln and his corrupt republican cronies with their hamilton/clay big government wet dream. the civil war marks the turning of our country from minding its own business to empire and conquest. after that is when we began our relentless expansion west, railroads, indian massacres, manifest destiny, etc. thats where the JW and their beliefs got their start--in a country that was going to hell in a handbasket, straight down the wrong path. funny to think after 150 years of warning about us heading toward destruction, they might soon be proven right after all.
i havent watched tv in years. been probably about 9-10 years since i watched it on a regular basis. let me tell you, if you are not a tv watcher and havent seen any for a time, a few years maybe, going over to a tv junkie's place and watching it for a while is a WEIRD and slightly scary experience. the airwaves are filled with utter TRASH and it literally gets worse every year. its hard to understand just how bad it is, and how much it affects you whether you want it to or not, until you take a break from it for a while.
by the way, on the subject of JWs, it's interesting to trace this organization back to see who they are and how they got their start and why. where did their beliefs come from? they started around the 1870s-1880s. what was going on in our country around that time? it was just after the end of the civil war, when the jeffersonian ideal of limited government was replaced by lincoln and his corrupt republican cronies with their hamilton/clay big government wet dream. the civil war marks the turning of our country from minding its own business to empire and conquest. after that is when we began our relentless expansion west, railroads, indian massacres, manifest destiny, etc. thats where the JW and their beliefs got their start--in a country that was going to hell in a handbasket, straight down the wrong path. funny to think after 150 years of warning about us heading toward destruction, they might soon be proven right after all.
whether I could watch tv for free or not I choose not to
I can't think of anything more unproductive, at least with the internet you need to type, talk or do SOMETHING and you aren't force fed bullshit news but rather able to source MULTIPLE websites to locate the truth or at least varying versions of it based on multiple accounts.
as far as the news,
my favorite is
drudgereport.com
it has most everything and shows different views versus the fox and msnbc party agenda fake left/right bullshit.
I do miss some shows but will watch them here and there online but the issue is getting stuck in a series and then you realized you just spent 120 hours staring at a square in your living room doing NOTHING versus getting out there and LIVING.
they dumbed us down pretty good
that there they sure did uh huh
lol
I can't think of anything more unproductive, at least with the internet you need to type, talk or do SOMETHING and you aren't force fed bullshit news but rather able to source MULTIPLE websites to locate the truth or at least varying versions of it based on multiple accounts.
as far as the news,
my favorite is
drudgereport.com
it has most everything and shows different views versus the fox and msnbc party agenda fake left/right bullshit.
I do miss some shows but will watch them here and there online but the issue is getting stuck in a series and then you realized you just spent 120 hours staring at a square in your living room doing NOTHING versus getting out there and LIVING.
they dumbed us down pretty good
that there they sure did uh huh
lol
masterwelder65
New member
Screw cable.
norcal_sourD
Active member
I personally have 0 doubt about the reality of govmnt tampering. I mean look at all the popular games out right now, ie Call of Duty, et al. One would infer from the Armed Service cooperation that our youth are being indoctrinated at young ages into the Us military...look at how pervasive the government has become. We are LIVING in Orwell's 1984. We have become that ominous nation depicted. We still have the illusion of freedom but reality reveals something much less...
Anyway, to kick it back on topic, I for one, would love to ditch cable tv,...but the new Walking Pawn stars Storage Gold War is on! Peace out biyaatches!!!!
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wisco61
Member
None for me. I have an antenna up in the attic I connect on Sundays and Mondays during football season and for March madness. For the rest of the year I have a WDTV live (amazing device http://www.amazon.com/Streaming-Media-Player-Wi-Fi-1080p/dp/B005KOZNBW/ref=pd_sim_e_3 ) with DSL for internet and a netflix account.
With utorrent and some RSS feeds setup, any show I want to watch is automatically downloaded and ready to watch a couple hours after it broadcasts.
With utorrent and some RSS feeds setup, any show I want to watch is automatically downloaded and ready to watch a couple hours after it broadcasts.
T
TribalSeeds
Can you run more than one TV on seperate computers using a 50mbps connection over wifi?
vertigo0007
Member
I got rid of it 5 months ago. Best decision ive ever made.
I would love to get rid of it, but my wife would object. I lived many years without a tv. and even when i had one when i was single i rarely watched it. i really dislike commercials. if i watch anything it is hockey, jeopardy, or streaming from the wifi. I agree about the price, and there's like a 100+ channels of what? crap yep.
wisco61
Member
I can watch a 1080p mkv video over wifi, so multiple 720p or lower should be fine. Also, my neighbor has my password for my wifi and media library, I'm sure at some point we were both watching something at the same time.
unspoken
Member
1. Grab an apple TV 2 (720p version)
2. Jailbreak it
3. Install xbmc
4. Acquire decent vpn
Works fanfckintastic. If you want more functionality than an atv gives(bluray player, ripping, xbox controller for videogame emulators or whatever, tv tuner to act as a dvr, 2 TB hd, etc etc), you can build a good home theater pc for under $500 in a slick mini ITX case and stilll run windows/xbmc/whatever you want.
2. Jailbreak it
3. Install xbmc
4. Acquire decent vpn
Works fanfckintastic. If you want more functionality than an atv gives(bluray player, ripping, xbox controller for videogame emulators or whatever, tv tuner to act as a dvr, 2 TB hd, etc etc), you can build a good home theater pc for under $500 in a slick mini ITX case and stilll run windows/xbmc/whatever you want.
I got rid of it a few years ago ... it's good for sports, news, docos etc, but its very expensive and you can usually only choose packages rather than the exact channels you want, and you can generally download everything you want to watch 'for free' *wink* anyway
