| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/22/2009 11:13:31 AM | | I lived without a television for about ten years. I have one now but go weeks without turning it on. However, I've been laid up recently and watched a little for distraction the other night. I saw a really good documentary called The Appalachians on PBS. I'm glad I did. Usually, though, on those rare occasions when I'm in the mood to watch TV, there's nothing on that interests me so I turn it off and either turn on the radio, practice guitar, or peruse the forums. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/22/2009 4:10:28 PM | | I don't have a TV in my house but there is one in the garage. I don't miss it and I don't visit it. I will, however, watch South Park [/] and a couple of other shows online. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 12:02:26 AM | Could I live without a TV
Absolutely not. However will I watch College football and NFL sundays ? World cup soccer is next year...no TV, someone please shoot me immediately. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 12:12:48 AM | The only reason I have cable is for my 4 year old to watch cartoons and I like the back ground noise after she is asleep though.
HAA HAA come to think of it the back ground noise is normally cartoons, even though she is asleep I don't even change the channel. Shows how much I pay attention.
Yes I can live with out it. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 7:10:02 AM | | Probably could live without it -- might have to when all broadcasters go digital. Tv isn't on all the time -- for background noise, I prefer the radio. :-) | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 7:22:37 AM | Close to 20 years ago, I gave up television for a new year's resolution. I still kept my television, but I didn't watch it, except for something unique, such as a presedential election results or some special that appealed to me. My giving up television included PBS stuff, too, which is what most people seem to say when you ask them what they watch -- yeah, right.
I'll tell you, people like to say that quitting drugs is hard, but giving up television was not easy. Suddenly, I had hours and hours on my hands EACH day. I was like, okay, now what am I going to do? I replased my television habits with reading. But don't, however, think I was reading great works of literature. Yes, I read some of those, too, but I also read comic books, sports magazines, gossip mags, Mad Magazine, and even erotica.
But the fact is, I was reading and wasn't watching television. Over time, I grew to like the silence of not having the television on in the background. I also found myself listening to music more often. I found myself going out to cafes and pubs to meet friends much more. I took more walks around the neighborhood.
I've now incorporated a few shows back into my life (great HBO stuff like "True Blood," and "In Treatment"), but my television will still go days without it being turned on.
Last point: Schools and parents are so worried about their kids doing drugs and drinking, but the worse drug out there is television. Studies have been shown that watching the tube puts one in a hypnotic zone, almost like a trance. Now seriously, how can that be good for a developing brain? I'd rather have my child drinking and socializing with friends, creating lasting memories, than zoned out in front of the tube for hours on end.
Okay, I'm done preaching. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 7:35:36 AM | I could care less if I had a t.v. When it was just me and my daughter, we had a t.v ... but only with one channel. There were a few shows I watched when I had absolutely nothing better to do, but other than that the t.v. was just another piece of "furniture".
I found, though, that it was awkward when someone would refer to a commercial, actor from a show, or a particular show ... and I would have no idea what they were talking about. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/24/2009 1:38:43 PM | I currently DO live without a TV.
I'm a student living in halls of residence... I want to spend as little as possible. (No TV = no tv licence, therefore = over £100 saved.) Besides which, my laptop functions as a TV. BBC have iPlayer, which suits me fine. So long as I'm not watching live TV, I'm fine (as in no licence needed.) 
Plus there's also the fact that despite the relatively large size of my room, I'd actually have nowhere to put my TV anyway... my desk is taken up with laptop and printer already. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/26/2009 9:09:25 PM | | I love TV, but I read mostly. I actually would have loved to live in the 1800's to read some of those first editions. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/26/2009 10:49:15 PM | | yeah I agree, I have the tv on whether I watch or not,,,just like the company of the noise. I agree to the point that the good shows no longer exist,,,sex, drugs and violence is about all there is,,,but that is what we wanted and that is what they show,,,,,I watch a lot of the game show network. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/27/2009 2:50:29 PM | | I don't watch tv at all unless I'm at someones house and they have it on. It has gotten to the point where the advertisements don't show what you are going to get. For instance, the other night I was at a friends and she was watching "dancing with the stars". No problem, right? In the middle of the show, the dancing stops and some hip hop group performs a song. I don't recall wanting to watch that. I wanted to watch the dancing. then a little later, Miley Cyrus and her new video. Excuse me? Where did that come from and how did it get on dancing with the stars. It's as though I went into a restuarant and ordered a burger the way I like it and they decide to add pickles. I didn't order pickles, but they put them on my burger anyway. So, I am gone. Too many people accept what they don't like in order to get the small part they do like. I never hear anyone say, "Whoa, I didn't want nor am i willing to accept that" and then turn the channel. America gets the trashy tv they have because they will accept it. I don't and will not watch it. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/27/2009 3:02:25 PM | I don't have a television.
Honestly, it's like some sort of creepy science fiction nightmare - someday people will come home and sit next to each other without speaking, staring at the wall.
Likewise, a film producer friend of mine said it very well - television is what you do when you have nothing better to do. I never, ever want nothing better to do than watch television. I feel that people who watch television begin to believe it represents reality on some level. It's probably one of the main reasons for our modern style of selfishness and paranoia, which are almost entirely self imposed. There's always something better to do. Phone a friend. Walk to the local brunch spot. Learn a language or try a new recipe.
Now that I think about it, virtually any other activity is preferable to television. You can make memories, or passively consume someone else's. Is that really a choice?
And regarding local news - volunteer at a crisis center for awhile, and you'll quickly see that local news is likewise an awful waste of time and worth throwing out with the bathwater. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/30/2009 8:42:58 AM |
I don't have a television.
Honestly, it's like some sort of creepy science fiction nightmare - someday people will come home and sit next to each other without speaking, staring at the wall.
Likewise, a film producer friend of mine said it very well - television is what you do when you have nothing better to do. I never, ever want nothing better to do than watch television. I feel that people who watch television begin to believe it represents reality on some level. It's probably one of the main reasons for our modern style of selfishness and paranoia, which are almost entirely self imposed. There's always something better to do. Phone a friend. Walk to the local brunch spot. Learn a language or try a new recipe.
Now that I think about it, virtually any other activity is preferable to television. You can make memories, or passively consume someone else's. Is that really a choice?
And regarding local news - volunteer at a crisis center for awhile, and you'll quickly see that local news is likewise an awful waste of time and worth throwing out with the bathwater.
Very well said, Michael J C! Hopefully you caught my comments several posts above yours.
It's funny, but when I first gave up television, I didn't know what I was going to do with all that free time I suddenly found on my hands. Now, I never seem to have enough. When you give up television, you realize that there is a whole interesting world out there. | |
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Rfds23
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Joined: 4/8/2009
Msg: 166 | |
| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/30/2009 6:44:51 PM | Yes although I would miss my shows but I don't need a tv to live life. Besides think of the money I'll save on Blu-Ray/DVD's and Cable bills. I have my other intrests to keep me occupied. Mike Hammer for the win.
Tim | |
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granz
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Joined: 6/22/2009
Msg: 167 | |
| could you live without your tv
Posted: 9/30/2009 7:15:57 PM | My computer gradually replaced TV altogether for me. I may ocassionally use my TV to watch a DVD, but that's about it. I've considered selling or giving it to someone else on a few ocassions.
I considered getting a video-game console so I would have more use for my TV, but then I just emulate video-game consoles on my PC, or play PC games.  | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 10/1/2009 5:19:27 AM | Half of those of you that had to re-tune Freeview last night ( to get Channel 5 in HD ) ARE doing without telly now - since they buggered it up !!!!
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 10/1/2009 9:48:26 AM | Yes... I have not owned a TV for almost six months now and have been without cable for probably a couple years or so.
I do not watch a ton of television and what I do want to see is online... The Bachelor and Lost although they are out of season right now, as is Big Brother. About the only thing that I watch most weekdays is Days of Our Lives. Thought about trying that new drama Vampire Diaries, since it is based on a book series by an excellent author I enjoy reading... but we'll see. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 10/1/2009 3:03:02 PM | I gave up tv long ago. Lately I have had a chance to watch a few shows while visiting friends. Dancing with the stars was on and I figured that would be a clean cut show. It was well and fine till "Mia" (don't know if I spelled that right) came on with her partner and the music said he was cute and goodlooking and "Would he go to bed with her?" I thought it was going to say "Will you go out with me?" or something to that effect. Anyway, I lost interest at that point.
Next came "Castle". A show about a writer teaming up with a detective to solve cases and research at the same time. Well, right at the beginning they are sitting in a pub, when a fight breaks out between two women. One rips the others shirt open and lays her down on the table in front of the writer. He ogles her breast for a few seconds and then makes some "cool comment". Lost interest again. Can't they clean these things up a bit? I mean, I would enjoy the show without the strong content. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a bit of sex appeal in a show, but it seems they have gone way over the line, to the point I don't want to watch anymore.
I don't even want to get into the other junk on tv. I would challenge anyone to go a few months without tv. Read books, or start projects, or join clubs, or whatever. Get into life for awhile and then go back and take a look at the tube. You will find that you are no longer desensitisedto all the junk and will notice it much much more than you do if you watch all the time. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 10/1/2009 3:13:56 PM | | Probably not. I don't watch a lot of TV....I like to read, garden and play on the internet a lot more than watching TV. BUT, I do have a few favorite shows that I really enjoy watching, so I would miss them--at least in the short run--if I were to suddenly go without TV. For me, TV is just one more avenue for entertainment, with a few educational/informational programs thrown in so that I can feel like I'm doing something that is good for me (sort of like eating my veggies). I don't over-indulge on TV, so like everything it's good in moderation. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 11/10/2009 11:05:06 AM | | I can find anything I want to watch on internet (live tv or old tv) so owning a Tv is really optional, but I'll definitely need my screen to play video games. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 11/10/2009 11:12:55 AM | | I don't go a day without watching at least some TV. But between 18 and 23, I lived in a college where I didn't watch TV for over 4 years, except for maybe twice or 3 times when I visited relatives. I didn't miss it at all. Had a much better time without it. But, by myself, it's company. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 11/10/2009 12:09:08 PM | TV : No
Cable: Yes
I had no cable for 6 years. Only picked up 3 channels on the rabbit ears and watched movies. | |
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| could you live without your tv
Posted: 11/15/2009 6:19:57 AM | | I could live without my Tv, but why should I? I do live without cable/satellite/an antenna. I have my TV hooked up to video tape/disc players, and watch pre-recorded programs...mostly foreign. It is not on all the time, but when I want to watch something, I do so. I own a large library of pre-recorded programs, so I miss nothing...except annoying commericals. | |
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