Is anybody else flirting with letting the TV go dead? Good idea/bad idea?

[NeilV]

I have a TV with rabbit ears. I didn't get a converter. I'm down to two channels (Fox and ABC). I haven't watched anything on TV for 3 weeks.

On the one hand, I think TV is overall a bad influence and I did not watch much before. I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. I don't really want them watching most of what's on TV.

On the other hand, I really miss PBS and TV in moderation is not always a bad thing. I'm not sure that I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath.

Anybody else out there in this spot?

Anybody have an opinion?

P.S. If a moderator thinks this belongs in TG, please move it. I only put it here because there's no religion or politics involved.

[Joel]

I think about it from time to time, especially when I'm clicking through 100 or so channels and it's mindless show after mindless show. I do like PBS, History Channel and the like and some nights, after a hard day It's good to veg. I guess though I could just as well veg with a good book and expand my imagination a little.

[Sundance]

I am addicted.......... mainly the movie channels and
the winter. It would be a "good thing" to shut it down.
Sure wish I could just get the movie channels and
none of the other stuff. The only other channel I
watch regularly is CSPAN.

[dragonfly]

I could live without TV, but I enjoy things like the History Channel/ H International, National Geographic, Ovation, Smithsonian, and the news channels. It's not a must, but if I have my choice, I will keep it.

[magnet-man]

Well Neil, we did the roof top antenna thing for over a year and did get a converter box for our non-digital tv. We really ended up watching less tv and being selective about what we watched. But as luck would have it AT&T stopped by the house with fiber optic and I was signed up with faster internet and TV service. I now have 100 channels of garbage but really fast internet. You my friend are the proud owner of a free converter box. I will bring it and the antenna to the Bee Buzz. See you there.

[Natalie]

I stopped watching tv completely around 3 years ago and had been slowly tapering off my tv watching up until then.
Not really planned, just couldn't stand what was on television or to waste any of my time sitting in front of a mindless box with no interaction with other people.
There is simply nothing interesting enough to me on television that I feel like sitting there wasting my time.
I don't miss it at all and I don't feel out of the loop in anyway, I read 2 newspapers a day and I can catch up on daily events when I log onto the computer to check my e-mails. I also don't spend a whole lot of time on the computer either, I check my e-mails and the forums in the morning and then at night usually.
I have children and they would sit there all day and watch tv if you let them so I take it out of the room completely on sunday night and return it to the living room on friday nights.
I have parental blocks on all channels that I do not want them accessing.
They spend alot more time drawing, doing puzzles,playing games and interacting with family,reading and playing outside than they did when they could flip the tv on whenever they wanted.
I don't think tv is necessary on a full time basis.

[Ben Brewcat]

Haven't watched TV in years. Who has time? I don't think it's evil or anything (generally), but just spend my time on other things. Once you have a little distance from the bombardment, it's amazing when you see an ad or something how desensitized to the frantic blasting of noise, color and movement TV watchers become.

Not watching TV has become a big part of our lifestyle; we read more, talk to each other more, are more active and learn more.

[mgmoore7]

I virtually gave up the TV about 2 1/2 years ago. I have not missed it. Even then I was not a heavy TV watcher. I went from about 12 hours a week to 1-2 hours a month.

I have 5 kids all under the age of 9. There is nothing on the TV worth their time. We do still use the TV/VCR & DVD for educational movies and on occasion a PG movie for my wife and I to watch.

I am going to get the converter so I can watch something specific at times.

I have found that my s_x life is much better, I am happier, I don't worry about at much stuff in the world and spend my time doing more valuable and worthwhile things.

[Natalie]

I find we go to be earlier and no one falls asleep in front of the tv

[Hambone]

[Robert Brenchley]

The rest of the family are addicted but I barely watch it. The wife complains endlessly about the time I spend on the computer, but at least my brain's engaged!

[drobbins]

get an observation hive
BTV rocks

Dave

[Michael Bush]

>get an observation hive
>BTV rocks

That's what I was going to say. You'll never even miss it...

[Hobie]

We have cable because it's packaged with the internet. But the primary thing the TV is used for is playing DVDs and video tapes. Gotta love Netflix. There's nothing on TV, and I'm very disappointed in the show quality on Discovery and Animal Planet, and someone please tell me why they have celebrity wrestling on SciFi? I could do without.

[NeilV]

I'm not getting cable, but I suppose it would be wrong to refuse Magnet Man's gift.

I forgot to mention one humorous detail. We still do get the local Spanish TV channel. Weekend before last I went into the living room and my kid was watching a Spanish cartoon. I pointed out that they were not speaking English and that he does not speak Spanish, but he did not care. Something about them cartoons . . . .

What I do miss are Nova, Nature, Oklahoma Gardening, Austin City Limits and Globe Trekker, all on PBS.

Neil

[alpha6]

You will be shocked at how much more time you have to do other things without TV. I stopped watching in 1996 and haven't missed a thing. I get my news from radio in the truck and off the internet. I have so many projects going that there is no time to watch it. I like movies and will watch a couple on the weekend but thats about it.

The time you recover will be something you look back on as time not wasted.

[Hillside]

We had digital cable for quite a few years. Even with half a gazillion channels, there was never anything good on. Things like the History Channel are good, but after a while you realize they're showing the same stuff over and over. The cost kept creeping up until we finally decided it had become ridiculous. We cut back to basic cable and are saving about 60 bucks a month.

[scottsbees]

I would'nt go with out it. I don't watch movies or mtv, but I really like fox news, cnbc, history channel and discovery. I do like to read and learn, but watching selective tv does keep me in tune on whats going on in the world, plus I learn alot from watching RFDTV, a great channel.

My Kids do watch alot of cartoons, and there is alot of junk tv out there, but I do believe they learn alot from it also.

[chillardbee]

Haven't had cable for 6 years now and even when I did I never really watch it. but we do have a X BOX 360 that we use for our evening entertainment. Does that that count as TV?

[wayacoyote]

When I met my wife, I was addicted to tv and had satelite reception. Of course, I had little else going on in my life. I sat and browsed the web while watching show after show. However, our family adjenda was different. Our son watches maybe 1 hour of tv per week from our collection of educational videos. My wife and I watch (maybe) 2 hours tops at night. The tv is in the bedroom, so it just isn't a point of interest the rest of the day. I'm so much happier in my life.