Recently we cancelled our traditional cable television service.
We've begun this "experiment" on the basis of a couple issues:
One, we really don't like shelling out hard earned dollars for a multitude television stations of garbage, for a small number of stations we actually watched. We used to watch four stations (History and Discovery being a couple of them), however with the long slide into sub-par content, we were reduced to two. Discovery has essentially become a showcase for pseudo-scientific programming (I don't count crazy people with educational "degrees" from non-existent universities majoring in ancient aliens talking about invented "theories" science), while History generally doesn't show actual historical programming any more and mostly airs reality television about people living in swamps and the like*. I don't count that as history, although I fear their marketing department believes it to be "history in the making".
What rubbish.
Like TLC before them (what used to be called 'The Learning Channel' - I'm not really all that interested in learning 'What Not to Wear' or about the lives of various unusual people, namely, circus performers, pregnant teenagers and little people with big problems), these stations have settled in for the long inevitable decline of television by lowering the quality of their content to the lowest common denominator.
Public television (PBS) from the United States remains the last holdout of quality programming... unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep us subscribing to a monthly cable bill. At this point, the majority of what we watch is now available from the internet via streaming, and with the large number of people abandoning traditional television in favour of this 'personalized viewing experience', I wonder if Star Trek's prediction that traditional television would go the way of the dodo in 2040** was overly conservative!
It's been a couple of months, and I find I don't miss it. I certainly don't miss the advertisements.
Our second reason for tossing TV out the window, so to speak, is that with the imminent arrival of our daughter. I don't particularly want her subjected to the noxious and inane programming that masquerades as children's television... really these shows are just 30 minute toy commercials.
My nephews were fond of watching a station called "Treehouse", which after a few minutes, made me inclined to gouge my ears and eyes out (thankfully, they seem much more interested in playing Lego, chess or 30 year old computer games with me now). With a pile of old DVDs, VHS tapes and Netflix, I'm hoping I can avoid mutilating myself in front of my daughter as she vacantly stares, zombie-like, transfixed by the horror that is "My Little Pony and Friends".
We may be being overly protective in regards to her potential "tastes". While she hasn't been born yet, she really seems to be down with Cypress Hill given the amount of motion she generates when I play it. She also digs House of Pain.
She just better damn well like The Beatles.
*I miss all those lovely documentaries about the Luftwaffe!
**Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone", first aired May 16, 1988. Lt. Commander Data mentions that television had "died out" by 2040.
We've begun this "experiment" on the basis of a couple issues:
One, we really don't like shelling out hard earned dollars for a multitude television stations of garbage, for a small number of stations we actually watched. We used to watch four stations (History and Discovery being a couple of them), however with the long slide into sub-par content, we were reduced to two. Discovery has essentially become a showcase for pseudo-scientific programming (I don't count crazy people with educational "degrees" from non-existent universities majoring in ancient aliens talking about invented "theories" science), while History generally doesn't show actual historical programming any more and mostly airs reality television about people living in swamps and the like*. I don't count that as history, although I fear their marketing department believes it to be "history in the making".
What rubbish.
Like TLC before them (what used to be called 'The Learning Channel' - I'm not really all that interested in learning 'What Not to Wear' or about the lives of various unusual people, namely, circus performers, pregnant teenagers and little people with big problems), these stations have settled in for the long inevitable decline of television by lowering the quality of their content to the lowest common denominator.
Public television (PBS) from the United States remains the last holdout of quality programming... unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep us subscribing to a monthly cable bill. At this point, the majority of what we watch is now available from the internet via streaming, and with the large number of people abandoning traditional television in favour of this 'personalized viewing experience', I wonder if Star Trek's prediction that traditional television would go the way of the dodo in 2040** was overly conservative!
It's been a couple of months, and I find I don't miss it. I certainly don't miss the advertisements.
Our second reason for tossing TV out the window, so to speak, is that with the imminent arrival of our daughter. I don't particularly want her subjected to the noxious and inane programming that masquerades as children's television... really these shows are just 30 minute toy commercials.
My nephews were fond of watching a station called "Treehouse", which after a few minutes, made me inclined to gouge my ears and eyes out (thankfully, they seem much more interested in playing Lego, chess or 30 year old computer games with me now). With a pile of old DVDs, VHS tapes and Netflix, I'm hoping I can avoid mutilating myself in front of my daughter as she vacantly stares, zombie-like, transfixed by the horror that is "My Little Pony and Friends".
We may be being overly protective in regards to her potential "tastes". While she hasn't been born yet, she really seems to be down with Cypress Hill given the amount of motion she generates when I play it. She also digs House of Pain.
She just better damn well like The Beatles.
*I miss all those lovely documentaries about the Luftwaffe!
**Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone", first aired May 16, 1988. Lt. Commander Data mentions that television had "died out" by 2040.
You just don't want your daughter to go the way of that gal we saw 'Exterminated' by a Dalek a couple years back ;)
ReplyDeleteFor a fix of History, learn about the analog computers from the Iowa class battle ships http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/gears-of-war-when-mechanical-analog-computers-ruled-the-waves/
Very interesting article!
DeleteRight on Admiral. Did you take the cable box out back for a good talking to?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'd preferred to have taken the cable company out back for a good talking to... much like a troublesome stereo unit I once owned.
Delete