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I stopped watching TV, how about you?

34 pointsby wideaover 5 years ago
I stopped watching TV for a few weeks now. Triggers: advertisements, advertisements and lack of interest in the tv programs Effects: more time, more peacefulness

34 comments

WnZ39p0Dgydaz1over 5 years ago
I stopped watching TV more than 12 years ago and never missed it. I just think it&#x27;s boring. That being said, I don&#x27;t think watching TV is fundamentally different from any other kind of entertainment, be it YouTube, reading HN, Twitter, games, or whatever. It just appeals to a different (older?) audience. Stopping the consumption of any kind of mass media will give you similar benefits.<p>Just like readers of newspapers and magazines have been declining, TV will continue to decline as the generation of older viewers dies out. We have more interactive entertainment now.<p>My mom, who is retired, watches TV for 12+ hours a day, simply because she doesn&#x27;t &quot;understand&quot; the newer options of entertainment. I can already see the same pattern in myself. I love playing videogames because I grew up with them and I&#x27;ll probably play them until I die. But I am unable understand or find fun in the entertainment options of the younger generation, such as spending hours on Instagram or Snapchat. It sucks getting old, haha.
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arsomeover 5 years ago
I&#x27;ve actually done the opposite in a way - trying to ween myself from most social media in favor of more relaxing forms of entertainment. More in the direction of video games or YouTube science&#x2F;engineering videos than traditional TV, but I still feel it&#x27;s a better use of time and helps me to relax better for the next day at work than say, getting in a big argument or reading some extremist political thread on reddit or twitter does. That stuff was eating my time in ways that just left me angrier and deriving less enjoyment out of my life, firing up Red Dead or watching Technology Connections or Tom Scott - decent improvements in my book, if still a &quot;waste&quot; of time.
ytersover 5 years ago
One thing that helps society unify is a shared media experience. Used to be oral poetry reading and plays. Then books. Then radio. Then TV. Now a massive milleu of various social platforms.<p>I&#x27;ve dropped out of almost all of these, but there is a downside.<p>As Jesus says, &quot;be in the world, but not of it.&quot;<p>Unfortunately, completely dropping out makes me &quot;not in the world.&quot;<p>Not being in the world, hard to say whether I am not of it.
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OldGuyInTheClubover 5 years ago
20 years and a week ago: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theonion.com&#x2F;area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-televisi-1819565469" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theonion.com&#x2F;area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-d...</a>
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caymanjimover 5 years ago
There&#x27;s something about many non-TV watchers that compels them to announce that they don&#x27;t watch TV, with a crazed look in their eyes and desperation in their voice, pleading with the world to validate their religious beliefs. I picture them occasionally cracking, hunched over in the closet with a blanket over their head, watching Adam Sandler movies and crying in shame.
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manigandhamover 5 years ago
Unfortunately for a lot of people, TV may have just been replaced by equally wasteful online pursuits like social media. And these new formats can be far more harmful than a simple TV show.
dredmorbiusover 5 years ago
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television:<p>1. The mediation of experience.<p>2. The colonisation of experience.<p>3. The effects of television on the human being.<p>4. The biases of television<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimination_of_Television" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimina...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gen.lib.rus.ec&#x2F;book&#x2F;index.php?md5=448E80906BCD92C0AA02235E5E964F9A" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gen.lib.rus.ec&#x2F;book&#x2F;index.php?md5=448E80906BCD92C0AA0...</a><p>By Jerry Mander, 1977. An advertising executive with a deep personal and professional familiarity with his subject.
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Jerry2over 5 years ago
I stopped about 17 years ago. After I entered university, I stopped watching TV. I don&#x27;t even watch it when I&#x27;m at a friend&#x27;s house.<p>Quite possibly the best decision I made in my life. TV and news, especially the news channels, are massive time sinks that just slowly eat your life away. And not only do you get absolutely nothing from it, they make your life miserable too. I&#x27;m pretty sure that people who don&#x27;t watch TV are happier than those who do. Someone should do a study on that.
raszover 5 years ago
I dont touch anything where I have no control over fast forward&#x2F;pause&#x2F;rewind.
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graycatover 5 years ago
For the last 10+ years, I had TV service from my Internet access provider and three nice TV sets but NEVER watched TV, never turned on two of the TV sets, and used the third set only to watch VCR tapes of good movies. I had TV service from my ISP ONLY because getting all three of TV, Internet, and land line phone was cheaper than the other two and no TV.<p>I finally gave up on TV after looking, clicking and clicking on the remote control, for something worth watching and could never find it.<p>For NBA? Then the resolution was so low that the game just looked like a blur, and I could never learn anything about what plays, tactics, etc. the teams were using. Same for NFL -- just a blur with no insight into the pass patterns or pass defense. For the rest, just noise. So, I gave up.<p>Now my ISP gives me some TV over the Internet and for the first time in 10+ years I watched some, the most recent superbowl. Now the video technology, apparently some use of video cameras on drones, lots of replay, etc. made what was going on in the game at least a LITTLE meaningful. What I&#x27;d really like, from both the NFL and NBA would be <i>game films</i> with lots of slow motion, high resolution, and expert explanation -- as close to the most <i>analytical</i> information I could get. For the <i>drama</i> and which team to <i>root</i> for, I flatly, absolutely, positively do not care -- I care only about learning about strategy and tactics, say, as a coach, scout, general manager, etc. would. E.g., for the superbowl I watched, I came away with some understanding of the quarterbacks and pass receivers but NOTHING on the four lines, offensive, defensive, for the two teams. Soooo, for any good view, at LEAST also permit understanding the four lines. Etc.<p>But likely no more TV until, say, the next superbowl!
lcallover 5 years ago
I&#x27;ve never been much of a TV person, since growing up doing mostly other things, and haven&#x27;t wanted to agree to the ToS of any of the paid services.<p>But sometimes it is helpful to do something that doesn&#x27;t require much thought, for a little while, after I&#x27;m tired of reading or whatever. Internet radio is one (the radiodroid app is really cool, on f-droid.org, and newsblur).<p>But back on topic, I was glad to discover <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wwitv.com&#x2F;portal.htm" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wwitv.com&#x2F;portal.htm</a> (no affiliations) w&#x2F; internet TV from around the world: mostly news stations, but a few seem to have more than that, like couple of them in Spain. (Occasionally have to switch channels if there is content I particularly don&#x27;t want, but that is common.)<p>(Edit: fwiw, I put other ideas on fun&#x2F;relaxing, here: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lukecall.net&#x2F;e-9223372036854618463.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lukecall.net&#x2F;e-9223372036854618463.html</a> )
daxfohlover 5 years ago
This conversation makes me think maybe watching TV was a better use of my time.
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YegoBearover 5 years ago
That’s a shame. TV is amazing these days. HBO especially, is pumping out amazing shows, like Succession, Watchmen, Chernobyl, etc. I’m only subscribed to HBO and Netflix, so I never see any ads either.<p>Whatever floats your boat though.
arvinsimover 5 years ago
Once the internet became mainstream, I dropped TV and never missed it.
slightwinderover 5 years ago
TV is just a platform. There are good and bad channels. But did you also stop the habit of consumption? No netflix or other Video-Platform? No Youtube, lurking on twitch or other social medias? Do you embrase now more active content or beneficial things for your life?<p>There are different ways to use your time. Some are beneficial, some are more for wasting time till the more benefecial parts are back again. Where is your focus now without TV?
obarthelemyover 5 years ago
I&#x27;m not sure what this question means.<p>TV as the brodcast platform ? ie OTA programs, with ads ? TV as the content format, ie scripted shows, unscripted shows, sports, news, .... TV as &quot;video content on a screen&quot; ?<p>Looking at the younger type around me, they kind of brag about no-TV; but replace that with lots of social and viral which have very low info content and prod values. And sports; which is the emptiest of empty contents.
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quickthrower2over 5 years ago
On a related note am curious about these conversations at work where someone names a film and a lot of people have seen it, and that pattern applies to many films across many genres leading me to think “most people” watch 1000s o hours of film but not only that can recall the plots of those films. I’m sort of jealous as those conversations seem interesting but i feel. can’t contribute much as I hate most films!
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jedbergover 5 years ago
When you say you stopped watching TV, do you mean you stopped watching linear television with commercials, or all visual entertainment?<p>Because if you mean the first thing, I stopped watching linear TV in 1999 when I got a Tivo.<p>I guess technically that&#x27;s not true, I still watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune live with commercials. But other than that no linear TV.<p>Unless you count sports. Sometimes I watch live sports.<p>But other than that no.
vidanayover 5 years ago
As a child of the 70&#x27;s, TV is pretty much a fundamental part of my life, and I have never really explored the idea of &quot;quitting&quot; it. My 11 year old son however, I don&#x27;t think he&#x27;s watched 100 hours of broadcast TV in his entire life, and probably zero in the last five years. He&#x27;s watched exponentially more YouTube than I have though.
cable2600over 5 years ago
I keep Cable TV for the WWE shows. The DVR records them so I don&#x27;t miss them. WWE has a ton of lawyers looking for people who pirate their shows, much more than Disney or others. So it would have to be streaming services like WWE Network to watch them if Cable TV is gone for me. I got Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Hulu, etc.
millstoneover 5 years ago
No, cling to TV, we are in the golden age of television! There are so many great shows. And these are worthwhile: there&#x27;s narrative arcs, stories told, actual art.<p>Let go of TV, you fall into 3 minute YouTubes, then into 15 second TikToks, and I don&#x27;t know what&#x27;s after that but it&#x27;s not good.
thegeekpirateover 5 years ago
Haven&#x27;t watched anything from cable television in roughly twenty years. I like the ability to choose what I will or will not watch at any given time, without advertisements.<p>I&#x27;m not going back to listening the the radio or reading newspapers any time soon, either.
mrcodedudeover 5 years ago
I watch sports, so I&#x27;m kind of stuck. But I&#x27;ll usually be on my phone during the ads, looking at Twitter&#x2F;Reddit&#x2F;etc.<p>All cable and network shows I don&#x27;t watch live so I can either skip through or completely avoid the commercials.
zzo38computerover 5 years ago
I do not watch television so often. Sometimes I do watch television (and sometimes listen to the CBC radio, too), but usually I prefer to read a book, or work on computer, or something else. (I don&#x27;t use YouTube at all.)
Animatsover 5 years ago
I&#x27;ve never owned a working broadcast TV receiver.
BXLE_1-1-BitIs1over 5 years ago
Stopped watching when I was about 13.<p>Now retired internet news junkie.
TYPE_FASTERover 5 years ago
We dropped cable about 10yrs ago, just streaming services. It’s pretty great.
Simulacraover 5 years ago
I haven&#x27;t had a television since 2004. I stream everything.
nico0209over 5 years ago
it is a long time i don&#x27;t own a tv and don&#x27;t see much on the laptop even. For one main reason, compared to the 80-90, today programs are very bad. I can&#x27;t stand them.
Gibbon1over 5 years ago
After my divorce I went over to a friends house and when he opened the door you could hear a women screaming in terror on the TV. I was in a bad emotional state and it was jarring and abrasive. I haven&#x27;t willingly watched TV since. 25 years.
ehntoover 5 years ago
Ages ago. Keep at it, you won&#x27;t miss it.
lazylizardover 5 years ago
Its been a couple of decades since..
HNY1over 5 years ago
I stopped watching TV 8 years ago.
joakover 5 years ago
TV ?! What&#x27;s that ?<p>I use to watch tv at my grand ma&#x27;s when my parents leave me there for the weekend.<p>Then I never watched TV.<p>Why would you watch tv ?! This is crazy. Why not read a book or spend time with your family and friends or... So many things to do and to learn, too many people to be with (a whole planet indeed). I do not understand this &quot;watching tv&quot; stuff. Aren&#x27;t you going to die soon ? Nothing better to spend your time on ?
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