Am I out of the loop because I don't and never have watched TV ? Sure, I've seen a bit of sports programming at my friends houses time and again when a games on, but nothing to the extent that most seem to watch. Should I go out and buy a big screen TV with satellite capabilities that boast hundreds of channels ? Or am I not missing a thing ?
What? You don't have any porn channels? Man you are missing out Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
.you're not missing a thingPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!. .the only channel(s) I watch is Discovery Channel(s). You can find about them @ http://www.discovery.com. They are uncomercial channels with no ads. I really enjoy watching thm. Apart frm them I do not watch TV.
Porn movies can be downloaded through Kazaa LitePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (@ http://www.kazaalite.com - a cracked non ad/spyware version of kazaa)
Q You are definitely NOT missing a thing! I watch the Discovery Channel, History Channel and Jeopardy. Nothing you cant learn from a book though. Occasionally I ll watch VH1 Soul - when Im cleaning - but yes, Im all for: DEATH TO TV!!!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Personally I am a news junky. I am not really interested in hard news but I am more interested in news analysis and debate. I spend all my time watching cable news. CNBC mostly. Once in a while I switch over to Fox News to look at the babes. Fox has the best looking news ladies. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I can't live without cable news programs.
all the information you need for your "News Update" can be gotten from i-net. no need for tv in this.
Personally I am a news junky. Yes, keeping up on current events is important, especially if those events somehow directly or indirectly affect ones lifestyle. I cannot make a comparison, but I would presume the internet would get updated faster and more efficiently than any other medium. And on the topic of comparisons, do you think the internet can provide better, more current information than TV ?
I don't know. I have absolutely no interest in news update. I just want to watch people on TV talk about stocks, economy, politics ... It is the analysis and debate part I am interested in ... plus some hot news anchor babes which you don't get from internet.
I don't think you are out of the loop. I wonder how many others are giving up the junk? It has reached the point that a lot of the commercial programming just plain sucks. I also wonder if this might be the start of a new tend in lifestyles. Something the average American has not yet come to the conclusion of. At one time it would have been unthinkable to do without tv. It would seem that more and more are starting to drop out of it. Count me in. I have a tv, no antenna, no cable, just a vcr and dvd. I am happy with the arrangement.
It SHOULD, but unfortunately it doesn't. Most of the major news outlets, most particularly the 24 hour ones, have constant updates and headlines on TV, plus live coverage of important events, but they only update their web sites twice a day at most. If you check CNN in the morning, for instance, unless their is something absolutely earth-shattering (on the level of 9/11) during the day, the stories and headlines there will not change before the next morning.
welcome to the club. p.s. I know tht Stryderunknown cut his tv cablePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I watch Pat Robertson somtimes, just to keep up on what the fundies are up to. That and CNN, but I prefer my newswires. CNN mostly just goes on and on about the same stories. I prefer to watch sports in bars. Just more fun to be around other people while you do. Other than that, (and I'm sure the Q could not stand Robertson), you're not missing anything. No, save your money for a '92 Spider Veloce convertable, mint condition of course. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Hey Q, You've not missed a thing. On the contrary, I'd reckon you've gained enormously by having no television. Though I'm an engineer for a network affiliate television station, I sold my own televison many years ago. I've never regretted not having a television in my home. Good for you! Michael
There are some people who proudly boast "I don't watch television", as though that means something. There is no reason to not watch TV. It is a medium for distributing information. There is no reason to disparage such a good medium for sharing information. You get far more meaning from news with moving pictures and all off your television than from newspapers, which really have never ben the best source for news anyway. Yes, television carries a great deal of pure crap. So don't watch it. Pick the news and space documentaries, fun things, and don't become a couch potato. Why bother picking and watching any such things at all? Like I said, news is good. TV news is far superior to newspapers, because you can see the story material yourself and make up your own mind rather than simply read what some journalist tells you. Like many things, television is not bad, if taken in moderation.
Hey there Adam, Don't worry, TV is not about to go away soon. Television is an integral part of life for the vast majority of people in the industrialized world. I suppose it's lucky for me; I've got excellent job security. "On average, individuals in the industrialized world devote three hours a day to the pursuit (watching TV), fully half of their leisure time, and more than on any single activity save work and sleep. At this rate, someone who lives to 75 would spend nine years in front of the tube." Scientific American Magazine, February 2002 Television is perfect for the masses. It's cheaper than drugs and probably less violent than religion. Karl Marx himself might have approved. It's often said that television brings us together; a sort of national hearth, or a communal experience. T.S. Eliot had something to say about this: "The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely." Yes Adam, there is much to choose from on your televison. I'm guessing you have roughly 60 channels. Still, I have to ask if you would ever bother going into a bookstore that only had 60 books on its shelf? Television is ubiquitous, many people don't even realize the television is on in a room until it is turned off. Then the house suddenly seems too quiet for their liking. I find it frustrating to attempt a conversation with friends in their home while a TV is on in the same room. I notice their eyes repeated darting towards the screen. We can't help ourselves from doing this. As the article in Scientific American pointed out, "we have an instinctive reaction to any sudden stimulus." Our built-in sensitivity to movement is an evolved reaction to guard against potential threats. The television industry understands and uses this to their advantage. Network programming rarely keeps the same scene, or at least the same camera shot, on the air for more than ten seconds. On my last trip to England, upon learning that I work in the U.S. television industry, people kept asking me about the Jerry Springer Show. When I explained that such programs are only viewed by the American underclass, they quickly would add; "Well, I've just seen it on the tele, I'd never watch such things myself." That's odd, someone must be watching for the British networks to continue to carry it. Or are the British fascinated with this program from a sociological aspect, as if this program is somehow representitive of American society in general? I could go on about this subject. However, I read some comments recently on Sciforums that are making me hesitant to write long posts. Several folks admitted to rarely reading all of Tiassa's posts to the end. Since I find Tiassa's posts in general to be fascinating stuff, I had to wonder if our channel-flipping, scene flashing, shortened attention spans have anything to do with it? I suppose those in the "Chat" groups would be horrified to see Tiassa's posts, thinking him an Anti-Christ of sorts. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Anyway Adam, if you manage to get something good from TV without TV getting the best of you, then you have my sincere congratulations. You've done better than most. Michael
That is not the fault of television. If not TV, then people in industrialised nations migth spend that wasted time in front of some other thing. Maybe books. You don't learn what's going on in the world from books. You only learn what has gone on in the past, and what people thought about it, at best. Maybe you can get some philosophical stimulation as well, but I see not reason why such could not come from any other medium of information distribution. We have four channels here. Three normal commercial channels, one govnernment-funded station, and one specialising in foreign language stuff, for example all morning is news programmes from all around the world. As for short-attention spans and such, personally I tend to be able to absorb and process information quite fast. For example, when performing lab experiments with other people, it might take an hour or so to do something which I alone could manage in maybe ten minutes and with better results. I like point-form rather than ten pages of barely-related stories. I like my information clear and concise, with little room for misunderstanding. This means I find most TV shows pure crap. Some, however, are very interesting and enlightening, and some are very entertaining.
(Q), No. You are in loop -- you just spend your time posting in on-line fora. Surfing hundreds, thousands of channels of senseless programming is the same as skimming hundreds, thousands of threads of senseless babbling. So, turn on that tv set. You're already lost in the loop. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
TV is good for baseball games. In the offseason, there's no reason to own a TV. For entertainment, radio drama wins any day. Radio drama is much more interactive, stimulates the imagination instead of stifling it. Provides just enough, but leaves most of the experience to be interpreted into reality by the listener. (Of course, it hardly exists on radio anymore. Have to use the internet.)
