Bye, bye analog reception - February 19, 2009. as the U.S. switches all television reception to digital whether we like it or not.OK. So. We have 2 televisions. One has "rabbit ears" with reception of only two channels and very soon to be obsolete, the other is hooked up to nothing but electricity and the DVD player. It's an older Sony bigger screen television and I suspect it is also not digital. The rabbit ears TV is kept on a shelf in the closet, only used if there is something newsworthy that must be viewed. The last time we had it down was when a tornado hit a nearby town and that was in May of last year. I do plan, if the Academy awards are on one of the two channels we get, to watch it, my one frivolous television viewing experience. This will be my last year to view it via an analog signal. Will we purchase an analog to digital converter box? Possibly. We'll first need to see what is involved in getting the government subsidy for purchasing one of the boxes.
"No television" has been the norm around here for well over 10 years. When we moved from our prior home, where we did have cable, we opted not to fork out the money for cable and to see what happened. I think we can safely say that any negative things about not having cable TV are overwhelmingly outweighed by the positive aspects. My husband now reads books, not a lot, but certainly more than previously. Escaping interaction with each other by watching television shows - not. Seeking alternative options, like creative pursuits for both of us, hobbies (building radio controlled airplanes for Merle) and learning guitar (both of us) .
This does not mean that we don't view the television, DVD, laptop or movie theatre screen for entertainment. We rent movies and go to the movies. We have purchased DVDs and we have Netflix Instant Watch. The BIG, BIG difference here is that our viewing choices are limited. With cable, you have a range of options that includes a little good stuff along with a lot of bad stuff. We don't have the option of bad stuff that is easily viewed with the push of a button, so there is little danger of our being tempted to sit and vegetate on unhealthy material. We try to stick with movies that are rated PG-13 or lower. Not always, but most of the time.
We are not sports fans, so missing sports is not a problem.
The Internet presents options for bad stuff if we want to go there. So far, I think we have been pretty good about not going there.
Our daughter and her husband also do not pay for cable at this time. For how long they will be able to resist it, who knows. If they can resist it and raise our grandson without it, it will be a good thing. Youngsters today are raised around screens - television, computer, handheld video games, cell phones, etc.. Technology. It's a whole different world from the one I grew up in where the only television I viewed was at my grandmother's house on a rare occasion. Roy Rogers. Wyatt Earp. Howdy Doody. Yeah, that old fashioned stuff.
I read and still read a lot. I visit the library about once per week. Finding something interesting to read is a bit of a challenge, but I pick up several books hoping that I'll like at least one of them. My tastes run somewhere between classic literature and John Grisham. Some high tones, a good fairly fast paced story and not too thick.
Toss the cable and save some money. Be different.
