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Originally Posted by dor  well I can't watch TV without cable - and paying for cable means i have to pay for crap like MTV, lifetime, VH1 and so on. I refuse. Perhaps if FIOS and other high speed delivery systems make a pay as you go option -say only subscribe to discovery and history channel and pbs, I would do it. But its easy even for smart people, to get caught up in the mindless crap on TV, though come to think about it there's also lots of mindless crap on the interenet and even on 'productive sites' like this one its easy to get caught up in ultimtimately pointless arguements.... |
True, but you don't have to *watch* crap like Lifetime and MTV.....
And as far as why you can't "pay as you go" for the cable channels you like, you have the cable industry to thank for that. They've been fighting the drive for "ala carte" cable tooth and nail. They claim that it would hurt smaller, niche oriented cable networks but in reality they're wanting to keep everyone's monthly cable bill as high as possible. Ala carte cable would be a boon for the consumers, in addition to letting people pay for only the networks they want they'd all have to compete with each other qualitatively. That means better programming....
Personally, I think people get too worked up about television in general. Obviously its a real waste of time to just veg in front of the TV watching inane programming. I watch very little TV relative to most people, but particularly with TiVo or a similar DVR service it allows me to watch the programs I enjoy (of which there are two or three) on my schedule. I like to watch the boxing and MMA PPV events, and since I never have time to go out to the movies I enjoy catching them on our cable company's "In Demand" service. I'm a huge film buff, and this way I can see all of the worthwhile movies on my schedule--I may be 3 months behind, but I still see everything worth seeing...
I *could* live without my TV, but its like a lot of other things in life--I could live without most of them, but why should I? The important thing is to remember that you need to control your television watching, in which case it can provide information and entertainment.