Does Anyone here NOT own a Television?

[BillyBatts]

When I was in college, the Service Technician at the local Stereo Shop told me that he was raised in a home with no television. His parents did not believe TV was good for families nor children. They spent their evenings talking, reading and listening to radio as a family, and spent weekends outdoors enjoying the World, not watching someone else enjoy it on TV. Radio and Record Players? No problem. TV? No. He was about 20 or 21 when he told me this and had moved away from home and had his own apartment. He told me that he only had his stereo, and that was it. He was continuing his parent's tradition of no TV. He was satisfied with music and the "Theater of the Mind" when he listened to AM re-broadcasts of shows like CBS's "Mystery Theater" that was being rebroadcast when I went to school on some AM and FM stations.

Heck, now, you can stream a ton of old radio shows like "X-Minus-1" the old Sci-Fi radio show from the 50s, "You Bet Your Life" with Groucho Marx, "Burns and Allen", "Jack Benny" and just about anything else you want via internet streaming. I have often thought that I would like to try NO TV for a year and see how that goes. I don't watch much TV as it is now, mostly PBS shows and Movies I rent from Amazon Prime via Fire TV Stick on my HDTV. I seem to prefer playing music and reading these days. Reading while listening to music to me is heaven, and you can do two things at once. I can't watch TV and read. I fall asleep to either soft music or an old show like "You Bet Your Life" on my stereo via stream, never to TV, and I no longer sleep on the couch to TV. I sleep on the couch to music or old radio shows. I'm tempted to try NO TV and see how it goes. Just movies at the Theater and radio at home.

Does anyone here NOT own a TELEVISION? I'd love to find out. What are your thoughts?

Thanks and Aloha!

-Billy

 

[avionic]

I have 4 or 5 SONY's and hardly watch any of them. If I do its Fox News.

 

[Audio Moon]

I don't have a TV. I despise it. I do have a huge collection of DVDs and Blu-rays, which I watch on computer monitor. I do plan to buy a large TV but only to watch my discs. I stopped watching TV program almost 15 years ago. I feel healthier without TV program. I can't imagine ever watching it again.

 

[BillyBatts]

I don't have a TV. I despise it. I do have a huge collection of DVDs and Blu-rays, which I watch on computer monitor. I do plan to buy a large TV but only to watch my discs. I stopped watching TV program almost 15 years ago. I feel healthier without TV program. I can't imagine ever watching it again.

I love your response. I had a feeling at least ONE person would chime in like this. I am thinking of DVD/LaserDisc only for TV.
Please be sure to vote that you don't have one if you don't mind.
Thanks!

 

[Audio Moon]

Look... no-one loves GAME OF THRONES or SEINFELD or THE MUPPET SHOW or ONLY FOOL AND HORSES more than I do... so of course I bought all that. I know it by heart. So just WHY would I (or anyone) need a TV program? To watch all these new "politically correct" shows for brainwashed imbecils? To listen to their lies repeated every minute? Not me. I do my own research for everything.
Here's the one that got away.

 

[Dave_1962]

I too do not have a TV. I bought a 42" Samsung way back when they were the biggest size available and started watching for the first time in years. After about 6 months I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the number of repeats as well as the content of most of the shows. I also felt that the TV was so damn big that it was watching me rather than me watching it. I sold that pig for $500 and haven't watched since - I got into vintage audio instead and it feels much better being entertained rather than having my intelligence insulted by weak plots and commercials hammered into me every 7 minutes. GROSS. When I want video I go to the library and grab an armful of DVDs for free (well $2 for the card which is good for 5 years)
and rock the vids on my computer. Far superior to TV and not paying to store a pile of ugly plastic cases or watch lame ass pablum for the masses that the networks spoon out.
TV free now for 7 yrs. and loving every minute of it. Frank Zappa told us how bad TV sucks in 1973 with his track "I'm the Slime" (oozin' out from your TV set). He was bang on. For the uninitiated - wakey wakey check it out.

 

[DougMac]

We have one small TV in the living room and a projector in the home theater. Television watching is pretty much public broadcasting. Most watching is Netflix disks, we are in the sticks and can't get a data plan that Ali's to stream.

My younger son doesn't have a TV, but he does have a projector in the basement. They have weekly movie nights. Their four children read, draw and listen to music instead.

 

[prighello]

No TV here, gave it away last year as it wasn't hooked up to anything other than a BDP and we rarely ever rented those. Haven't had cable, OTA, or anything else in many years. When I go to visit family and see what's on TV I don't miss it. Way too many commercial breaks and the shows are nonsense; fake documentaries (should require disclaimers), scripted or heavily edited "reality" shows, and other such tripe. No thank you.

 

[BillyBatts]

I too do not have a TV. I bought a 42" Samsung way back when they were the biggest size available and started watching for the first time in years. After about 6 months I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the number of repeats as well as the content of most of the shows. I also felt that the TV was so damn big that it was watching me rather than me watching it. I sold that pig for $500 and haven't watched since - I got into vintage audio instead and it feels much better being entertained rather than having my intelligence insulted by weak plots and commercials hammered into me every 7 minutes. GROSS. When I want video I go to the library and grab an armful of DVDs for free (well $2 for the card which is good for 5 years)
and rock the vids on my computer. Far superior to TV and not paying to store a pile of ugly plastic cases or watch lame ass pablum for the masses that the networks spoon out.

Two years ago, Thanksgiving, I sat down with family to watch "White Christmas" on AMC. Good grief! So many commercials I had to time them just for poops and giggles. They were running 7 minutes of movie and 8 minutes of commercials, twice per half hour. Come on! No wonder when you see a movie on AMC it says... "Running time, 4 hours 30 minutes". For a movie that, when released, was 90 minutes? DVD or Streaming Movies, here I come! If you have cable, you absolutely need a DVR to record movies in advance and then watch them with your finger on the FAST-FORWARD to get through the commercials that sometimes outweigh the program content.

 

[dosmalo]

I keep this pic just for threads like this.
Yeah, I have several but it isn't the televisions I dislike, it is the programing that comes across the damn things.
I went OTA here in 2012 and never regretted it.
I'm so glad that Spring/Summer is here and I get outside a lot more - I thought I'd lose my mind this winter cooped up with the friggin' TV! UGH!

 

[waggs098]

Have a tv don't have cable. I don't watch many tv shows but do watch a lot of movies. For the people who don't think there are good new shows on (there aren't many) if you haven't seen "Speechless" give it a shot. Far from politically correct and frickin hilarious.

 

[The Fuxtor]

I gave my older brother my 42 " plasma because it basically sat collecting dust... Cut off cable and when the analog signals were phased out that was it!
I have a projector in the basement which has Netflix and online capabilities along with blurays and the whole bit. Works better than bad!!!

 

[62vauxhall]

Wasn't there a similar active thread about this?

My parents got a b&w TV around 1958 so I grew up with it from around age 5. Since then, I always had one until until about 6 years ago. It started to annoy me more than it entertained me. I was so entirely fed up with advertising and the cost of service providers that I got rid of it. Plus I needed the space for a second turntable. I have no interest in pro sports and can watch streamed TV shows and movies on my computer when I feel the need for visual escapeism.

For quite a few years my job was evaluating and replacing contents losses for insurance companies. The importance people placed on their entertainment devices and how much they spent on them really made me think everyone (me included) were completely skewed.

The abunce of ad's encouraging people to spend money they didn't have was bugging me more than ever. This was especially hit home when a good friend wound up bankrupt and in clinical depression due to personal debt. The way people are manipulated by enticement then fleeced by profiteers and marketeers really infuriates me. I question human and/or cultural values when I think that this is considered a skill and actively taught as one.

"Separating People From Money Irregardless Of How - 101".

 

[BillyBatts]

Wasn't there a similar active thread about this?

My parents got a b&w TV around 1958 so I grew up with it from around age 5. Since then, I always had one until until about 6 years ago. It started to annoy me more than it entertained me. I was so entirely fed up with advertising and the cost of service providers that I got rid of it. Plus I needed the space for a second turntable. I have no interest in pro sports and can watch streamed TV shows and movies on my computer when I feel the need for visual escapeism.

For quite a few years my job was evaluating and replacing contents losses for insurance companies. The importance people placed on their entertainment devices and how much they spent on them really made me think everyone (me included) were completely skewed.

The abunce of ad's encouraging people to spend money they didn't have was bugging me more than ever. This was especially hit home when a good friend wound up bankrupt and in clinical depression due to personal debt. The way people are manipulated by enticement then fleeced by profiteers and marketeers really infuriates me. I question human and/or cultural values when I think that this is considered a skill and actively taught as one.

"Separating People From Money Irregardless Of How - 101".

There may be one or two similar threads, but this is a big Forum, and new members join ALL the time, so it's no harm-no foul to re-tread a similar thread - especially one with a new poll.

Good point on your statement on debt.
American consumerism is based on debt. People see an ad for a $65,000 Lexus and think, "Jeepers, maybe I should buy that.", not thinking that at their $25,000 a year salary less living expenses, they simply can not afford it. I have friends that are up against a wall with over $30k in credit card debt. Yow! Hey, I need credit cards to live. Emergencies, travel (especially BUSINESS travel), etc. And yes, I may have spent $300 on a credit card for a 50" HDTV (and that's what I actually spent - I shopped around big time at Amazon and Best Buy to find the least expensive 50" with the best reviews). But that's all I do with credit. Am I tempted to put a $5,000 McIntosh system on Plastic? Sometimes, yes, but my business sense talks me out of it quickly!

 

[reydelaplaya]

I have a TV, but it's in its box in the closet. It was used for the first time in probably a year or more one night last week for the final game of the World Baseball Classic.

At the end of that final game, it was promptly put back into its box, where it will stay until I feel like playing Super Mario 64 (the Nintendo was the only reason I bought it a few years ago anyway).

You've seen it mounted to the wall in pictures I've posted from time to time, but due to lack of use, I finally pulled it down over the long winter break.

Meh, stopped watching TV when my other one finally died from salt air exposure back in 2002.

More importantly though, Billy!! Haven't seen you around here for quite some time! You doing alright, dude?

 

[Max Flower]

The TV we have at home is used exclusively for streaming. Netflix mainly. We do not have connection to broadcast television, and are happy without it.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I have a very nice 50" TV. Have an antenna connected to it, from which I get 21 digital channels. Plus subscriptions to Netflix & Amazon Prime, which cost me $17/mon total. I enjoy it very much. Just like I very much enjoy my audio system.

 

[BillyBatts]

I have a TV, but it's in its box in the closet. It was used for the first time in probably a year or more one night last week for the final game of the World Baseball Classic.

At the end of that final game, it was promptly put back into its box, where it will stay until I feel like playing Super Mario 64 (the Nintendo was the only reason I bought it a few years ago anyway).

You've seen it mounted to the wall in pictures I've posted from time to time, but due to lack of use, I finally pulled it down over the long winter break.

Meh, stopped watching TV when my other one finally died from salt air exposure back in 2002.

More importantly though, Billy!! Haven't seen you around here for quite some time! You doing alright, dude?

Thank you for asking Rey. Mahalo! Yes, I'm doing well. Hope you are too.
I spend 99 percent of my time these days in the AK "Jazz Playlist Thread", so I'm on here almost daily, but I'm hiding in the Jazz Thread.

I applaud your packing up the TV and closeting it my friend. And I applaud (big time) your watching the World Baseball Classic. One of the ONLY things I'd miss about getting rid of my TV is Baseball. I happen to love Baseball. It's both relaxing and exciting to me. Especially the MLB Playoffs and the World Classic. Baseball and HDTV is a match made in heaven for me. It's the only reason I still have cable. I want the MLB Network. So, alas, as much as I want to get rid of the TV, every Baseball season, the little guy that lives on my shoulder would tap start kicking me in the head and saying, "Billy, it's Baseball Season.... Where's the TV?"

Aloha!
-Billy

 

[OMGCat!]

I had a small flat screen I was given after having no TV for about 10 years but I gave it away as it sat in my closet other than me dragging it out for a movie ONCE.

I watch a lot of videos of electronic repairs, exploring, tool stuff and other such things on my laptop so I guess that's sort of TV. I am thinking of getting and restoring an old Philco portable tube set just to watch old movies on but haven't made the effort just yet.

 

[JoeESP9]

As I write this post I'm watching Nature (Yosemite) on PBS. OTOH, I love film noir movies.