Not owning a television: c or d?

coz of all this elitist (and covertly homophobic) passive/active dichotomy business.

Well, I do think keeping your brain and body active is better than keeping them passive. I don't see it as horribly elitist though, because I'm not saying that instead of TV you should study Medieval literature or something. You could go play football, or meet your friends in the local pub, or go bowling, and so on. And I don't think people should stop watching TV altogether, but in many cases it seems to consume so much of people's spare time that it might be kinda bad for their mental and physical well-being.

Lex OTM

No form of culture is empirically any better or worse than any other, it's whether it's consumed passively or actively, whether you choose it deliberately or accept it just because it's in front of you. Anyone that sits in front of ILX repeatedly refreshing their browser is in no position to judge anyone that sits down in front of the TV and flicks through a hundred channels until they find something almost palatable.

btw mindless consumption is not always unhealthy Tuomas.

Tuomas then the problem there is with your friends, or you, for not having the self-restraint not to watch for two hours a day. It's not with 'television' per se.

Not owning a TV is only acceptable if you can honestly say you literally watch NO TV and aren't watching The Wire and Gilmore Girls and shit on your laptop. Otherwise it's OMG FRONTING for sure.

OTM. Watching stuff on your laptop on the iPlayer is all very well, but it's still watching it on your laptop, as opposed to a decent screen with proper sound.

No form of culture is empirically any better or worse than any other, it's whether it's consumed passively or actively,

This is true, but I think the way TV functions makes it more fitting for passive consumption. Most people don't have a steady, endless stream of comic or movies or magazines or books available for them. I agree that the Internet can be just as bad though.

That said I'm pretty sure 'the television' as we currently know and understand it will be obsolete within 20 years. It'll all be about yer multimedia internet-connected streaming entertainment centres that just happen to work as TVs as well.

I have a large monitor hooked up to a mac mini, the DVD and the stereo and don't miss the telly. Everything you need is on torrents, iPlayer, illegal football stream or DVD boxset.

Tuomas then the problem there is with your friends, or you, for not having the self-restraint not to watch for two hours a day. It's not with 'television' per se.

Well yeah, I'm not really criticizing TV here rather than TV consumption habits. It does seem that the format of TV invites passive consumption in a way that some other forms of culture don't, but as long as it's succesful, I don't expect that format to change. It's people who have to change.

but as long as it's succesful

It isn't anymore though

Nick, Matt OTM. As I said on the other thread, I could care less whether other ppl have/or watch TV or not but assuming that not doing so makes you intellectually superior to someone that does only serves to make you incredibly pretentious and annoying.

i have no tv and it's frustrating when major news events happen.

This is interesting to me b/c I wouldn't think to turn on the TV for "breaking news." If it were something planned like a presidential election or debate, then sure. But for most everything else -- like Sarah Palin's resignation, for instance -- I read a ton of online sources and never felt like I was missing out. (Maybe it's because I don't have cable.)

x-post "couldn't" care less rather

TV stations used to be all about creating that feeling of flow and sucking you in for marathon sessions, it's true. Don't believe that makes watching the TV more or less passive tho. Also now we're all hyperreal button bunnies hopping and skipping impatiently from one channel to the next during breaks flow as a TV concept is dying fast and I don't think most stations worry about it too much anymore. Just concentrate on finding their niche and pumping it out to an ever flitting audience.

Also most of your actual young people today don't actually sit passively watching hours of TV though - that's a hangover from our day. Why would they when there are video games/social networking/DVDs/instant messaging/loads of easily available music?

Add YouTube to that list.

the one advantage TV still has over torrents, streaming stuff etc. is that it's instant, still quicker than waiting for computer to boot let alone select what you want to watch. also still handy when you're going to bed/can't sleep as it's less fuss than laptop.

now time for my usual 'iplayer should offer playlists + way more old stuff like 4OD do' gripe

i basically just watch the news and family guy, but tv news -- channel 4 and newsnight -- does strike me as far superior to newspaper news. no doubt at some point we'll move from 'television' to 'internet' entirely, but i think people overstate the changes it'll make to the stuff we actually watch.

ie, i don't think the internet has actually changed newspapers, content-wise (other than the large amount of bollocks they have to produce for the web), and the format of news programmes seems pretty uneffwithable with to me.

Add YouTubePorn to that list

maybe the news should just be delivered thru the medium of Family Guy

Wd like to see Stewie Griffin as a frontline political interviewer.

did watch some of wimbledon. the advantages of internet over tv there are... what exactly? broadcasting seems to be a more reliable (and newer) technology. until they figure out how to massively increase the capacity of the infrastructure, we'll still have broadcasting, i guess.

I wasn't even going to bring personal TV consumption into this because I was sort of assuming that anyone even engaging in this argument here isn't the type to spend endless hours watching "mindless" crap etc. Maybe I'm giving you all too much credit.

the only thing about tv that frustrates me is when people (i'd like to hang out with) get home from work/school then watch neighbours, hollyoaks, hollyoaks again, make themselves something to eat then watch fat people losing weight, ramsay shouting at people then a film or something. i've lived with people that do this, and it's so easy to get sucked in to their routine. i ended up avoiding them because of this and felt like our relationships kinda suffered. when they asked me why i don't hang out with them anymore i told them that i feel really guilty if i spend the night on my ass in front of the tv and don't achieve anything, or go anywhere. they ended up putting a big GUITLY sign on my bedroom door.

people you'd like to hang out with otm

did watch some of wimbledon. the advantages of internet over tv there are... what exactly?

you can watch it at work

worst is sunday hangover days. some people deal with a hangover by sitting in front of the tv. i need to get out of the house!

There's a certain amount of kiddology we practice on ourselves, and I'm as guitly of it as anybody, regarding what grand achievements we would have used our time for if we hadn't spent an evening in front of the TV.

... and go and watch TV in a pub, I know (xp)

also, i think all the elitist stuff on this thread has more to do with self satisfaction. i feel good about myself if i manage to do something between 5 and 11 every night that isn't sitting in front of the tv and y'know it's always best to keep your self satisfied feelings to yourself.

i don't think its so much grand achievements. there are ways to mong out and learn stuff. like instead of watching tv i might just play with photoshop all night. i'm not going to achieve much, but i'll end up learning something new. you could say the same about a lot of tv programming. but that doesn't really work for me, if i watch something i tend to forget it pretty quick.

i like TV b/c it makes me feel like an american. i also love commercials, and tho a lot of shows on TV suck, some are really great.

and even tho i don't watch too much TV, it's sooo great to have on in the background.

Crackle Box OTM above. I don't think I've achieved any great things by giving up TV, but I do think that doing that has made me a bit more satisfied with myself, maybe somewhat more healthy physically and mentally too. Plus I found out that during the evenings I don't want to socialize with anyone, I really enjoy reading nonfiction books, so maybe I've learned a bit more too than I would've by watching TV.

Maybe the problem with TV is that watching it has become such a default form of spending your free time, it can hinder/stop people from finding out they might enjoy doing other things more.

they should do... something less boring.

instead.

i don't feel like i have to watch it all the time, just cuz i have one

Maybe the problem with TV is that watching it has become such a default form of spending your free time, it can hinder/stop people from finding out they might enjoy doing other things more.

Give this man a column in the Evening Standard

the advantages of internet over tv there are... what exactly? broadcasting seems to be a more reliable (and newer) technology. until they figure out how to massively increase the capacity of the infrastructure, we'll still have broadcasting, i guess.

Yeah - the sound and picture quality of internet streams, even high quality ones, is still not even approaching that of even normal digital TV, let alone high-definition. And TV transmission is faster and more reliable.

betweeen Netflix, Hulu and my digital rabbit ears, I don't foresee ever needing to pay for cable. The only thing I feel I miss out on is cable lol news, but I can watch that at my girlfriend's house.

I'm actually quite astounded at how touchy and rude some people are being about something as silly as television. Who cares if some people choose to not watch it, and some like mindless viewing, and some prefer internet - no one's insulting anyone's grandmothers honor, jesus.

lolsbury hill!!!! :D

http://www.theonion.com/onion3604/doesnt_own_television.html

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, April 11, 2003 9:13 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh fuck that shit

But the worst thing about TV, at least to me, was how easily it can become the mental equivalent of comfort food. It's too easy to just sit in front of the box and watch whatever's on for hours (even if it's a show you don't much care about), because doing something else would require a bit of physical or mental effort, and you can't bother to do that, because watching TV is just so much easier.

See like this is why I miss having TV channels. When I'm sick or depressed or just need to not think at all even one bit, TV is a wonderful thing! Would you deny a person actual comfort food when sick? When I'm sick or depressed, all I can consume is powerade and potatoes. I can also say that flu I had 3 years ago wld have felt 1000x longer if I didn't have a several-day-long Roseanne marathon to get all delirious with.

My Freeview was acting up during the Wimbledon men's final so i switched to watching it on "HD" iPlayer (connected to my TV) and it didn't even come close to the TV broadcast. I could barely see the ball at times.

CHAPEL HILL, NC–Area resident Jonathan Green does not own a television, a fact he repeatedly points out to friends, family, and coworkers–as well as to his mailman, neighborhood convenience-store clerks, and the man who cleans the hallways in his apartment building.

Enlarge Image Area Man Constantly Mentioning

Jonathan Green, who tells as many people as possible that he is "fully weaned off the glass teat."

"I, personally, would rather spend my time doing something useful than watch television," Green told a random woman Monday at the Suds 'N' Duds Laundromat, noticing the establishment's wall-mounted TV. "I don't even own one."

According to Melinda Elkins, a coworker of Green's at The Frame Job, a Chapel Hill picture-frame shop, Green steers the conversation toward television whenever possible, just so he can mention not owning one.

"A few days ago, [store manager] Annette [Haig] was saying her new contacts were bothering her," Elkins said. "The second she said that, I knew Jonathan would pounce. He was like, 'I didn't know you had contacts, Annette. Are your eyes bad? That a shame. I'm really lucky to have almost perfect vision. I'm guessing it's because I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't even own one."

According to Elkins, "idiot box" is Green's favorite derogatory term for television.

"He uses that one a lot," she said. "But he's got other ones, too, like 'boob tube' and 'electronic babysitter.'"

Elkins said Green always makes sure to read the copies of Entertainment Weekly and People lying around the shop's break room, "just so he can point out all the stars and shows he's never heard of."

"Last week, in one of the magazines, there was a picture of Calista Flockhart," Elkins said, "and Jonathan announced, 'I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. Calista who? Am I supposed to have heard of her? I'm sorry, but I haven't.'"

Tony Gerela, who lives in the apartment directly below Green's and occasionally chats with the 37-year-old by the mailboxes, is well aware of his neighbor's disdain for television.

"About a week after I met him, we were talking, and I made some kind of Simpsons reference," Gerela said. "He asked me what I was talking about, and when I told him it was from a TV show, he just went off, saying how the last show he watched was some episode of Cheers, and even then, he could only watch for about two minutes before having to shut it off because it insulted his intelligence so terribly."

Added Gerela: "Once, I made the mistake of saying I saw something on the news, and he started in with, 'Saw the news? I don't know about you, but I read the news."

Green has lived without television since 1989, when his then-girlfriend moved out and took her set with her.

"When Claudia went, the TV went with her," Green said. "But instead of just going out and buying another one–which I certainly could have afforded, that wasn't the issue–I decided to stand up to the glass teat."

"I'm not an elitist," Green said. "It's just that I'd much rather sculpt or write in my journal or read Proust than sit there passively staring at some phosphorescent screen."

"If I need a fix of passive audio-visual stimulation, I'll go to catch a Bergman or Truffaut film down at the university," Green said. "I certainly wouldn't waste my time watching the so-called Learning Channel or, God forbid, any of the mind sewage the major networks pump out."

Continued Green: "People don't realize just how much time their TV-watching habit–or, shall I say, addiction–eats up. Four hours of television a day, over the course of a month, adds up to 120 hours. That's five entire days! Why not spend that time living your own life, instead of watching fictional people live theirs? I can't begin to tell you how happy I am not to own a television."

i LOVE the fact that it keeps so many people indoors for hours at a time. instead of outside trying to kill me.

Also I get v highly strong, mentally and physically, when shit-talking abt people I know is going down, and so it's kind of good everyone watches TV shows bcz then you can at least steer the conversation to 'so what do you think will happen to House next season' as opposed to 'so did you know she's getting married bcz she got pregnant'?

highy STRUNG, tho I am worried someday my mild-mannered Bruce Banner ways will be betrayed by impatience with others.

i can't really follow your posts brooke shields is crying on t.v.