3 ms·

I cut cable tv 5 years ago after being a heavy user my whole life. The strangest part was transitioning from watching what was on to choosing what to watch. At

I cut cable tv 5 years ago after being a heavy user my whole life. The strangest part was transitioning from watching what was on to choosing what to watch. At first I thought it would be obviously better but it was uncomfortable for a while. After a few months the benefits kicked in and now if I'm ever somewhere with other people watching tv there are a few things that stand out: Commercials are incredibly intrusive. I am amazed at what I was willing to put up with for so long. Sports commentary is offensively vapid. Actual comment from the Olympic coverage this last year: "This routine is so difficult it's been called incredibly difficult". Even allowing for getting a little tongue tied on live tv it was painfully bad. Most other commentary is awful. Listening to explanations filtered through what a reporter is willing to take the time to understand just doesn't compare when are so many good sources from real experts in so many fields online. Maybe I'm just to the point where I want to yell at kids to stay off my lawn but I don't see how the "TV ecosystem" survives much longer.

nol13 10y ago
Def some physiology behind that. If some random movie is on TV it's like "oh cool this is on," if that same movie is available on demand to watch whenever I want it's "seen it, don't need to watch again." That and I'm paranoid about everything I watch being tracked and used to profile me.
- chipperyman573 10y ago
  I definitely agree that I'm more willing to watch something that happens to be on, but might not watch the same thing on Netflix (same with the radio and Spotify). Is there any scientific research that proves these thoughts?
  - elmigranto 10y ago
    People value potential losses more than potential gains. Loosing $10 will affect you more intensely than finding it (or at least you judge it to be before the fact). So when something is on, there is a "loss" in missing it. When it's on Netflix, there is only a "gain".

nol13 10y ago

Def some physiology behind that. If some random movie is on TV it's like "oh cool this is on," if that same movie is available on demand to watch whenever I want it's "seen it, don't need to watch again." That and I'm paranoid about everything I watch being tracked and used to profile me.

chipperyman573 10y ago
I definitely agree that I'm more willing to watch something that happens to be on, but might not watch the same thing on Netflix (same with the radio and Spotify). Is there any scientific research that proves these thoughts?
- elmigranto 10y ago
  People value potential losses more than potential gains. Loosing $10 will affect you more intensely than finding it (or at least you judge it to be before the fact). So when something is on, there is a "loss" in missing it. When it's on Netflix, there is only a "gain".