4 ms·
What's important IMO isn't not owning a TV, it's not having or using traditional TV services, namely cable TV or even over-the-air TV. Having a TV by itself ca
by Arizhel 10y ago
What's important IMO isn't not owning a TV, it's not having or using traditional TV services, namely cable TV or even over-the-air TV.
Having a TV by itself can be good, so you can watch a movie at home with friends (preferably served by a mediaPC). It's cable/network TV, stuffed with ads and mostly worthless shows, that's the real time-waster. (And even if there's worthwhile shows in there somewhere, they're aired at inconvenient times, you actually have to watch them as they air (without spending extra money to rent a DVR), and you can't pause or rewind them (again without a DVR rental). The whole scheme is archaic and ridiculous and inefficient.
Finally, a big factor is cost (except with OTA). The TV itself is pretty cheap these days unless you get some big 60" quantum-dot display or something. A simple 32" TV can be had for just over $100 now, and a 40" for around $200. These are one-time costs. But cable TV can easily cost you over $100 every month, or over $1200/year. And for what? So you can watch ugly, over-compressed video, loaded with loud commercials, that you have no ability to control when you watch, or pause or rewind?