6 Years after "Cutting The Cord" from cable and satellite. (opinion)

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
This is an opinion piece! :)

cablecutter.jpg


It has been 6 years since I cancelled my cable and satellite services, and I have no regrets. I still feel the positives outweigh the negatives, but there are some consequences socially that come with the territory.

The Positives:

  1. You save lots of money. If your monthly cable bill is $125/mo, then you save $1500.00/year. More, if you count the lease of the cable box. :)
  2. You are no longer bombarded with commercial advertising shoved at you every 10 minutes (or less). Because of this, your mind does not fill with jingles, animated characters selling products or catch phrases. You are not assaulted with video of junk food and hair products and dishonest ads for other products and services.
  3. You no longer sit and absorb programming from the outside, you are put in the position of gathering and investigating the information and news that more pertains to you.
  4. Your stress levels lower, and the time and peace of mind made available to you is used in a more positive way.
There are many more, but suffice it to say that lots of "garbage" which is imparted by watching programmed media begins to fade and finally become seemingly "foreign". This does not mean that you cannot watch your favorite shows or that you cannot get current news, it is just no longer that you find yourself thinking about buying things that you dont need (because you dont know you need them!). You no longer find your well-being affected by news about some gang shooting in the streets of some small town hundreds of miles away from where you live and work. No longer do you worry because some TV personality sits on a talk show and discusses doomsday scenarios.

But this all comes with some disadvantages

The Negatives:

  1. You lose touch with the (still watching) masses. Much of what they talk about and do will have to do with what they have seen on their cable TV shows and/or the advertising that comes with it.
  2. TV personalities and the details of mass-media awards shows become meaningless, because you might never have heard of the people getting the awards, or might not have watched the show that they are on.
  3. You can no longer participate in certain discussions like whatever the Kardashians are doing or who is dating who or what some broadcaster had to say about a given subject. This can make for some awkward conversations sometimes.
  4. You may be seen as "weird" by those who still are fully immersed.

Overall, cutting the cord should not be taken lightly. I doubt that many who have done it will be going back to their old ways, but there are long term effects of cutting the cord. There are still hundreds of times more people who have NOT cut the cord that you have to interact with every day. On the other hand, many of those people will become intrigued with the idea once they have discovered you are a cord cutter. That has been my experience mostly. :)

Recommended reading for any cord cutter:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amadoudiallo/2013/10/16/how-to-cut-the-cord-cable-tv/

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/cord-cutting-guide,news-17928.html

http://gigaom.com/2013/12/15/a-lifelong-cable-hoarder-cuts-the-cord-and-its-a-relief-kinda/

Thoughts?
 

Illiterati

Council Member & Author
We haven't had "regular" tv for a long time and I don't particularly miss it. We watch shows when we want to and that works for us.

I have a hard time, though, with people who ask if I've seen a particular commercial and I have to tell them that I don't watch commercials at all anymore (unless I'm trying to watch a YouTube video, that is). They can't seem to understand why I don't watch TV with the rest of the mindless horde.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
We haven't had "regular" tv for a long time and I don't particularly miss it. We watch shows when we want to and that works for us.

I have a hard time, though, with people who ask if I've seen a particular commercial and I have to tell them that I don't watch commercials at all anymore (unless I'm trying to watch a YouTube video, that is). They can't seem to understand why I don't watch TV with the rest of the mindless horde.

When I am at the homes of other people, I am usually shocked at how much commercial advertising makes up the bulk of the cable watching TV experience. Appalling. Every 5 or 10 minutes, some ad for hair products like shampoo, junk food, and the latest sales at Store X. New cars and special financing, and home mortgage services. :facepalm: It feels the exact same way as spam does when it appears in my inbox, having escaped my anti-spam software.

Yet, we can watch all the same TV shows, movies and whatnot, online and (mostly) without commercials. There are a few on Syfy Rewind and other online sites which also operate cable services, but nothing like what you get on cable. Usually car ads. :)
 

Illiterati

Council Member & Author
When I've bought shows (yes, I've bought them for viewing on other devices), an ostensibly hour long show is only about 43 minutes long. So that's 12 minutes of commercials per hour.

Sickens me.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
When I've bought shows (yes, I've bought them for viewing on other devices), an ostensibly hour long show is only about 43 minutes long. So that's 12 minutes of commercials per hour.

Sickens me.

Yep, and those commercials have a definite effect on one's day. :( Thing is, when they are gone, you become hyper sensitive to them when you are forced to see them when you are at somebody else's place. In my car, I only listen to internet radio and that is also commercial free. Commercials are so damned intrusive...imagine, walking along the street and random people jump out of bushes and from hidden popup platforms in the sidewalk in front of you, asking you to buy something they have in a box or a bag. I much prefer them to be merely holding the box or bag on the sidelines, and if one interests me then I will inquire. That is the online experience. :)
 

Illiterati

Council Member & Author
Yep, and those commercials have a definite effect on one's day. :( Thing is, when they are gone, you become hyper sensitive to them when you are forced to see them when you are at somebody else's place. In my car, I only listen to internet radio and that is also commercial free. Commercials are so damned intrusive...imagine, walking along the street and random people jump out of bushes and from hidden popup platforms in the sidewalk in front of you, asking you to buy something they have in a box or a bag. I much prefer them to be merely holding the box or bag on the sidelines, and if one interests me then I will inquire. That is the online experience. :)
I either listen to the music that's already on my phone (I've got a huge pile of them on it) or I listen to subscription Pandora, so I don't get commercials anymore. Yes, short of the "Most Interesting Man" ads, I don't miss them one bit.
 

Gatefan1976

Well Known GateFan
Something from Gruen Transfer you may like................

 

Gatefan1976

Well Known GateFan
there was another one, a better one on the subject, but I can't find it online :(

Fear my google-fu

Found the whole ep instead. If you just want to see the other ad, start at 22:50, it's only about 50 seconds long.

 
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Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
From 2008...

http://www.naturalnews.com/024530.html#

Excerpt:

The world's biggest leisure activity is watching television. Not walking or reading, not playing games with our children, not engaging with others in outdoor activities. Most of us like to think that television has absolutely no effect on how we think or what we do. We believe that it is a way to relax. Many of us may be surprised to know that television is a controlling medium, relaxing us enough to switch off our analytical brain (the left side of the brain) so that we uncritically, or unlogically, process the information beaming from the television. This means we are less able to make decisions or judgments about what we hear on television.

Our brains undergo a similar process under hypnosis.
The similarity between hypnosis and the effects of watching television is unveiled in Dr Aric Sigman's book called Remotely Controlled. Sigman describes hypnosis as "an altered state of consciousness"; a form of sleepwalking where our mind is influenced by another (the hypnotist or practitioner).

Under hypnosis we become more open to the suggestions of the practitioner and this happens as we are asked to refrain from being critical and relaxed. As we do this, the frontal lobe in our brain alters becoming less connected with the brain so that we switch off. Hypnosis effectively causes a change in the brain so that we use the right side of our brain. What we switch off is the left side used for critical thinking.

TV = hypnosis? That is not at all outside the realm of plausible.
 
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Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I either listen to the music that's already on my phone (I've got a huge pile of them on it) or I listen to subscription Pandora, so I don't get commercials anymore. Yes, short of the "Most Interesting Man" ads, I don't miss them one bit.

I think the main reason I cut the cord was to eliminate commercials! Seriously... They became such a drag on my entertainment experience that I was left with no other choice. Every show, every channel seemed literally saturated with advertising, and I was marinading in it every time I watched. But now? My mind rejects the commercials easily when I encounter them at other people's homes or the occasional ones online. Also, online commercials are much shorter too.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
The excerpt explains reality television quite well.

What is the difference between TV and reality? COMMERCIALS! :) Somehow, the term "reality TV" seems like an oxymoron. :anim_59:

The other thing I did not discuss in the OP was the experience of somebody who still is immersed in TV watching coming over to your place. At my place, the only "regular" TV available (with commercials) are the over the air digital broadcast channels we have here in Southern California. Anything else has to be gotten from Netflix or other online services and these people cannot understand that. It seems "too complicated" for them. It "takes too much work". Really? But they do ask questions...like how the setup works or what they would need to do it themselves.

They wonder why I am 'going to miss" the awards shows and winners of shows like Dancing with the Stars and stuff. They want to catch up on this stuff when they come over to visit? LOL! Not at my place. Unless it is available online.

http://www.businessinsider.com/cord-cutters-and-the-death-of-tv-2013-11

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Illiterati

Council Member & Author
People talk to me about who won some reality "competition" show and I just tell 'em that I have no idea what they're talking about, as I don't watch that kind of crap. I have a couple people who come over occasionally and they can't understand why I don't at least watch the network news at night.

Why? That's what the interweb is for All Day Long.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
People talk to me about who won some reality "competition" show and I just tell 'em that I have no idea what they're talking about, as I don't watch that kind of crap. I have a couple people who come over occasionally and they can't understand why I don't at least watch the network news at night.

Why? That's what the interweb is for All Day Long.

Me too. :) Even my neighbor who loves to come over and play dominos will leave to watch his shows. I think it is sorta sad if you plan your whereabouts based on the scheduling of a TV show. And just how bad is it if I dont know anything about any of the shows here?:

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?ti...eality_tv&my_ratings=exclude&lists=!watchlist

realitytv.PNG
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Soon, one may not be able to escape ads-even receive personalized ads as you walk through public spaces"


"But industry documents suggest otherwise. A 2005 patent application by American Express itself describes how RFID-embedded objects carried by shoppers could emit "identification signals" when queried by electronic "consumer trackers." The system could identify people, record their movements, and send them video ads that might offer "incentives" or "even the emission of a scent."

RFID readers could be placed in public venues, including "a common area of a school, shopping center, bus station or other place of public accommodation," according to the application.

Companies such as IBM, NCR Corp., and Procter & Gamble have also submitted patents to use RFID tech to track consumer behavior in different way"

from: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/01/the-rfid-contro.html
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Me too. :) Even my neighbor who loves to come over and play dominos will leave to watch his shows. I think it is sorta sad if you plan your whereabouts based on the scheduling of a TV show. And just how bad is it if I dont know anything about any of the shows here?:

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?ti...eality_tv&my_ratings=exclude&lists=!watchlist

View attachment 29241

The only thing I know about these shows are the non stop ads that run for them during the shows I want to watch (currently 3 or 4) and even on non-related networks.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
This is why I love my Roku box.

Roku channels are basically "serve yourself" groupings of content. So I can tailor my viewing to suit my interests.
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
If I could only get the people in my life to cut the cord I'd be a happy man. :moody:

One example of just how horrifically bad TV has gotten: Tonight, while visiting a friend, he was changing channels on his TV and stopped on Showbiz Tonight. I said "I bet they will be talking about Kim Kardashian" and sure as shit, as soon as I said that they did a report on Kim K's latest "selfie" which was a pic of her big, fake ass. :facepalm:

I had to leave when my friend turned on The Real World. It sickens me that a grown adult would actually sit and watch that shit.
 
B

Backstep

Guest
Soon, one may not be able to escape ads-even receive personalized ads as you walk through public spaces"


"But industry documents suggest otherwise. A 2005 patent application by American Express itself describes how RFID-embedded objects carried by shoppers could emit "identification signals" when queried by electronic "consumer trackers." The system could identify people, record their movements, and send them video ads that might offer "incentives" or "even the emission of a scent."

RFID readers could be placed in public venues, including "a common area of a school, shopping center, bus station or other place of public accommodation," according to the application.

Companies such as IBM, NCR Corp., and Procter & Gamble have also submitted patents to use RFID tech to track consumer behavior in different way"

from: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/01/the-rfid-contro.html


Foiled by aluminum foil.

Chalk one up for the "tin" foil hatters :smiley-laughing021:
 
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