I don't think I've turned it on for six months!
The advent of streaming platforms made dent in the case for TV sets as the household's primary media center. After all, why bother saving up for a new TV if you can catch up on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, especially since those devices offer more degrees of functionality?
Additionally, with on-demand platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu offering some of the most popular programming around, the days of needing a TV set to tune in to your favorite shows already feel like ancient history.
I've been watching GOT on my laptop. I can watch any episode from any season anytime I want. I don't have to catch the latest episode right when it starts, as you do with something you want to see on TV. As soon as the episode is released, I can start it going at any time of my choosing. Unbeatable!
TV simply can't compete. In time, probably a short time, everything will stream over the internet in this way.
It's all going to be about content, and the good content is not on TV, with perhaps the exception of professional sporting events.
Now that our local professional basketball team has returned to it's traditional role of league catfish - sucking on the bottom - there's nothing on any major network or channel that I really want to see.
I find I am hardly watching television these days. If I find I want to watch something I usually stream it on Netflix.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason for a TV is if the movie or sporting event requires a big screen to be enjoyed or if you sit in front of it with others. Otherwise, a computer is better.
ReplyDeleteAnd, there are ways to convince your computer that your big screen is just another computer.
ReplyDeleteI cut the cable years ago, when I noticed my bill had somehow got up to $126/mo but I only watched TV for the old movies- which I could get streaming on my computer. Haven't missed TV at all (I was never into sportsball, so don't miss that either.) Now, all I'm paying for is internet access.
ReplyDeleteMy computer monitor is now a 32" 1080p TV; it works fine as a monitor, and it's great to watch movies on too. My 70" in the living room hasn't been turned on for at least 6 months, and maybe longer. I'd sell it, but nobody wants it; and since it's about 3-5 years old, it's not worth anything.
How times have changed!
Sometimes I recall the very first color TV I ever saw. It was a 21" and was owned by Tom, a wealthy friend, who had a party to celebrate it; it was marvellous, but I ached to get my hands on the controls. Which couldn't be done, as Tom was not about to allow anyone to touch his amazing new TV, especially not a 14yo kid! He was colorblind, so the colors were... interesting. People were purple, the sky was pink; it was surrealistic!
I've owned a grand total of three TV's in my life. During my student years, the wife then girlfriend's TV flatlined, and we went to get another at Sears. Being a poverty stricken student, she wanted to buy a black and white TV ( which they still sold then, for dirt, but must have been the last year they did), and I had to talk long and hard to get her to spring for a color. Amazing how old I am.
DeleteWhen I want entertainment by video, I still like the big screen of the current TVs. Ours is now mostly used as a monitor with our Blue-Ray player and our satellite receiver. I do like the local news casts, mainly for the weather but also for some of the local happenings.
ReplyDeleteI watch NCIS and the occasional ball game or Diners, Driveins, and Dive. And I can get NCIS the day after it is broadcast and the others online, too. Thinking the ol' regular TeeVee's day are numbered.
ReplyDeletecancelled cable TV a while back - now I stream everything for free
ReplyDeleteHowever, the older Thai generation, will never give up their friend local TV