With all due respect to Walter Cronkite, I’d much rather connect with the internet than sit and watch TV. I love being able to look up information immediately when a question comes up, and I love being connected to my fellow bloggers. My guess is anyone who reads this post feels about the same way.
On the other hand, I am a Netflix fan and watch DVDs of movies/old TV series when I do my daily exercise. They, and occasional TV programs taped earlier in the day/week, add a lot of joy to my life.
How important is TV to you?
I have the very basic TV that gets the free channels. I don’t have free2air or Sky or anything else that NZ might offer.
I have certain programmes that I attempt to watch when the series are on but often I miss episodes and so on. (missed things can sometimes be watched on the channel websites though!)
Like you I would rather surf around the Net looking at interesting things and so on.
I now have a laptop which I was using in the bedroom earlier tonight mostly because the bed is a very convenient place to spread out books & papers but now I’m back down here as my email is connected to this one – plus the bedroom was making me sleepy and it’s a tad tooooooooo early for sleeping!
I disposed of my TV over ten years ago and never missed it! I hear more than enough about what the programmes are about. Radio is my favourite. I can listen while I work without the flashing screen pulling my eyes and attention to the corner of the room. It also means I make my own pictures inside my head. When something world changing happens I find it on the ‘net’!
I would much rather read than watch television. I think it’s less of a passive activity….I also have classical music on all the time, which, somehow, gives me profound joy. When I’m not reading, either cooking or cleaning my apartment, I’ll put on contemporary indie singer/song writers in a folky style.
When I was first divorced and moved to D.C., I had no television for several years. I think it was truly healthy, but eventually, I needed one for my visiting kids AND for the evenings when a broken heart or loneliness got to be too much for me!
Hi!
I barely watch TV anymore! I used to watch it every evening!
Now I am on the net or reading or some other activity in life.
In the winter I watch it more and love to still watch good movies occasionally and do enjoy the science channel and discovery channels too!
My viewing habits have certainly undergone scrutiny and a make-over. Eliminating violence, bloodshed and stupidity leaves me with a lot of HGTV and Discovery and Nat. Geo. I’m slowly eliminating news and talk shows and just scanning what’s on the computer for a “quickie”. I use TV then as “background” when I’m quilting and thanks to t-vo I do it when I want to, not letting when its on dictate my activity. I’m far more “addicted” to the computer than the tv as a whole.
Totally unimportant except when some major event takes place. The last time I kept going back to it was on November 26, 2009.
Ramana – Where have I been? November 26, 2009! 🙄 I know I am losing my marbles… but not that fast, I hope!
I only have free-to-air. In the last year I’ve probably watched something – can’t remember what it was. Have watched DVD’s of TV series – one on cooking and one of Jeeves and Wooster (you owe it to yourself to watch the Jeeves and Wooster, sublime farce).
TV is becoming less and less important to me.
We watch the evening news most evenings and have 3 shows that we’ll be watching when the new seasons begin this fall. Our satellite receiver is more often tuned to a music station — no video, just music — than anything else. We don’t rent movies at all any more.
I’m a bit slow answering comments because we just got back from a trip. It’s good to be home!
Cathy,
We get only the free channels, too. And since they switched to digital we don’t even get all of them all of the time. I know what you mean about beds being convenient when you need to spread your papers and books.
Grannymar,
I listened to BBC radio a lot when I lived in France, and there were good programs on over here when we got back years ago. Now I check every once in a while but can’t find any good programs or even music. So when I exercise I put on a DVD and usually play Sudoku at the same time.
Jody,
I would prefer to read instead of playing DVDs, but I’ve had chronic eyestrain most of my life and have to carefully pace myself on reading. I’m glad you’ve been more lucky. 🙂
When I was younger I also used TV when I had just moved to a place and was lonely. Some programs do have heartwarming characters. I’ve also gone for years without turning it on.
Diane,
I think the main thing is to not be too reliant on TV for stimulation. You clearly are not. 🙂
suzen,
Like you I don’t want other people dictating when I watch something. And the advantage of watching DVDs is you avoid all the commercials. How can you get immersed in a program when they keep interrupting?
Rummuser,
You bring up a good point. We watched it a lot during 9/11 and also in May 2000 when our town was evacuated because of a forest fire. The TV crews were filming not too far from our apartment, so we could see that ours wasn’t one of the buildings that burned down. Yes, TV did get our attention then. 😉
Evan,
I’ve tried Jeeves and Wooster but unfortunately it didn’t resonate with me at the time. That doesn’t mean it never will.
The program that really touched me was Foyle’s War. I had just watched the great documentary series The World at War so it was interesting to see the social conditions in England during World War II. The author did extensive research to make the background accurate. It’s a mystery series, but the mysteries weren’t what I cared about…I was hooked on the characters and the feel for what that period was like for ordinary people.
Mike,
What are the 3 programs? Do you miss them during the summer?
CSI Las Vegas, Medium (which is moving from NBC to CBS, I think), and Dexter (on Showtime — which means that we’ll resubscribe to the movie channels for at least a few months).
Karen watches reruns of older shows. Right now she’s watching ER, which she records in the morning to watch whenever she wants to. She watches one soap that she’s been watching semi-regularly since it first came on in the 70s — The Young and the Restless.
No, I don’t miss the shows during the off-season and, sometimes when they are on, I don’t watch because I’m doing something else.
TV is for news, except that I get all my news online now. Sadly, even though the TV has more news, we still don’t get any depth or much variety. Just more ranting. Like you, I am thankful the internet is available to check many reports in more depth.
As for Walter Cronkite, I usually associate him with the development of America’s mono-viewpoint MSM and the sad truth of the statement, “American journalism is to news what bumper stickers are to philosophy”.
Mike,
Thanks for the details. 🙂
Looney,
I love the quote. 😉
As I mentioned, I don’t watch much TV. I do briefly watch Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News most evenings…taped, of course, so I can watch it when I use my treadmill. The thing I like about that program is the last segment is almost always devoted to people who make a difference in other people’s lives. No ranting there. They also have a website so they can go into more depth than they can in a live broadcast. It’s a nice model and I applaud them for it.
Still, I love the internet.
I absolutely love net for the reasons you mention but am quite addicted to TV as well. I usually avoid switching it on since then I can keep watching it for hours. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind if we didn’t have tv @ home. I can easily use that time in other places.
Avani,
TV can be seductive and feel like a waste of time, can’t it? Mostly I don’t mind spending time on the net because it’s interactive and I’m learning something. But with TV I almost never let myself sit down and watch it even if it’s educational. It just feels too passive.
TV is important for me to get the news, so I usually watch television when the session of news. For me this is not the problem of the existence of TV as electronic devices, because TV also needed by family. For me this is more to the how important a channel for me. Therefore, I likes watching Discovery, National Geographic, BBC Knowledge, Animal Planet, and news. For me, this channel is important.
tikno,
We don’t subscribe to cable, so I have to wait for programs like that to come out on DVDs. If we ever do get cable those are the kinds of programs we would watch.
I use the TV for sports and the Food Network– I’m trying to learn to cook, But it is not going to good. I start and then tell my wife to finish. I get my news elsewhere.
Maynard,
Good for you for learning something new!
My daughter started cooking when she was about 7 years old. She cooked hot dogs and frozen corn every Sunday evening for years. They were her favorite foods and she felt so grownup doing it. We were willing to eat it so she could learn. Then when she was about 12 I got sequestered for jury duty for 5 days and she cooked more complicated evening meals. She said the meals were horrible…who would have guessed cooking noodles was so complicated..they turned into mush. But my husband shopped with her and encouraged her to keep trying. She still remembers how sweet he was.
Thanks for bringing back some heartwarming memories. 🙂
We eat very simple but healthy meals now, and they’re very easy to cook.
Maynard
I don’t know how useful this will be:
http://youcanlearnhowtocookeverything.blogspot.com/2007/11/cooking-basics-for-beginners.html
Talks you through a basics and then I notice down the right side menu – categories
One of things you should really think about if you are learning to cook….is do the things you like! There is not point learning to make a gateaux if all you want is a raisin bun.
http://www.cookingdude.com/
this might be more your style….
I’ve bookmarked both….cause one of them had something that I ‘need’ to know 🙂
Cathy,
What great links! Isn’t the internet wonderful? Thank you. 🙂
Jean, it is indeed! Whatever, did we do before it….ok libraries have books and things but if it’s the middle of night or after closing time on Sunday….:-)
I know how useful the Uni library databases are….I can look at journals that they are subscribed to, download a pdf and even print off stuff if I need it!….in the middle of the night 🙂
Google books is also another place to look at….some books completely online there!
Cathy,
It sounds as if your university is making good use of the new technology. I’m happy for you. Thanks for suggesting Google books. I’ve heard of it but until now never tried it.
Cathy in NZ, thank you for the info. I will try to step up my efforts. Maybe just ask my wife to turn the stove on.
Nobody is going to get clear down to reading this with 24 comments. I LOVE Gilmore Girls that our Jean & a friend recommended. It was hard to find for recording, since it’s old.
I lift weights (or rest) while watching TV.
bikehikebabe,
I’m reading it. Thanks for your input. 🙂