I decided not to get a TV for a couple of reasons. First was that I didn't feel as if I could afford the TV itself, nor the cost of cable. I'd been recently divorced and had limited financial resources. The other reason, that seems trivial but was actually quite important, was that the only place to locate a TV in my new apartment would be directly in front of the only window in the living room. This was in New Mexico, with that very strong Northern New Mexico light, which would have meant keeping the blinds drawn on that window any time I might want to watch TV. Which would have been blocking out part of that window anyway.
The financial reasons really were more important, but I thought of this as an experiment. Something temporary. Even though I'd been without TV four or so previous times in my life, I didn't see this as permanent. In the past I'd always gone back to TV, so no doubt I would at some point this time. Well, to be honest, the earlier longest no TV period, some six or so years, had only ended when I moved in with the man I eventually married (and the divorce from whom led me to this latest no TV experiment) who had a TV and an early version of cable.
I don't want to be totally trashing TV. There are lots of good things to watch, even if you and I differ about what's good.
But here's the essential point. If you have regular TV, whether by cable, satellite, or one of the marvelous antennas or boxes so readily available now, you are locked into their system. You watch when they broadcast. So okay, you might have some recording system, but trust me, you are still locked into their schedule.
I'm not totally cut off from what's out there. I watch on the internet. I have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon, and I'm sure I'm missing several other excellent sources of shows. PBS is pretty good about putting shows up on their website. And in truth, there are very many excellent shows out there, too many to keep up with no matter how you watch.
But here's the main thing I want to point out. No commercials. None. Zip. Nada. When first relocated, in 2008, I was somewhat astonished at the lack of commercials, especially political ones, given it was an major election year. And I'd been watching normal TV (cable) for a number of years at that point. Wow. How nice. I get to make decisions about who I'll vote for based on what I think of the candidates, not ads telling me that someone I might otherwise vote for has been torturing hamsters since 7th grade.
Another interesting point. For a long time, whenever I was in a hotel room (and I'm in one at least three times a year, often more) I'd turn on the TV and see what was on. I found I was made crazy by the advertising. So much so, that at least a year ago the TV in my room became invisible. I simply didn't turn it on.
As for breaking news, no problem. Whenever I see something like that, such as the recent shootings at the Fort Lauderdale airport, I simply Google TV stations in that city. Usually at least one is live streaming their coverage, which is often much better than what I'd get on CNN or any of the other networks. The point is, I don't miss any real news. And I'm not sucked into things like wall to wall coverage of a relatively trivial event.
Oh. And I read books. What a novel concept.
So my advice to anyone who cares: cut the cord. Get rid of cable or the satellite or whatever. DO NOT think of it as permanent. Think of it as an experiment (as I did). If you're happy without, great. Continue that. If you are miserable without, go back, and no apologies to anyone.
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