I "lost" my connection when I moved to SF and decided not to hook up my huge TV. It turns out that when you are exploring your life you don't need TV. If you are wasting your life TV comes in handy. That was back in 1998 that I stopped watching. Once you've been away from it for awhile, you notice how inane it is most of the time. It also helps to have some sense of what is intellectually valuable and what is just clap-trap, reheated, no nothing junk.

Recently, my folks were gone from their place to Ashland or someplace and I house sat. I didn't watch a single second of TV. Why? Because I was on tribe! Hmm...

I got rid of my connection shortly after 9/11 and the advent of reality TV. Suddenly nothing I saw on network TV matched my definition of entertainment or news, and that combined with ever rising cable bills was just obscene to me. I was actually PAYING for this drivel. I was contributing to the mass dumbing down of our country.

I had to get out. I invested the extra money in a better internet connection, so at least now my vice is interactive and unregulated. And I read a LOT more, and spend more time "playing" than I used to.

I only miss it occassionally, like when Jon Stewart hosted the elections... or the superbowl... or the opening ceremony for the Olympics... but if it's important enough, I can always watch at a friend's house.

I timed how long commercial breaks were and counted how many breaks there were during a typical given hour of teevee. It disgusted me and I began to believe TV commercial breaks were much more insidious than before. I noted that late night TV (which was when I used it most) was much worse in this regard. I got tired of waiting for what I wanted to watch, once the appointed hour had arrived.

--
The principle of using the on/off switch on the TV seemed simple enough; gradually this began to apply to anything that had a power switch, be it the computer, the AM/FM table radio, the CD/cassette player .. anything like that.

The principle of maintaining the battery pack of portable things seemed relevant as well; how many gadgets lure me into maintaining their battery packs simply to keep the database stored in them intact? Mostly radios and PDA's; radios have presets and PDA's have detailed databases. It starts to emerge that these are not designed for our easy use of them; they are designed instead for .. ease of design and manufacture and shipping (same is true of knock-down furniture).

It is another classic example of the 'follow the money' idea .. figure out who made this thing, and why -- and how it got to be in my keep. And what interests it was funding. And what interests it was damaging.

--
Computers and radios are favorite vices; the battle begins anew with sorting out the same questions in the context of computer hardware and software upgrades; adoption of new deployments of databases such as Tribe or Google, and new technologies used to access them. Again, ask where the information is coming from; who it is targeting, and why. Is this device used to create information, or to consume it? What kind of information? Who are the creators if it isn't me? Why do I want to hear from them; see what they've done, or think about what they're telling me and showing me?

Is my habit serving me well? Has it gotten stale? Am I looking for a repeat experience, or something new? Is it a ritual, or is it something more spontaneous and growth-oriented? Does it create, preserve or destroy what I'm after?

---
Seems to me Google did not meet my expectation. Why didn't I abandon its use? I keep going back to the trough, expecting to be fed something good, this time. But I keep getting the same old, or worse, feed. How can I generalize and take away from this, the real rules behind its use and promulgation? Doesn't that extend as well towards all the visually-oriented parts of the modern computer experience as well? What exceptions are there? Am I maximizing towards the exceptions, and filtering out the rules?

--
Lately I've been checking on Mt St Helens every day; initially I went to the verbal updates, then the webcam, and finally, the seismology. Now I check the seismology first; it's the most telling. Then I read the reports. Finally, I
check the webcam, if I still have time. I've developed a similar strategy for checking the weather (see www.river.org/~chris/wx ).


I've been avoiding Go lately, which is a game played with stones on a board. It is very challenging and requires constant study and thought, to improve. I've avoided working on a dozen projects that all require study and thought and are challenging. Instead, I'll login here, or in silc (like IRC) or someplace else where I would type things into the computers out on the Internet. I very often will look up something on Google, that someone has mentioned in a f2f conversation, to gain more information about it (often trivial; sometimes not -- I have enough projects I've worked on now, that I can sometimes look them again for the information, instead of going online to seek it).

SOMETIMES it makes me sad to look old projects (often rendered in HTML; not many in PDF; many in plain ASCII text and a few rendered in electronics hardware or in crafts materials, stuph from the local hardware store etc.) and think about all the time in between when I vegged and just consumed or just typed without research or a real direction to it. Other times I'm happy to revisit these projects. One thing I've noticed is that in some areas, instead of developing one thing well, I've developed many things not so well. I remember thinking when I got my first fish tank that if I was going to do this, I needed to give something else up -- some other habit or activity that would compete for my time or ability to buy or maintain the equipment or resources it would take to do it the way I wanted to do it.

Lately I've noticed I've completed many half-started things or at least fleshed them out a bit more fully; I now have three bicycles (not one) and two complete fish tanks (where I thought one was almost too much). Some things are hard to reset, put away or give away (never mind sell) and time passes and I'm stuck with them, where I only wanted a day or an hour or a month with them, and then: begone.

LIKE AHAB, I fight against a computer and a netlag that conspire to keep me from finishing this post, and it has only gotten longer in the bargain. The computer .. it tasks me! Earlier in the day a similar *long post* escaped .. Tribe swallowed it up. Shipmates, Tribe swallowed the post, like the whale swallowed Jonah, and did not expel it upon the dry land.

(talk about 'somebody stop me')

I decided to quite in mid 90-ies. It was in Serbia during Milosevic regime. I was horrified to see how effective even the most vulgar and obvious propaganda can be when emitted through TV.

I can't even imagine what TV can do with more money and more professionalism.

TV just kept me from doing other things. I still spend a lot of time in front of the computer. I think it's less dangerous because Internet is more interactive and requires more conscious action from the viewer.

I was a TV addict as a child. I watched ALL the shows: Hart to Hart, Knight Rider, Bewitched, MASH, McGyver, StarTrek, Brady Bunch Partrige Family, The Monkeys, Zoom, Villa Allegre, ... you name it, I watched it.

Now, I have killed my TV. My kids don't complain to me. And when they go to their dad's they'd still rather play than watch the tube. I know they miss it at times, so we watch movies together occassionally. Still, I don't regret it.

My only backsliding is in the form of West Wing, which my ex records for me.

Definietly I feel like I have a better quality of life without it. I'd much rather play Cadoo with my kids than watch TV with them.

rj

cold turkey.

Cold turkey. it is so easy.

this is an easy drug to beat.

you don't need the equivalent of methadone or 12 step or AA.

just get rid of the TV

throw it out.

sell it.

pawn it.

break it.

you will be amazed at how quickly you will find other things to do.

You know, one Christmas a few years ago, everyone was off doing their thing, kids in one room watching videos, othersplaying computer games in another room, etc. Then there was an ice storm and we lost all electricity. No TV, videos, DVD, stereo, computer games, nothing.

As soon as we had lite candles and lanterns and got a butane heater going, we started trying to think how to pass the time. We played some games, then my mom sat at the piano and I played my guitar. Neither of us are very good musicians, but we had fun making music together. The family all came together, telling stories and jokes and playing games like pictionary and trival pursuit and hearts and keeping each other entertained. It was great. We never ran out of things to do.

You don't need an ice storm.

Just throw out the TV.

for what it's worth, i watched a lot of TV before i got into computers at age 13. i think the motivation had something to do with pr0n. once the habit is broken it's not hard to stay away from television.

I moved into a new apartment and the landlady handed me information to help me get my utilities turned on: natural gas, electricity, water, and cable (I’m in the Burbank hills and there is no TV reception here).

It bothered me that TV was considered as important as gas, electricity, water, however I persevered. When I called to see how much it would cost, the cable bill (with all of the premium channels I wanted) would cost more than my natural gas, electricity, and water COMBINED! This just didn’t seem right to me and I refused to participate.

I decided that I would stop watching TV, so I never hooked up cable (or satellite). For the first three weeks I went through withdrawal. When I got home from work, I would automatically try to turn on the TV. This was embarrassing to me! I weaned myself off by watching rented DVDs for a few weeks.

It’s been over three years now. Those $70 a month I’ve been saving on cable has now has grown to over $2,500 in the bank. I now call friends on the phone, write letters, browse the web, read books, meditate, and contribute time to charities.

I would say ditching the tube has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

I started learning to play the guitar while watching the TV. After a while when my playing got better the TV began to get distracting so I stopped watching it altogether. I haven't watched a TV program in over 5 years! I do watch the ceiling a lot though, LOL! I also killed my alarm clock!! That takes practice but it is totally worth it!!!

I hate prons!! I don't eat seefood!!

When I was a kid, you couldn't get me away from the tv.

When I was a teen, watching tv meant hanging out with my parents, so I stayed in my room, listened to music, talked on the phone, played guitar, drew, and whatever else instead... At that time I learned to be okay without tv.

Flash forward... tv has come in and out since then... a few years ago I broke off a relationship and moved out by myself... tv came in handy dealing with being on my own again -- sometimes I just needed to zone out and have background noise -- but I made do with only the stations I could get on my tube without any cable... mostly Simpsons and That 70's Show, but it's amazing how much crap you can still watch with just 5 or 6 channels... if you're determined enough to tune out, nothing can stop you... Still, for the most part, I was off the tube...

THEN my brother-in-law got deployed to Iraq and I moved in with my sister to keep her company for the year he'd be gone... They have a HUGE screen tv, and it was on nearly 24-7 -- literally. I'd come home in the middle of the night, and she'd be asleep on the couch with the tv still on, with the sound down... come out in the morning and she'd be up and watching it, and it'd be on all day...wash, rinse, repeat. I was gone a lot, but still -- hard to avoid a screen that size everytime you enter a small apartment... and they've got the whole set-up. DirectTV, Tivo... the whole shebang. I got sucked in when I was around...

In March my brother came home (YAY!!! THANK YOU SPIRIT!!!) and I moved out again in May... decided that was it. (The whole year with that tv felt kind of like that thing where the parent makes the kid smoke a whole pack of cigarettes to make them not smoke anymore... and it worked!)

Now I only use my set for DVD's and tapes, and only on occasion. I've transferred a bit of the formerly wasted time to tribe (okay, maybe more than a bit), I write, paint, play guitar, hang out with friends, meditate, play, go for walks, LIVE!

Friends tease me a bit when they're talking about their shows -- like I'm so "out of it", but I can see it behind their eyes -- they really wish they could do it too, but they just can't yet... sad.

And I agree! I DON'T MISS IT AT ALL!!!


Some tidbits that helped me get conscious about the reality of tv:
-- someone noted once that sugar and television are the two biggest drugs in the country; television offers a mind-altering, condensed life experience... have you ever WATCHED a group of people watching tv? SCARY!
-- tv allows us to have experiences we might not (for many people, *probably* would not ) otherwise be having... I get to come home to a group of people that I LIKE hanging out with, watching them DO things that I'd like to be doing, or having experiences I'd like to be having... instead of being out doing them and experiencing them myself... I believe I deserve (and would rather) be out doing it!
-- ew! someone pointed this out to me -- what effect do you think the pattern of viewing has on us as viewers? pick a chunk of time and look at what's in it... news about tragedy and death backed up against commercials about mustangs and brownies, cut to sit-com sliced up with commercials about movies about the end of the world, backed up against more smiling faces eating at Chili's, cut back to more news about death and devastation... you flip flop that much in an hour or two (let alone longer spans) and you're bound to get your boundaries between tragedy and comedy, desire and repulsion, all mushed up and confused...

oh, so many reasons not to watch....

Sex. Drugs. Rock & Roll. Books. Howl at the moon.

We cancelled cable in 1997. There were plenty of reasons to do it. It has been so long now that when I see something on a television it seems really crazy. The tempo, the noise, the editing, the content...seems insane (and not in that creatively entertaining way).

Sure, I love music and cartoons/animation...(speaking of insanity)

...but there are so many commercials, redundant news stories, rediculous sitcoms, product placement, insidious, manipulative, bits of garbage floating around it is just not worth watching.

The positive side of turning it off has been reading, studying music, spending time taking photographs, travel, and spending time with the people I like best.

If you argue the merits of television, maybe it is time you asked why you are defending it in the first place.

Sometime before we cancelled cable Nickelodeon ran a PSA about "Actual Reality". (paraphrasing here) "Feel the basketball in your hands...because it's real! Actual reality!"