Posted on 07/27/2013 1:34:53 PM PDT by ottbmare
We have never had cable TV, and it was the greatest relief to me when analog television broadcasting stopped so that my kids couldn't watch TV at our house. Nobody was going to study at all, much less do Algebra II and graduate from high school, if the temptation of stupid entertainment was available, so I always refused to pay for cable.
There were times I did miss television, though. When other Freepers would talk about news or sports events, when there was an election or an historic occasion, it would have been good to see for myself what they were enjoying. And there were, it seemed, movies and shows I would have liked to see.
Now both of my kids are grown and gone, and last week Verizon installed FiOS fiberoptic cable in my neighborhood. When they asked me if I wanted to sign up, I arranged for the lowest-priced package.
But 99% of what's available on the air appears to be about depraved people like the Kardashians, whoever they may be. Suddenly all those great movies have slipped my mind. May I have some recommendations from Freepers about what they find of value to watch?
My tastes run toward pretty sedate, cultural things, historical A&E productions or BBC things, but I do like movies like Master & Commander, Die Hard, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.
Thanks for your input. There's got to be more to this whole television thing than just Fox News and Glenn Beck, right?
Cable is 20th Century technology. Don’t bother. As others have said, streaming is the way to go these days. You get the content that you want on YOUR schedule.
Ditto everything TomGuy said, plus: spend a one-time $50 charge on the Roku private channel called PlayOn http://www.playon.tv/
Along with the standard channels that PlayOn comes with, you can also add several private channels/scripts (most are free) and you will have all the programming you will ever need. http://www.playonscripts.com/
Here are the private channels I use most:
1channel (free) tv shows and movies
ProjectFreeTV (free) tv shows and movies
Superusvox (one-time $5) live cable tv
Vipbox (free) live sports
Playon only works in standard definition. You need a Roku player (or other streaming device) to send it to your tv and you need a newer computer and medium-speed internet. I have had it over a year, it’s the best deal out there!
As far as I can determine, the Roku is basically a media-streaming device, which I can put together from a spare older computer without much difficulty, so is it more than that somehow?
The problem is that with cable-satellite services we pay monthly fees to channels we absolutely detest like MSNBC and CNN. I wonder where I can find the $$ we pay for what channels.
11 cents for Current and Bridges-TV are just travesties.
Somewhere you should try to get hold of as many of the three C-Span channels as you can - especially C-Span2, which carries interesting and informative interviews with authors and discussions of their writings every weekend and often during the week - in addition you will have access to primary source - that is, live real-time coverage - of many of the vital stories that otherwise you’ll see no or only highly censored coverage of on other channels. Lately, for instance, we’ve seen gavel-to-gavel coverage of the IRS scandal hearings, including this week’s attempt to destroy the IG by the ‘rats - always engrossing......
Now do any of you have suggestions about what kind of (little) TV to get? I don’t have any money but I anticipate getting a generous gift from my brother any day now, and I was going to buy a new TV with it. But the vast selection at Best Buy and other retailers is so confusing I just walked out of the store. Felt like a Russian immigrant in a US food store for the first time.
BTW - if you still have an analog antenna hooked up, and your TV is digital, you can pick up the digital broadcasts anyhow. I still have mine and use if for when satellite is out due to heavy storms and it picks up more channels now than before the change. Or...you can upgrade to a digital antenna and you might find less need for the cable type service.
Sharia imposes its requirements on others. I'm not FORCING anyone to eschew the sludge pump that is modern electronic entertainment. The poster asked for advice, so I gave mine.
If you find the crud that spews from the media today to be entertaining, fine. I find that it smells up my house and causes brain rot in individuals who pursue it regularly. But to each his own.
The big screen television is simply a bigger pipeline by which garbage merchants augur ever more vile filth into your life.
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