May 22 2008
Why You Don’t Need Television Anymore
A few months ago, I got rid of my television. I realized that I had no longer a need for it, without being completely shut out of the entertainment and informational value it provides, while gaining some very important benefits at the same time. I would like to explain to you how I got to this decision, because I believe that this information can really make a difference in your life.
Other formats to watch your shows
One of the reasons that made me decide to get rid of my TV is the fact that there are now multiple ways to watch shows that are much more convenient than TV. You can watch shows online, most networks now stream their shows on the web. You can rent/buy the dvd, as now most shows are out on that format. There is also YouTube, where you have a loyal fan base of that site that will pretty much upload anything and everything under the sun to it. Bottom line, you can watch your shows elsewhere than TV.
TV takes too much of your time
Here are the main reasons why television is such a time killer, and it has very little to do with how many hours you actually watch it. First, when watching TV, you are stuck with commercials every few minutes. One hour of TV is actually 40 minutes of your show + 20 minutes of commercials. Regardless of how much TV you watch, you are losing 33% of your time to commercials. That’s HUGE! As well, TV forces you to watch at a particular time. Therefore, you end up canceling other more meaningful activities to be in front of the TV at a set time. This is a big reason why people do not have enough time in their day. They are at the mercy of the TV schedule, when it should be the other way around.
Costs too much money
Once, I had called my cable company and tried to downgrade my $50+ per month package to a lower priced one. It was nearly impossible. You need to have a certain minimum in channels, and here in Canada, it’s even more ridiculous as you are forced by the government to have an equal amount of Canadian channels in comparison to international ones. For example, if I want just 4 channels, like CNN, NBC, FOX, and CBS, I am forced to pick 4 Canadian channels to even it out. So I am forced to pay for 8 channels, even if I want just 4! As Thomas mentioned in his post 6 Simple Tricks On How To Save Money, television is just so expensive nowadays, that if you want to put more money in your pockets, get rid of it and watch your shows off the web. $50 a month adds up to over $600 a year. Everyone can use that extra money for better use, especially with the crazy gas prices we are experiencing.
I do not miss having a television or cable. I’m up to date on the news by reading about it online. I watch my favorite shows on dvd’s or off the web. I am not obligated to watch what I want to watch at a particular time, therefore I can make my own schedule which gives me more control in my life and my time management. I save between $600-1000 a year on TV expenses (without counting having to buy a new TV set every few years which runs in the thousands of $$). Instead of sitting on the couch in the evening, I do other more productive things like reading, biking, and working on other projects. If you ever wanted to get out of the stronghold that TV has over your life, give it a try! It’s very liberating and trust me, you will feel so much better afterwards.
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You ever hear of Tivo? You can record your shows and watch them when its convenient and skip through the commercials.
Hi Joey,
yes, but here in Canada, Tivo is not too well known. We have DVR and personal digital video recorders….it’s the same principle pretty much. I have used those and they are very useful to save time and skip commercials. The point of this particular article was that you don’t really need a television when you look at other options available. I would have mentioned tivo, but you need a TV to use it and it didn’t go with the article
thanks
Frederic
I essentially agree with you except I want my TV. It’s 1080p and ‘puter monitors don’t match that. I got rid of my satellite TV service a couple years ago because I was spending $80 a month and only watching a half-hour of Jeopardy! a day. Love movies, but the premium channels show the same crap over and over. Networks are junk: reality, (lack of) talent, make-over shows. I buy DVDs (blu-ray preferred) and can watch whatever I want when I want. Even buy TV shows that I do like.
Bottom line: Paying for reception via cable or satellite is a waste of money. I’ll take my DVDs any time and I have over 750 titles to choose from, so never get bored with titles.
Hi Gregg,
If you have a great TV like yours, which can last for years and years, then it is much better than watching a computer screen, and its cost can be “amortized” over the years and its not too expensive! Cable & satellite services are crazy expensive and while they claim 500+ channels, you never have something interesting to watch…always the same stuff over and over. I like your idea of DVD collections….I’ve been catching up on shows like Lost, Prison Break via DVD’s, and I must say, it’s much more fun to watch them without commercials and without waiting a week to see the next one!
Thanks for the comment!
Frederic
[…] colleague Frederic Premji wrote a very interesting article about Why You Don’t Need Television Anymore. Not only it’s a complete waste of time but it’s also unproductive. Not to mention it costs a […]