So my mindset is changing to more of a Tyler Durden-esque philosophy on the crap surrounding me. My wife is on board too. We are about to cut back on all the crap we have been spending money on. We hardly ever go out to eat anymore (which is less of a big deal since we are both vegetarians and there is not that much out there that is better than we can make at home). We only go out to movies if someone buys us a gift card to a theater. The next step I am thinking about taking is ditching cable TV. I have UVerse and it is a pretty good service (I have ZERO complaints about the internet part) but the TV portion is expensive, $104 a month for 400 channels, including all the movie channels. I am thinking of getting a set top antennae to pick up the local stations along with a converter box since I have an old 50" Mitsubishi TV. Which brings me to the point of this thread: Have you ditched cable in exchange for watching TV via the internet? If so, what method did you take?
why don't you just go live in a cave, osama? jk. I have cable and probably turn on my tv once a month. I just download my favorite shows online and watch them on my computer. I'm sure you can watch all cable for free from channelsurfing.net
I've had this same idea/conversation with several people recently. With the proliferation of content available online, it's becoming a distinct possibility to me. ESPN360.com is what has made be seriously think about cutting cable TV out of my life. Pretty much the only thing that really makes me want to keep cable is the NBA Playoffs. If they started making playoff games a part of the online league pass, I'd probably drop cable in a heartbeat. Damn near every SEC and ACC basketball and football game is available on ESPN360.com or CBS. As a fan of an SEC school, the SEC/ESPN marriage has been pretty amazing. There hasn't been a single in-conference game I haven't been able to watch on TV or ESPN360.com.
i would do it in a heartbeat if it weren't for live sports. shows you're interested in can be downloaded in HD from iTunes and elsewhere. i never watch movies on cable. but sports needs HD, and streaming HD still sucks a bit.
Also, on the same subject... How long until the cable companies start seriously attempting to do something about the availability of free content online. If a large amount of people start opting to cancel their cable TV service in favor of watching things online, I have to think there will be some attempt to recoup money from the lost TV subscriptions. Like a lobby from the cable industry to start subsidizing them with a federal tax on internet service or something.
You'll miss sports. We ditched cable 14 years ago.....and didn't miss it one bit (other then sports). Cutting down on tube time isn't the worst thing you can do with your day. If you have access to the good stuff through DVD, streaming or net downloads you should be fine. Oddly, we just resubscribed for the Olympics and World Cup this summer. I'm hoping we drop it in July.
I wholehardedly recommend ditching cable... 400+ channels and so much crap. Not that local TV is worth watching either. Just about anything you want to watch can be seen online now anyway. It may not be live in the case of some TV series. Unless it's a sporting event or news - how often is that really a big deal though? Things that occupy me outside work now that I almost never watch TV - Rockets season tickets, cooking at home, playing guitar, reading, spending time with living, breathing people in the outside air... it's a good thing. You won't miss it.
I tried to order NBALP from Grande (San Marcos) like I have every year previous, and the girl on the phone told me that I couldn't order it, that they didn't offer it (or any professional sports package). She said that they never carried it, that I was obviously mistaken, and that everything possible in the world of cable would be visible on her computer screen so that I must be the problem. I got so mad I said a few choice things and told her to deactivate my account, took my box in and filed a complain the next day. They compensated me for my online NBALP (because of my customer loyalty, refused to do anything abuot the girl's attitude), and honestly I have never been happier. I spend 1/3 of the time in my apartment and all my CNN/ESPN/TV ambiance has been replaced by more time for music. Tyler Durden is a bit much, but it is worth the weight of the cliche to strip the distractions out of your life, and television was the perfect place for me to start. I still watch practically every show I would get excited for by downloading it. I truly have lost nothing, and gained two hours of flexibility a day.
Comcast has sent out feelers in the form of usage caps. If they are squeezed hard by cable subscription drops, they will drop the caps to an unreasonable level and make the money back in overage fees. Still, the writing is on the wall.
I use my dvr and need my directv to watch rockets games, so sadly this is not an option for me... I would totally do it if those two things could be accommodated on my big screen instead of my computer.
I pretty much have cable to watch the Rockets on league pass and the occasional cooking show (Food Network or Top Chef on Bravo). Our contract with DirecTV runs out this summer, and we're going sans cable at that point. I figure I can buy the 6 team league pass for $70, which beats the hell out of paying $70 a month on top of the full NBA League Pass costs. I can stream movies through my PS3, and buy episodes from iTunes if there's something I really want to watch right away. Even factoring in a low-end Netflix account, that's less than $25 a month. Kind of ironic now that I have a new TV that we're ditching cable. Somewhere down the line, I'm looking forward to buying cable channels ala carte. It's going to take a long time for that to happen, but eventually enough people will opt out of their cable packages that channels will have to start looking at other alternatives.
I would do it in a heartbeat if I could live without all the glorious sports in HD. When NFL season rolls around, I am pretty sure Scott Hanson could charge me 500 dolllars to watch NFL Redzone each week and I would sell my soul to Roger Goodell to pay for it. Most of the TV shows and movies I can get online no problem.
You can buy the league pass (either full league for full price or pick 6 teams for $70). That you can watch whenever you want through an internet connection. If you have the equipment, you can stream that to your TV. I swear I use my PS3 far more video than for gaming.
Forgive me for knowing nothing about online league pass...this isn't in HD, right? And it's not possible to watch games on demand, is it (essentially replacing the need for DVR)? The day these things happen will be the day I seriously consider doing this. $60-$70 a month for cable is crazy.
On demand? My understand is yes. You can watch the games later on. HD? I'm not so sure. It's one of things I need to check out before this season ends. Anyone else with league pass online care to illuminate?
Actually I am thinking pretty seriously now about ditching cable once basketball season ends. No sports in the summer I care about.
