TV Vs No Tv

I think im addicted too.

Last night I had the whole evening planned from 6pm-10.30pm.

haha i watched some baseball yesterday for about 20 minutes and that was the most i have watched in a long time

Hey all.

I've been living without a tv since mine broke. That was about 4 months ago. I didn't want to spend my money on another one, so i decided to just try going without. It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had an advantage though, because I have never bought cable or satellite. I've always just had 'farmer vision' of six channels and a vcr/dvd player. Maybe I'm just cheap, but it has worked for me!

I have always found it hard to focus on tv for very long. I start getting bored and fidgety. Does this happen to anyone else? The same thing happens when I sit at the computer for a while. It's the same kind of feeling I get at carnivals. Pretty soon I get overstimulated or something.

The biggest problem I've had without tv has to do with my family and friends. Many are active viewers, and when I go to spend time with them the tv will be on. Or they'll talk about tv. Or they'll want to rent a movie. I like watching sometimes too, but other times i'll find it annoying. It has created a change in how i want to spend my time.

My boyfriend is in the habit of falling asleep to tv. That drives me nuts! He says it's comforting, but I toss and turn if it's on. Overall, I tend to get anxious now if i'm around tv too much.

I love to watch TV.

I wish I had more time to do it.

I find it very relaxing.

haha...still that's a ton! And if you have netflix, you don't need to watch much tv either!

Hahahaha! Reminds me of the simpsons! "TV is my friend"

Ditto; TV's an energy and time hog.

I'll have no teevee, thank you.

I think that it is great that you can live without it because I wish that I could -- I never actually watch it. I just have it on for background noise -- doesnt make my place seem so lonely. Everyone morning I watch the news which i do watch and when I get home I just have it to fill the silence.

I wish I could just cut it off so I would read more -- nothing better than reading a good book

I live for TV-- watching old reruns is my life. I guess that's kind of sad-- I can't even imagine my life without television. As i've gotten older, I definitely watch less TV than I ever have, but I still watch a fair amount. Oy-- maybe I actually should try going without-- might be a healthy change.

Me 2

I've got three working tv's in the house. A 5" screen, a 13" screen, and the BIG SCREEN - 20". The big one is the only one plugged in. I've got satellite - and sometimes don't watch for months at a time. Over the year, it probably averages to 4 or 5 hours a month.

Gotta have my radios though. They're all tuned to the CBC news channel. I love to listen to news and documentaries. I'm more than a bit hooked on news.

For me radio is for in the truck. There's very little on except NPR to my liking

You know, come to think of it, I can't remember anyone who stopped watching TV say the experience is/was bad.

I have a problem with sound altogether. If I hear a song I like on the radio while driving, I'll listen to it, and maybe the next 2 or 3. But after that, I need quiet.

When I was in my 20's, I'd go to concerts with my boyfriend. Big names, like Fleetwood Mac and Santana.
After a while I'd start counting very slowly in my head, thinking "by the time I reach 100, this song will be over" or "maybe by the time I get to 1000, this concert will be over"

You know how at a concert that you paid good money for people will stand up and a lot of them will start singing along?

Jesus Christ, what the hell is that all about? You just paid big bucks to see this performer, and now you sing along, standing there, you and a bunch of others drowning out the real singers voice.

Why not just stay home where you can listen on a DVD and hear what being sung.

I guess it's all the great atmosphere of driving somewhere for an hour, finding a place to park, schlepping about a mile to the concert hall (unless of course it's outside where you can sit outside in the 100 degree humidity) and rub elbows with facinating people.

I think I might like a short symphony type concert. At least there people stay in their seats and don't stand up screaming "whooooooooooo"

whew! Ask me how I really feel.

I'm going to go home and read a book now. I'm ready a history of Genghis Kahn.

He'd know what to do with those people who scream "whoooooooooooooo" by God.

(oh I like NPR when they're not playing music)

Sometimes i leave the TV on while I'm on my computer for 'ambient' noise. Must annoy a lot of you in this discussion like that. But when everything is quiet, it feels funny- not natural. I guess you got use to the everyday ambient noises- cars, tvs, computers, radios.

I listen to the voices in my head.

I turn the old set on out of annoying habit mostly and just about each day; however, I occasionally get myself involved in other things (phone/computer/book reading/out with friends/out and about alone etc.) and go without for a day...sometimes even two! I am clearly addicted to it since on days without my final thoughts include "gee, I didn't watch any television today" and then I get a big goofy grin as I become proud of myself.

There are times when I am on the computer or talking on the telephone and realize the set is on and I just shut it off. I should note though that I keep the volume off a great deal of the time, others enjoy the sound, for me it is just the light and I suppose the ability to see a breaking news story when it comes through. Not much into the sound factor and rarely listen to the radio or my absurdly oversized collection of C.D.s and the sound on my computer is muted.

All this said, I do not watch as much as most of the folks I know and 2 years ago when buying a new set I was amazed by the new gadget they had...remote control! I had the preceding set quite a few years. The new set also has something I really love...closed captioning. Since I do not like having the volume on most of the time, I just put the set on mute and it also appeals to my paranoid mind since I am convinced that my neighbors are being disturbed by the sound.

I use raido for "ambient noise." However, there are days when i get up and go about my business without turning the radio on, and when i get home, i sometimes realize that i've been there for hours with no other sounds but the click of the keyboard if i'm online, or the sound effects of a video game. If i'm reading, i can go hours in a completely silent room. I guess it's what you're used to. Although i was born in New York, i was raised in the country, and don't like cities. At a very young age, i formed the habit of going off alone to enjoy the solitude. Silence at home seems equivalent to the mostly quiet solitude of a wood or field.

I suppose out of pure habit, I'm a TV addict in that I have the set on most of my waking hours (and sometimes when I'm napping), but I don't always just sit and watch it. Over the years when I lived alone, it was a quasi-reliable "companion" but it sure became easy to get sucked into a semi-hypnotic trance mode watching the images flicker across the screen. Conceptually, I agree with those who've praised the virtues and accomplishments of little or no TV. I'm just not sure I'm advanced enough (yet?) to get that stage in my life.

Well, we have a 20 inch TV in the livingroom which gets used only about 1 hour a day. There just hasn't been anything decent on to watch. Then, it's usually recorded stuff on our fancy, smancy DVD unit. Good investment. Flip past commercials. No tape to wear out. We like to watch English shows mainly.

I don't listen to music much. Occasionally, I'll listen to it on the radio, but never CDs. Only my wife uses the CD player. Then the stuff I listen to on radio is jazz or '60s rock. Not a fan of newer music. Like Beth, I listen to a lot of news. Also, talk shows.

These days I spend more of my leisure time on the internet, with most of that spent right here. Read a lot of news, too.