Should I get rid of cable/internet?

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I was talking with my roommate last night: I'm convinced that if I didn't have cable or internet in the house, I'd be (a) more productive (b) better read (c) in better shape (d) laid, all the time.

The well-connected apartment is like a blackhole!

And yet: cutting the cord means no ILx and, worse, no HBO and Comedy Central!

Then again, there's a cafe RIGHT next door with free wireless that I could go to anytime, right?

What should I do!

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 12 December 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)

cable i have done without for years. internet i need for work, so no dice. though, yes, it would be lovely.

― dabnis coleman's ghost (dubplatestyle), Monday, 12 December 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

change comes from within, friend.
the internet is not your problem. or cable tv.

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Monday, 12 December 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

you probably won't get laid all the time but yes, still

the internet, though pernicious in most respects, is v.useful

(for stealing & keeping in touch obv.)

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 12 December 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

Socken's obviously OTM, but also totally unwelcome. I need quick and easy answers, not wisdom!

The internet is def a lifeline to friends and family, but, again, free wireless nearby.

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:30 (twenty years ago)

At this point, I think I have a greater chance getting laid with the Internet than without it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:33 (twenty years ago)

Well, if I wasn't home all the time tippedy tapping away on the computer/watching Die Hard, I might be out, you know, MEETING people.

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

I read/tidy/go out more now that I don't have cable, so all of that is GOOD change, but I feel claustrophobic & cut-off & unhappy w/o internet (since my computer broke down). So it's a 1-1 split for me. And unless the cafe next door has really extensive hours, well...I find that when I REALLY want the Interweb is at, like, 11pm when I know my friends are on IM and I can't reach anyone for a chat.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

True. But Internet w/o cable is MORE expensive!

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:36 (twenty years ago)

Keep track of metrics for 1 month (books actually read, things actually produced, times actually laid). Drop cable/internet for 3 months, then evaluate whether the metrics improved.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:38 (twenty years ago)

XP: Not if the cable company controls access by disabling the cable box on top of your TV but does NOTHING about the physical cables entering your apartment...which are still connected to OH LOOK my router.

― Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

!!!

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 12 December 2005 23:45 (twenty years ago)

Dump it. I've haven't had net access at the place where I'm staying for awhile and have been on the whole enjoying it. (there's also a nearby cafe with free wireless) Jaq OTM w.r.t. keeping track of the metrics.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 00:36 (twenty years ago)

We don't have cable tv, can't live without the internet though for school purposes. I wasted so much time watching truely stupid shit on tv, I don't think I ever want to go back.

― Jeff-Beetle (Jeff), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

im without both for six months now 'swonderful 'smarvelous do it

― remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 01:21 (twenty years ago)

...this is what I'm thinking. Like, if I NEED internet I can get it. I really don't NEED cable. I do need "Lost," though. I need that pretty badly.

― giboyeux (skowly), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 01:59 (twenty years ago)

OTM re: "Lost", but you can get it off t'internet!

― melton mowbray (adr), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 02:14 (twenty years ago)

dump cable, there's nothing on it. i want to dump internet but i need it for school and i will for a few more years :(

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 02:14 (twenty years ago)

I liked it better when I lived in the woods.

http://static.flickr.com/6/10577333_733a21f053_o.jpg

― giboyeux (skowly), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 02:20 (twenty years ago)

Are you seriously asking junkies if you should quit shooting?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 03:55 (twenty years ago)

i used to have no cable and no internet, and instead of being more productive, i was just bored!!

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 04:07 (twenty years ago)

change comes from within, friend.
the internet is not your problem. or cable tv.

-- nein Socken (sometimes_...), December 12th, 2005.

Bullshit. If you make a decision to drop internet or cable that IS a change coming from within. It's a decision from within you.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 04:08 (twenty years ago)

I am with the 'cable? what cable?' crowd. As for the Internet, I have no idea what that is. I do read books, etc., though.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

I am happy that I dropped television (broadcast and cable, not DVDs though) a long time ago. It may in fact improve your life. Don't expect miracles, but you might notice slight changes over time. I doubt I could give up internet though.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 04:33 (twenty years ago)

I never watch TV anymore, just dvd sets. I dont even know whats on the news much anymore. I like it.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 04:47 (twenty years ago)

OK, I'm not going to have a telly in my new flat.

However, I've been contemplating getting broadband, especially one of these cheap monthly deals.

Is this like moving the crackpipe into my own house, will I never leave it again. (OK, I doubt I'm going to leave the house much for a while anyway, but still...)

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

i'd keep it, but im a junkie for both. plus i just bought an HDTV so i need to have it. My friggin cable/internet bill is $150 a month!

― slow jamz and white guy indie acoustic shit (Chris V), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 10:58 (twenty years ago)

get rid of it, get a laptop and steal internet off wifi instead

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:02 (twenty years ago)

How do you steal internet, anyway? My work laptop has a wireless connection, and keeps telling me that there are networks it could connect to, but how do I do it?

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:07 (twenty years ago)

i used to have no cable and no internet, and instead of being more productive, i was just bored!!

OTMFM

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:15 (twenty years ago)

yes, I worry about what to do to take up the gaping hole in my life that NO TV will cause.

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:16 (twenty years ago)

stealing internet: when your computer tells you there are networks you can connect to, click CONNECT and then VOILA! fun fun internet.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:18 (twenty years ago)

only works if those networks are unsecured though i.e. without a password

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:19 (twenty years ago)

So I can connect to any unsecured networks? There are two in my list right now. I should take the puter home and see if I've got any in my NEW HOUSE.

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:23 (twenty years ago)

Kate, you didn't realize this? Of course you should check if there's internet available at yr NEW HOUSE. :-) But keep in mind: it's illegal and people have been fined for stealing it. :-)

Bullshit. If you make a decision to drop internet or cable that IS a change coming from within. It's a decision from within you.

Exactly. Also, you're helping the change. If you can't really change the current situation, you have to change the external factors that make that change easier. Or whatever. That said, I wouldn't give up internet/cable: If you can't get laid, you can WANK to porn.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:25 (twenty years ago)

...but ...but that's what the Libertines/Captain Anderson/Have I Got New For You Boris Bonus discs are for!

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

all of which that you can download on the internet! yay!

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

do what I did and luck into an apartment w/a neighbor who has wireless your computer can steal

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:33 (twenty years ago)

i minimize hom internet use by relying on wifi'd neighbours -- minimize cos i usually have to move the 'puter to, lie, the windowsill to get a connection. works for me.

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

Instead of stealing it, I might do the neighbourly thing and see if anyone else in my building wants to get it. Then we could share the connection and split it. I think I'm going to be the first to move in, so it's probably up to me to organise it.

― Kate Classic (kate), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

building-wide wifi is a great idea. I'm seeing/hearing about more and more apartment buildings adopting it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

Hows that work bandwidth-wise tho? If you had 5 or 10 people on one 512k connection I'd imagine it'd be a tad sluggish...

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

i have several neighbors i leech wifi from!

― Penis, NV (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

not sure Trayce; my building isn't one that does. I just mean that I see more rental signs offering free wifi than I did a year ago. maybe they have it in a few places through the building and divvy up the costs among the tenants as part of the rent.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

just move to upper street! it is now part of the DIGITAL MILE or something - the road is literally PAVED WITH WIFI!

or, if you want, IT'S TRULY AN INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

except upper street isn't a superhighway, in both bandwidth of information and car traffic

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:53 (twenty years ago)

http://networks.silicon.com/mobile/0,39024665,39129637,00.htm

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 13 December 2005 11:54 (twenty years ago)

four weeks pass...

i like it well enough, there's some shows on hbo that i like and every once in a while there's other stuff i enjoy... but the only thing i truly care about on tv is Lost. problem is, i do a club night on wednesdays, and i always tivo Lost. i don't have and a vcr, and i don't really like them.

i have my girlfriend, my little sister and one other roommate living in my house. i don't think the roommate really cares about the satellite other than the fact that he watches soccer stuff from overseas. my sis and my girlfriend, on the other hand, watch tv nonstop... too their detriment. they watch vh1, style network and E! channel ALL THE GODDAMN TIME. neither of them pays for it...

should i give up this little convenience for myself to take it away from them? what kind of moral authority am i assuming? i think i might be doing something good for them, that they might lead more productive more active lives without it. but am i actually just a total prick?

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 20:41 (twenty years ago)

i know there's a few errors there. i'm at work. zzzzzzz.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 20:50 (twenty years ago)

they watch vh1, style network and E! channel ALL THE GODDAMN TIME.

WTF man. I watch E! from time to time but 1 it gives me a headache and 2 they always show the same damn shows!

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 20:53 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i think they broadcast within this incredible mindbending magical frequency range that is so full of mid-level noise that any sudden movement could cause your head to actually explode. slighter movements would probably yield only a week long bad mood, or subtle but menacing hallucinations.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 20:57 (twenty years ago)

The only thing I miss is CSI. The Evil Anti-Ginger's Even More Evil Brother came back and I didn't know about it!

― Ah! The Feinbos! (kate), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:14 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Pretty much everything I watch is on hulu except the Travel Channel and full episodes of SNL. Should I lose cable altogether? We've had some good times over the years.

― Tombbot & Estello Meet Cankenstein (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 17:59 (sixteen years ago)

the more time you can spend staring at a computer screen the better

― omar little, Wednesday, 7 October 2009 17:59 (sixteen years ago)

TV died for me when they did digital switchover. Hulu + Netflix satisfies my needs for most things. I kept an old laptop around which basically occupies the TV space and is used almost exclusively for that.

― Mornington Crescent (Ed), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:00 (sixteen years ago)

yes

― steamed hams (harbl), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:01 (sixteen years ago)

they have full episodes of SNL (minus the musical guests) on hulu now apparently, or at least they do for this past week

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:02 (sixteen years ago)

how will i watch man vs. food?

― Tombbot & Estello Meet Cankenstein (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:02 (sixteen years ago)

xpost - uh, yeah the musical guests are a big part of SNL. They cut like half of the season premiere for hulu

― Tombbot & Estello Meet Cankenstein (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:03 (sixteen years ago)

Most stuff that doesn't seem to be online "officially" seems to be a google search away

― Mornington Crescent (Ed), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:03 (sixteen years ago)

streaming, rather than by more old school nefarious methods.

― Mornington Crescent (Ed), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:03 (sixteen years ago)

We ditched cable service... I can't even remember when, and I have not missed it even the slightest bit. We use a combination of Netflix/Hulu/iTunes/torrents and pretty much are never at a loss for something to watch when the mood strikes us. The fact that I had never heard of "Latisse" until Lifetime included it as part of its Project Runway stream and then in response only ROFLMELOed instead of spent an hour examining my eyelashes for inadequacies and checking to see if Blue Cross covered treatment speaks to my increased happiness and quality of life.

― she is writing about love (Jenny), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:15 (sixteen years ago)

get rid of your internet

― ¯ ϖ ¯ (Dr. Phil), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:17 (sixteen years ago)

lol

― steamed hams (harbl), Wednesday, 7 October 2009 18:17 (sixteen years ago)

my tv doesnt freeze and have to be restarted >:(

― Akonimal Collockedup (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 8 October 2009 01:56 (sixteen years ago)

two years pass...

My bill has hit a whopping $170 a month! Internet I can afford, I felt like I needed to keep the television because I need it for work and research. But jeez....this seems ridiculous...or is it?

What do you think is a reasonable price for television. I have one premium channel. I guess $120 isn't that high for one premium channel plus everything else nowadays....but you watch the same amount of television you did in the eighties!

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Colored on TV! (Mount Cleaners), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 18:06 (fourteen years ago)

Axing TV is the best thing I've done in last year, now I need to work on getting a reliable phone/web combo that isn't evil Ver1zon.

― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 18:08 (fourteen years ago)

Maybe I will cut everything but the basic cable...I hate to do it, but having time for it in the next six months isn't likely.

It is a bitch to change the service or cancel, however...they always suggest something else or tell you your bill won't be lowered for three more months.

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Colored on TV! (Mount Cleaners), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 18:18 (fourteen years ago)

Personally, if it were me, I'd cut out cable entirely and go with broadcast channels only, unless you get zero broadcast reception where you live. Internet is another matter.

Advertisers follow the audience. If the audience drifts to the net, then the net will offer more of what cable gives you now. As it is, you can probably get enough of a tv fix on the web to limp by on.

― Aimless, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 18:32 (fourteen years ago)

I think I'll just cut back to basic, I'll stick to HGTV for my jollies. I do enjoy the documentary channels but I'm just too busy.

That's true that YouTube has a lot of those documentaries now so I don't need cable.

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Colored on TV! (Mount Cleaners), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 18:35 (fourteen years ago)

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