On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 5:00 AM, Wesley McGee <[email protected]> wrote: > http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/762/fading-glory-television-telephone-luxury-necessity > > The trend has reversed, as fewer people now regard the television (and the > landline telephone) as a necessity, This is curious as there is not yet a > complete substitute for the TV (as there is for the wired phone), though > there are many partial substitutes new and old for the television. (Internet > for news and information, less so for entertainment. Direct purchasing or > on-demand streaming of entertainment to computers and mobile devices. Cinema > in movie theatres. Etc. . .)
The only thing I'm missing by not paying for cable (or using one of those analog convertors with rabbit ears) is PBS. I miss "This Old House" and "Mystery," but if I use the PBS website I can sort of enjoy "Mystery" in a wonky online form. I have a yard sale tomorrow, so I may might not have a TV soon, but for the last two years or more, the only thing my TV has done is served as a projector fo my laptop's screen. What I do not get over the internet are local newscasts and sports coverage, two things I don't particularly want. So, for me, yeah the TV set isn't needed and is frankly just taking up space. It is a trend I've noticed as a middle school teacher -- that kids don't rely on the TV for entertainment the way my generation did. They don't sit through movies well. Many struggle to make it through short cartoons or clips. TV isn't as big a part of their lives. Personally, I think it is because TV after school is no longer geared towards them. No more "Cartoon Carnivals" filled with Bug Bunny, Tom & Jerry, etc. No more Saturday morning cartoons like "Superfriends" or "Rocky & Bullwinkle." All they have to call their own is Disney Channel fare, and that is geared mostly towards teens. So they wind up watching MTV but not "getting" it, or shows like "Jerry Springer" or "Judge Judy" that speak to the worst of the human condition -- frankly, those shows scare young kids. In short, if I were a kid living in today's world, I wouldn't consider TV to be relevant to my life, either. Also, I haven't had a land line in three years. Though I still think cellular technology is far from perfect, I've not needed a land line for anything. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
