Not sure this is only about what is available on the Internet. When you spend $60-$70 per month and, out of over 200 channels, you have a problem finding something you want to watch that you haven’t already seen 3-4 times you begin to wonder why you are spending all that money.

Then there are a few channels where they seem to be testing just how many commercials they can pack into a show before people stop watching.

Well maybe I can be an indicator of trends since whatever I do eventually everyone follows. OK, stop laughing, but here is what I mean:

1. Way back, and I do mean way way back, I bought an answering machine. It was cutting edge at the time and people marveled that I had some device that would answer my phone. It was a Phone-Mate, the big one.

As you know, answering machines were once the rage and must-have electronic.

Eventually I went to voice mail and ditched the answering machine.

2. The next big thing was getting a cell phone, back when they were the size of a car battery, portable, but HUGE.

Of course, everyone got cell phones, eventually, but I was using them when they were still a novelty more than anything else, a rich man’s toy.

3. Then came the internet. Back in 1994 I said it was going to be a big deal so I got 95 domain names and put up my websites.

You know how that went.

4. Then I got rid of my land line at home in 1999. I went totally wireless at home when people would ask “Are you nuts.”

Now I believe more people have wireless than landlines at home.

5. That brings us to 2010. I am cutting back on my TV because I really don’t need all those channels. If one watches just a few, why does he or she need 264 or 234 channels (respectively Direct TV and Comcast channel offerings on mid tier packages).

Just like the answering machine and land line, I now look where I have DUPLICATION and cut out those services that are not needed.

I am working toward setting up my T-Mobile data connection to provide ALL the services I need at home. For example, with the new superphones coming out I will be able to get HD input and output from the phone. The phone will have an HDMI output port!

And this is really cool, Netflix told me that they are working on having its instant viewing work on smartphones. This means I can watch movies on my phone, and with the new superphones shoot the video on to my home flat panel TVs!

So really I am going one step further than this article, I am working toward even cutting the cord to a home Net connection.

With T-Mobile and others going to super high speed data connections the day is coming where the phone can stream or download FASTER than many home internet connections can do.

A super fast connection caused me to wonder “Why do I need DUPLICATE Net connections, one at home and one on the phone. I can toss the home Net connection just like I did the answering machine and land line!”

I envision the day when we leave the house and take our digital connection with us, on the phone. When we get back home we connect the phone to a dock that feeds a connection to the outside world (Net) to all our home’s TVs and computer terminals.

So while this article talks about getting rid of home TV, I contemplate getting rid of BOTH the home’s hard wired (or satellite) TV AND Net connection.

A first step in that direction is cutting back on my cable TV service. I suspect the cable TV companies can see that coming because when I call to disconnect they keep lowering the price for TV while increasing the number of channels I get (including HBO).

HBO? That brings to mind what cable providers are doing to keep subscribers. They bring out specialized shows and programming that cannot be had on other venues. So that is something to consider. If you want to see that HBO mini series, you are gonna have to keep the service, plain and simple.

And you can’t argue with the concept of having 234 channels to watch. For example, my girlfriend likes watching the Biography and National Geographic channels. You can’t get that programming on the Net, that’s for sure.

So maybe that’s how cable companies will remain viable, offer so much that people get hooked on this, that or whatever, to where they are forever chained to having cable TV.

I cut the cord in 2007 and haven’t looked back. There’s just too much to do to sit and watch TV and so far, everything I want to see is on the web.

It might be different if the cable companies weren’t being paid by both the advertisers AND the consumers. That means that we are basically paying to watch commercials (fully 1/3 of each broadcast hour is taken up by commercials.)

But beyond that, the content has become so diluted and inane. Whole channels devoted to the irrelevant. News channels, rather than “reporting” the news, feel it’s also their mission to tell us what it means as well, instead of leaving that up to other programs.

Everything is dumbed-down and over-simplified. Comedy, instead of using wit and nuance, depends on profanity and references to bodily function to get a laugh.

I certainly don’t miss cable/dish television.

We have basic cable, because basic cable+cable internet is (strangely) marginally less expensive than cable internet alone, from our provider.

Had Dish for TV at one time. Hated it. Would NOT use satellite-dependent internet access unless I had no other option. *heh* Our local cable tech guy can’t get internet access either with his own company or even via any of the local telcos’ (three POTS companies serve this county) dialup or DSL, so he is bound to a satellite/dish dependent system. His assessment is that it’s just marginally better than nothing, and that’s about what I’d assess dish net access.

For TV? I need/want so little from TV that anything more than basic service is wasted on me. Like my 10mbs download speed 0.75mbs upload speed (less) on cable, though.

Hey Ron,
Christ has more problems than are commonly known. I don’t believe he will even be close.

I dumped cable in 1983. Survived on broadcast until we moved to the fringe suburbs. Then in the late 90′s, the late afternoon atmospheric ionization got so bad that I couldn’t watch VHF high-band channels. We were in Simi Valley California, and getting “skip” channels from Dallas-Fort Worth! I checked with the FCC when I saw the station call letters. I kept missing my Star Trek TNG .

So we got hooked up to Direct TV in ’99. We haven’t had any problems like some folks, but we don’t get any special treatment being long-term customers either. Unless you consider price increases special.

But Netflix is the greatest! 9 bucks a month for pretty much any DVD title you can think of. And last summer I bought a Roku box for $100. That is in our den, and my son’s XBox 360 is in the basement with Netflix as well.

With Netflix streaming I have rediscovered a lot of old movies and TV shows from when I was a kid and introduced these to my kids as well. My son loves the original Mission Impossible, Dragnet and The Rockford Files to name a few. He and I are currently on the second season of The X-Files (we watch it in the basement as it’s a little rough for my 10yo girl).

My only disagreement with other commentators is the assertion that there is nothing worth watching anymore. Two of my absolute favorite shows are Firefly and Jericho, from 2003 and 2007 respectively. You just have to do a bit of “mining” to find the “gems”.

The problem is, “there is no free lunch”! Sooner or later, there will be cost associated with downloading TV input. I am a Directv subscriber, and have been for a decade. Now that OTA signals are availble in High Def, that is currently free, but has anyone noticed that commercials are taking more and more time out of a 1 hour show/ As a young man, ususally a half hour TV show had one or maybe 2, 2 minute commercials. I’ve used a stopwatch to watch a typical 1 hour show and it’s 8 minutes of show followed by 6 minutes of commercial followed by 8 minutes and then 6 minutes, again and again and again. There’s a cost for everything, and I just don’t want to waste my time converting to internet TV that’s free now, but won’t be free much longer.

I got rid of all of my TV services last year, so no need to change in 2010! Fox and NBC cancel my favorite shows anyway, so why bother paying to watch their darn networks? I download every single tv show I like without exception. I watch the Daily Show and The Colbert Report online. I also watch South Park online.

And Cox’s tv service is unreliable. At 4 am every single morning they “update” and you cannot watch recorded TV shows on your DVR. There show search is clunky as hell! So good riddance to TV Cable. Yay, Hulu! They have paid sponsorship, but their commercials last 30 seconds max!