I Wanna Be Sedated

In 1997 my wife and I abandoned television for a summer. It was a quiet, pleasant time, and I remember feeling rather quickly like we had probably made a good decision. I read some books, we got out more and it our time spent together had more to do with interaction than proximity.

So, when my television died three weeks ago, I thought perhaps that we would be entering another halcyon age of broadcast-free nirvana.

I was sorely wrong.

Last night was the first night since the July Catastrophe, which has earned both those imposing capital letters, and the result was what seemed like the first relatively normal evening in a week. I know that you non-television households are cringing at my reliance on the advertising laced idiot-box to bring normalcy to what must certainly be a household of degenerates, and I don’t really have a strong argument to dissuade you. I’m just glad to have my television back.

Over the three weeks without television, I thought a lot about my reliance on all things digital, which only served to remind me that the reason I have all this time to dwell on things is because I’m not watching reruns of Friends. I started to do a catalog of the daily interactions I have with advanced technology: my iPod, my cell phone, my home computer, my laptop, my work computer, my game systems, my dvd player. I get the point. I'm plugged in.

That’s good, right? I mean, it’s kind of what I aim for. I enjoy accumulating the accoutrements to a tech lifestyle.

Then I think about the chasm that tears itself open in my stomach whenever the internet goes down. I obsess over watching those damnable flashing lights on my modem, knowing that at any moment my connectivity to the internet and by extension the world will be restored. It’s not that I’ve got anything better to do than StumbleUpon some image of a boat capsizing with the word FAIL emblazoned in big red letters in the roiling harbor. It’s that I’ve established some kind of unhealthy need, or perhaps reliance, or hell, let’s just say addiction to being online to the point that should I want to watch a cat leap out from under the covers and attack a stranger’s hand on YouTube, I have to know that I can.

I suppose the demise of my television was as good an opportunity as any to recognize my condition and make progress, but let’s not forget that I have four year-old and a pregnant wife. No, by the second week I had jury-rigged an old computer monitor to my 360 so I could stream some television from my computer and watch DVDs.

I have learned a lot about the way my attachment to technology has changed in just the past ten years. Frankly, it didn’t seem that long ago that our old 27” television kicked the bucket leaving our home blissfully quiet. But, learning and taking action on that knowledge are two different things. Though my hand my tremble over the power button as I consider how much of a hold my television, the leader of an army of digital devices that massage my brain at varying intervals, it fails to act.

My television is back where it belongs, broadcasting glorious pabulum into my adoring eyes, and sedating the household. I would be concerned about what that means, but I don’t have as much time to dwell on such things any more.

Comments

Last night was the first night since the July Catastrophe, which is now a proper noun and has earned both those imposing capital letters, and the result was what seemed like the first relatively normal evening in a week.

This sentence does not parse for me.

Our household doesn't have cable or OTA TV, and hasn't for about two years. We talk about getting it again but it's not all that important to us. On the other hand, if I wasn't able to use the TV to watch DVD's or play games, I'd care a lot more. I'm sure I could live with out those things, but goshdarnit, I like that stuff.

I guess it's just interesting to me how different things can insinuate themselves into different people's lives.

The times when i'm without technology are usually filled with book reading instead though i can imagine that after working and having a family to tend to/with i would probably just want to veg-out in front of a non-demanding medium such as TV. I never used to watch much TV until I moved house recently where i have started consuming more.... no particular reason i can see apart from the fact that i feel that the whole house is available for me to use rather than just my room.

I left my TV behind at the last rented place I stayed in before getting married and moving in with my wife. Five years ago, I think this would have been a fundamental change for both of us. However, DVDs, the BBC iPlayer and computer games have pretty much filled the gap that TV left. For sure, there's less aimless channel-surfing, but it's far from the Thoraeu-like contemplative bliss I anticipated.

When I look back in fifty or sixty years, I do wonder how much of my life will have been spent in a sedated state.

TV is not used in my apartment, except for Netflix (about 4 a week) and sometimes hulu. Other than that the super high end plasma I received as a wedding gift sits there waiting to be stolen out of my apartment so it can be sold to someone who will appreciate its razor sharp clarity and not hook it up a 20 dollar DVD player.

My roommate pays for the TV subscription here, and it's his TV. I.. never actually watch TV, excepting the very rare Mythbusters. There's always something far more interesting to do, be it screw around online, read, or go out to the coffee shop and write for a bit.

I've also lessened my dependence on the internet.. somehow. I guess I'm just oversaturated by it. I carry a portable internet device that I don't use as often as I thought I would. I generally bring a BOOK when I have to travel.

I know, I'm weird.

Pharacon wrote:

TV is not used in my apartment, except for Netflix (about 4 a week) and sometimes hulu. Other than that the super high end plasma I received as a wedding gift sits there waiting to be stolen out of my apartment so it can be sold to someone who will appreciate its razor sharp clarity and not hook it up a 20 dollar DVD player.

I thought you just bought a house? Or are you still waiting to move in?
Otherwise I'm am horrible addicted to tech. My friends call me a consumer whore. Although when I first moved into my apartment it took a couple weeks to get TV/Internet and life was....good. I read actual books instead of forums and well...played a lot of civ 4 and madden...but yeah I read like 5 novels The Count of Monte Cristo and War and Peace being some of them. It sure made fantasy football tough though.

Pharacon wrote:

TV is not used in my apartment, except for Netflix (about 4 a week) and sometimes hulu. Other than that the super high end plasma I received as a wedding gift sits there waiting to be stolen out of my apartment so it can be sold to someone who will appreciate its razor sharp clarity and not hook it up a 20 dollar DVD player.

hmmm.. Let's see, Houston, Texas, apparently....
address?

*dons ninja gear*

But seriously - it IS amazing how much we rely on all this electrical equipment, and how obsessive we (can) get over it.
What I also think plays a role though, is the expectancy of it working again. While I can leave home and be without computers or some sort of connectivity quite easily, if the internet dies, I have that same obsessive 'watching the lights until it works again'. You know it's there - you can touch it, and you're not able to do anything, but it should work any minute now - or it could anyway. People are wondering where you went - you're not supposed to be 'offline' for that long... I need to check my email.. or those dozen webcomics, podcasts and/or forums. It's part of your daily rituals, and it feels wrong to be without it if it wasn't your choise.
What makes it worse is that we now know we have alternatives:

Elysium wrote:

No, by the second week I had jury-rigged an old computer monitor to my 360 so I could stream some television from my computer and watch DVDs.

If you don't have anything but a radio and a TV, and one or both die(s), I think there's a certain resignation that 'it doesn't work', so you 'go do something else'.
Now, if the internet connection is down, your computer still works. It's there, it's powered, you can do stuff on it, but it's missing functionality.
I think the same is true to some extent the more you get more electronic stuff - when one important thing dies, it feels odd, because - well, the other stuff still works! You have alternatives there, it just needs a little work, and...

Yeah we're hooked on it..

You could always have tried Hoop and Stick. Maybe Rabbit would have lent you his set. (I wonder if you could put it into a Gamefly queue. Hmm...)

My wife and I are probably more reliant on the TV than we'd like to think, but sometimes the only way to snap my 16 month old daughter out of a teething-related tantrum is to plug in a DVD of Big Big World.

She also really loved watching me play the Pixeljunk Eden demo, so I'll probably be buying the full game at some point, since the demo locked me out. (I bought Toy Home in part because of how much she laughed when I drove the mini cooper into the giant rubber duck during the demo.)

I'm sure it's something we could live without... but why? Did people in the late 1400s say "You know, I'm just too reliant on books for entertainment. We should go back to painting on cave walls."

It's good to be able to live without TV, since sometimes the power goes our or the TV breaks and nobody wants to be spoiled. But I see no problem with making full use of the technology available to us. It's a wondrous world we live in that a person can call up video of a cat jumping out at a stranger's hand any time of day.

So don't feel bad about having withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks while your TV was broken. You're not addicted, you're just a creature of habit like the rest of us.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

So don't feel bad about having withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks while your TV was broken. You're not addicted, you're just a creature of habit like the rest of us.

Hmm, are you sure though? Where's the line between a habit and an addiction?

That's usually the first sign, right..? denial... 'It's just a habit I like! I'm not addicted! I can quit any time I like!'

Me and my family pulled the plug about a year ago. I had 175 channels of which I only watched "Good Eats" (Food Network), ESPN and the occasional History Channel program when they decided to actually show something historical.

I barely noticed its departure

Now I do keep TV's and DVD players for the occasional video we get. (for instance we are enjoying a poirot DVD right now)

But TV I dont miss ya.

I didn't realize how much of my time was wasted just channel surfing until I got rid of my cable TV. Sure I still watch plenty of shows, but now I have to actively select something from my DVD collection. I find that I enjoy this much more, as I get way more involved in each show I watch verses, switching between several different shows throughout an evening of surfing. I guess the lack of commercials does help as well. Plus, if I have the urge to do some random surfing, there is always hulu.

That being said... If my actual TV was gone, egad.... it would be horrible. I am also addicted to having access at all times to some form of internet. I don't even want to think about how horrible it would be if I wasn't able to check my email at any time.

I agree with the sentiment of most of the other commenters. You might find that life without a television is tough, but ditching cable (especially if you have Netflix anyway) is not so bad at all. It saves you a lot of money, besides the more ephemeral benefits.

(I think some commenters might not be distinguishing between "no cable" and "no television"... you're saying the latter, the actual hardware, died, as I read it.)

Yes: TV Died. No satellite, no movies, no Xbox

Having no physical television would be unthinkable due to games, PC, and movie watching, but we haven't had cable or OTA TV in nearly 3 years now. Commercials have just gotten so out of control I can't even stand to watch television at someone's house. All I miss are some of the cool HD channels like Discovery, History Channel, and National Geographic, but the cable companies won't let you just snag a few channels for a reasonable price. They always want to throw some super bundle at you and stress the *value* you are receiving, or grossly overcharge for the privilege of having a High-Def box.

The house is definitely quieter as the constant background noise of the TV blathering on doesn't exist since we just watch what we want to watch and then move on to other things.

Sorry about your loss

aphesian wrote:

All I miss are some of the cool HD channels like Discovery, History Channel, and National Geographic, but the cable companies won't let you just snag a few channels for a reasonable price.

I have to admit, I do miss the HD PBS channel. They were showing lots of very interesting, very beautiful shows when I last had it. I think I can get it OTA, but I've never bothered to try, so I guess I don't miss it all that much.

When my son was born 3 years ago, we got rid of digital cable.

I bought an HD OTA amplified antenna and just got the local HD stations in. I noticed the TV was off a lot more, but when I watched it-- it really was for a program I wanted to see. Not just some kind of audio-visual background.

Now, several years later, we have digi-cable back and the TV is constantly. I like it, I hate it... I hate it, I like it... I'm not one of these holy-rollers who hates TV with a passion, I enjoy TV and my tastes are not-so high-brow that it must only be PBS or BBC.

But that being said, it IS nice to have quiet house with no TV blaring.

If my TV/monitor (used for both) died I'd be a very sad panda. I would have other stuff to do, like finishing my shame-pile of books, or even going out (!) and getting drunk. I'm sure I don't absolutely need my internet/games/dvd/TV amalgamation I have sitting in my room, but dammit if it isn't useful/interesting/tons of fun/good to know it's there.
TV (the medium, not the device) as we know it is pretty much dead to me now. If there's a good enough series I'll rent it on dvd, and the only other thing I used to watch was Top Gear, thanks iPlayer for freeing my Sunday evenings!

I would be very upset if my TV died on me. I watch movies, play a lot of games, and watch the fuzzy and generally black and white OTA signal of the usually 5 or 6 local channels.

I know I can live without Cable or even OTA TV because I did for about 3 months. I only tried to get OTA signal because I wanted to see if I could. And once I found that I could I started watching certain programs regularly.

I know my life is tech oriented but it is what I chose. I too wish that I could get 10 maybe 12 channels that I will actually watch rather than the 145 channels of garbage that I would have to pay $120 a month just to be able to get all the channels I actually want.

The only reason I don't want to be without internet is because I pay bills and whatnot online. I can live with not being on forums, checking email, and watching funny cat videos. I don't even play games on my PC too much anymore. However, if I couldn't do any work on my PC I would be devastated.

learning and taking action on that knowledge are two different things.

I have a love/hate relationship with learning: love the thrill, hate the guilt for not acting upon it.

I'm a situation right now where I'll be moving into a new apartment and will be making some decisions based on my television habits. I generally don't watch much network television, and the bit that I do occasionally enjoy I could live without or buy a la carte via the Apple Store, Xbox Marketplace, or on DVD.

For a while I was juggling between getting a studio apartment (which is a lot more affordable here in San Diego) with one consolidated entertainment system (large PC monitor with PC, 360, and high end PC speakers) or a one bedroom apartment with a mid-high level entertainment system with 360 in the living room.

I opted for the one bedroom apartment as I started to get bothered with the idea of having company over and hanging out in what's essentially my bedroom. And after spending some time with a 30"+ PC monitor I decided it's way too big for me to be sitting in front of it for long periods of time.

But the whole issue came up when I decided I will not be subscribing to cable television and trying to find some way to spend more time on my higher priority hobbies and projects.

At home we don't watch OTA or Cable TV at all, even though we have cable service for free. Of course, we use our TV set to watch DVD movies and to play console games. Other than that, the TV is never on.

If we lose our internet connection though, my wife and I go crazy!

FeddEx wrote:

What I also think plays a role though, is the expectancy of it working again. While I can leave home and be without computers or some sort of connectivity quite easily, if the internet dies, I have that same obsessive 'watching the lights until it works again'. You know it's there - you can touch it, and you're not able to do anything, but it should work any minute now - or it could anyway.

Interesting point. I don't miss the internet at all if I'm out of town, but the fact that our connection has been pretty cruddy for the last month or so (random d/cs, lag spikes, high latency some nights) has been driving me up the wall. I wonder if it's down to the difference between absence and denial?

Incidentally, that ties into my quick and dirty test for addiciton to these things (especially WoW). If I get annoyed because I can't do it when I want to relax in the evening, then it's a habit. If I got annoyed because I couldn't do it while on holiday/with friends/with family, then it'd be an addiction.

A few years ago (I was still in college) I realized how dependent I had become and went out west to work on fruit farms in british columbia.

I lived without tv or a car and for a while didn't even have a bike. one hour and a half away from the village.

A very introspective experience indeed.

Last summer I moved from an apartment where I had been living by myself for many years into a house where my only personal space is my bedroom. Initially I didn't even bother to bring my TV, putting it into storage. I was much more stressed about not having internet access, even settling for dial-up for a time while we got a high speed connection figured out. While the house does have a sattellite connected TV in the living room, I rarely watched it.

Then in the fall, when the NFL season started, I went and got my TV out of storage and started using it again, though I was limited to OTA channels. Even then, my viewing time has never returned to what it was prior to the move.

What I've learned is that I can live without TV but probably not without the internet. And the web doesn't compare to the TV when you want to watch certain things, like live sporting events or breaking news.

I can't take my eyes off my pc long enough to watch tv. But I will watch shows and movies on pc.

I'm also in the no cable, but still watch TV camp. And, yeah, you channel surf and watch a lot of pointless crap when you have cable. When you have 8 channels (counting the local channels, PBS and the Jesus Channels) you just watch the shows you want and otherwise don't watch TV. It's a nice compromise.

Before we had kids, we went over three years without broadcast TV, and it was actually pretty nice. We had moved into a new place, and the cable company wanted to schedule installation two weeks out and needed for someone to be available during something like a five hour window. My wife and I were both so busy at work that it was hard to imagine setting aside that much time, and the whole thing just kind bugged me, so I decided to just hold off. I tried an antenna, but we got nothing over the air. The TV was still available for watching DVDs, and we just got used to not watching TV. It was actually kind of nice -- I would not have expected to like not having TV, but I really appreciated the extra time.

Then came the day that we needed to get TV: September 11, 2001. My wife said, "just make it so I can watch the damn news and see what is happening in the world!" We got DirecTV right away. We have had it ever since. It was a nice three years while it lasted.

I've been debating with the GF over cable. Well, I should say we have cable basic, which she chooses to call "not cable." As the internet comes from the cable company I found it was 4$ a month cheaper to add basic to the internet package. To add the next tier of cable adds a whopping 70$ to the monthly bill. The annoying thing is that to get DVR and a few movie channels that might have something worth watching pushes that number to close to 125$/month! My temporary solution? A friend of mine, having "real" (again using my GF's terms) cable has a Slingbox. I can now provide all the Animal Planet required to keep her happy and catch up on live sports broadcasts. That last item is the deal breaker. College football season will soon arrive and without cable I'm stuck listening to audio feeds on the intertubes. I think I might cave, though it'll require no small amount of hat-eating when I mention that the folks at Mediascum will be stopping by for an install.