My wife will even stream shows that she wants to watch off their websites for free, granted it is a day or to late but once you get used to that time it seems normal.
Valkyrie-Favor wrote:There's no reason to have cable/sattelite unless you watch sports.
In all fairness most cable providers also offer services including home and mobile phone, home security, PPV events, DVR, and a few bells and whistles that you don't get with only using a service like hulu.
Here in the UK you have to have a TV license to watch TV as it's broadcast, which is an annual payment of around £140 per household. I haven't had TV in years as I don't watch enough to justify it. If there's something I want to see, it's often available on online catch up services legally and free (even BBC programming, which is what the TV license pays for in the first place!).
It's really down to you - is it a worthwhile investment in your eyes? Does it get enough use to justify the cost?
I honestly watch a lot of TV just because we have it, when I really shouldn't. Just having Netflix or thel ike would restrict me to gaming/specific movies I would want to see, or specific shows.
If you could find a way to watch sports, you would be good. I'm not a sports fan, but it would definitely give me an excuse to hang out with friends more.
I killed off the premium stuff a long time ago. That $7.99 Netflix thing has been ridden for awhile. I do have cable still but it's got the basic channels, what ever came with the triple play pack (TV, Phone, Internet).
I've never dealt with Hulu and I do have some sort of Sony equivalent Roku box so I'm all set.
My wife and I do not watch sports, and we are very satisfied with our high speed internet connection + Wii/Laptop/iPad + Netflix + HuluPlus combination. Altogether, it costs us about $60 per month ($42 for internet, $8 for Netflix, and $8 for HuluPlus).
On the rare occasion we do want to watch a sporting event, presidential debate, etc. we can usually find a way of streaming it (or just go to a sports bar/friends house...sports are best with a crowd in any event).
We were in the same situation two years ago and cut everything except high speed internet. I hadn't really been watching any current programs for a few years, so no problem there. My husband did have a few choice shows he wanted to keep up with if he could, and it turned out that regular Hulu worked well for those (White Collar, Fringe, etcetera). For anything else, we rent from our local library. That's rare that we need to, though. And we streamed the presidential debates through the XBox. The television is now for gaming and DVD/VHS-watching only, and we have no regrets.
Oh, except that I missed the last Olympics. That made me sad. But if we still don't have cable by the time the next Winter Games roll around, we'll have get-togethers with friends or family to watch some of the events over dinner, which will be fun.
Among other things, it's amazing what you'll wind up doing when you can't just turn on a television to pass the time. We immediately started reading more books. And playing more video games.
BogusMeatFactory wrote:If I could powder my copies of shenmue and snort them I would
We cut the cable (except for broadband) something like 2 years ago, maybe less, i honestly can't remember. All I know is I DO NOT MISS COMMERCIALS.
I don't watch sports. Hate sports. HAAAATE them. Waste of broadcast time if you ask me, so I had zero loss there. For local news, I know it sounds kind of lame, but I really don't care about the local shooting reports from the walmart down the street or whatever, so all I really care about is weather, which is taken care of by The Weather Channel app on my phone/pad/wifes phone. Push notifications tell me if a bad storm/tornado/earthquake/alien invasion is imminent. If I need 'current events' I can always just use google or the local News channel websites. (i.e. never)
As far as watching TV, there's Netflix and Amazon Instant/Prime. You could make an argument for Hulu Plus, but you still get commercials if you get a Plus account. Rip off.
As far as watching CURRENT TV, there's Newsgroups and Torrents. Newsgroups have been having some trouble lately because of places like NZBMatrix going down (.nzb files are like torrent files, same idea, different execution/software) but you can get current TV shows pretty easily, if you're ok with downloading, that is. If not, just look to Netflix and Amazon for all your entertainment needs.
Need to see trailers? Apple.com/trailers or Youtube, lol.
There's really no reason to have a cable TV sub anymore. I've mentioned this before but if cable companies would learn to offer stuff a la carte, they'd have me as a customer.
"Hey Time Warner, yeah its John, I'd like to watch the upcoming season of Game of Thrones on HBO so hit me up for a season pass. how much is it? $15? Ok cool, I'll keep an eye on it on my Roku/BluPlayer channels."
"Hey Showtime, Dexter's about to start, so..., yeah. Also, I think Shameless Season 3 will be up soon so sign meme up for that. What is that, $30 for both for a full season? Done."
And honestly those are about the only premium shows I'm into that I can think of. 99% of everything else is local/basic cable stuff I download like Fringe, Big Bang, Always Sunny, Archer, etc.
I guess it's been mentioned by sports fans, maybe you will miss sports, but I don't see the big deal. Just go to ESPN.com and check the scores, lol.
indecks wrote:
As far as watching TV, there's Netflix and Amazon Instant/Prime. You could make an argument for Hulu Plus, but you still get commercials if you get a Plus account. Rip off.
Yes...but with 800+ Criterion Collection films, the shows are a bonus.
EDIT: My wife got a trial subscription to HuluPlus so that she could finish up Downton Abbey. I convinced her to keep it once I added 100+ Criterion Collection films to our instant queue in a single pass. As a result, we have kept up with Parks & Rec, the only modern show that we have consistently enjoyed since The Office.
