1. Grew up in a household which adopted television late, B&W for years then, and tightly restricted viewing.
2. Never owned my own.
3. Uni was the pivotal point for me. Whilst there'd been a TV at home, occasionally watched, I didn't have one at school. And by the time I'd graduated, the habit was all but entirely broken. I didn't relate to the programmes then current, and never got back into the habit.
4. Occasionally lived in households with TV. Have found it increasingly intrusive.
4. Would typically watch only whilst travelling. Some years back I found that even this was simply a timesink and cesspit. Stopped.
I'm rarely inclined to even bother watching. Little programming is of any interest, vast amounts are insulting or worse, discovery is opaque, even the good programming is conspicuously engineered toward addiction. ("Lost" comes especially to mind -- I've ... lost ... several friends to that. One of whom, poor sweet summer child, thought that the finale would offer some sense of closure....)
I'm not going to dispute that there is some good programming available, though when I seek that out, I use on-demand services (typically online videos). HBO especially have put out some excellent programmes, and I've caught small portions of series such as The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and ... that's about all I can really think of. Exception: The Wire which was excellent (watched the first season on DVD).
I read. I listen to lectures. I watch demos. Occasional puppies and kittens and other floofs. But I don't miss the distraction, ads, manipulation, etc.
Not watching television simply opens up hours every week.
Oh, and yes, it's probably something of a social signifier:
Comments
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television:
1. The mediation of experience.
2. The colonisation of experience.
3. The effects of television on the human being.
4. The biases of television
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimina...
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=448E80906BCD92C0AA0...
By Jerry Mander, 1977. An advertising executive with a deep personal and professional familiarity with his subject.
As for myself:
1. Grew up in a household which adopted television late, B&W for years then, and tightly restricted viewing.
2. Never owned my own.
3. Uni was the pivotal point for me. Whilst there'd been a TV at home, occasionally watched, I didn't have one at school. And by the time I'd graduated, the habit was all but entirely broken. I didn't relate to the programmes then current, and never got back into the habit.
4. Occasionally lived in households with TV. Have found it increasingly intrusive.
4. Would typically watch only whilst travelling. Some years back I found that even this was simply a timesink and cesspit. Stopped.
I'm rarely inclined to even bother watching. Little programming is of any interest, vast amounts are insulting or worse, discovery is opaque, even the good programming is conspicuously engineered toward addiction. ("Lost" comes especially to mind -- I've ... lost ... several friends to that. One of whom, poor sweet summer child, thought that the finale would offer some sense of closure....)
I'm not going to dispute that there is some good programming available, though when I seek that out, I use on-demand services (typically online videos). HBO especially have put out some excellent programmes, and I've caught small portions of series such as The Sopranos, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and ... that's about all I can really think of. Exception: The Wire which was excellent (watched the first season on DVD).
I read. I listen to lectures. I watch demos. Occasional puppies and kittens and other floofs. But I don't miss the distraction, ads, manipulation, etc.
Not watching television simply opens up hours every week.
Oh, and yes, it's probably something of a social signifier:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22333879