I haven't had TV for 16 years. I made the decision when the 6o'clock news was showing grotesque violence that I deemed unfit for my 2 year old. We didn't have TV as a kid but I did see it at other peoples houses so I saw enough to know there was good and bad. I still witness it at other peoples houses as all the brits have to have their (illegal) satellite TV!
It is very invasive and destroys the art of conversation and wastes time... but my real objection is the content. If its not brain rotting its violent - and the watchers are all becoming desensitized (spelling? ) to this crap. I try to help people find peace within themselves so they can live within the world at peace - but I'm on a loosing wicket with Janet Street Porter style television and american violence.
It's not illegal any more Healer as all the UK regular channels are now free to air. It used to be (technically) illegal, from the British point of view, to receive these channels via Sky. I don't think it was ever illegal in France to actually receive it as there are so many French registered companies who install Sky in France (and openly advertise it), like I'm sure there are in other European countries!
I was without a TV for about 4 months earlier this year when mine developed a small fault which turned into a major issue. Although there were a couple of evenings when I missed it (Friday evening, long week at work, just wanted to watch something mindless) generally I didn't - read loads and loads of books, listened to music, even played games etc.
We decided that we would make a point of not watching it so much when we got it back....yeah, right! It has become a habit again - I must try and get out of it!
no tv for nearly 6 years. Don't miss it. No iplayer and no broadband and not enough power to think about running my laptop anyways! My internet usage is pretty much solely on mobile phone. Instead of broadband and tv... We play guitar for several hours in the evenings.
alas not anymore ,in Ireland we only had 3 channels which forced us to do more family things , game , reading
it was good .Then we movedto Holland and there was cable tv , 60 channels ( 58 of shite ).
After Holland we landen in Germany and the older children wanted sattelite , and now unfortunately we have over 500
, or maybe 1500 channels of crap .Discovery suits me and a few documentary channels , but all the others is commercialized
as hell .
Ideally the receiption of no tv would suit me , but then there is the rest of the family .
Yes , no tv gives people more time and alot of advertisements less , that you must buy this product.
Sadly, we seem to be sinking into TV land in my house
Used to only watch a few hours a week but now it never seems to be off and there is the most utter tripe on there!
We took the TV out of our bedroom a couple of years ago and haven't missed it, now teenager wants us to take her's away. So moving towards being a one TV family is a step in the right direction I think!
Squirrel - fret not... I think all of us will have had these fabby letters. When I got mine, I phoned them up and asked when they would like to come and visit... they were stumped and could not answer. After much persuasion, they now believe I have no telly, but it took some convincing!
In Scotland, after you've received 2-3 of these letters they threaten to bring round the sherrif
I thought I'd moved to the wild west - actually I have - but the gunslingers round here are after rabbits etc.
Anyway, the Rugby World Cup was coming on and we succumbed and got Sky - no terrestrial reception here. Bad mistake.
It's not being used at the minute - we've finished all 5 series of Boston Legal - so we've been using it to play a computer adventure game. Not as friendly as cuddling up round a laptop screen but at our age it's maybe just as well
Maggie
Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Anais Nin
I love my telly, but still refuse to allow them in bedrooms. We own one telly, it's a 22" in our rather capacious livingroom and we (me and jim) like it that way. Soph often asks why we've got a smaller telly than her friends, why her best friend has a telly in her room and yet sophie doesn't but it's been very easy to get round that firstly by telling sophie about my hatred of bedroom tvs, and secondly by showing her the aerial connection required and that her room doesn't have one, and also showing her what a TV does without a decent aerial.
I'm sorry to say I also love online video streaming, I may not have sky but I'm halfway through series 6 of house. not illegal for me to watch, not illegal for the site I use to post links to the videos but it was illegal for the person who stuck it on their site for me to see........so, I am doing nothing wrong lol.
often if there's nothing on the box, the box goes off. either music goes on, or we just snuggle up on the sofa and talk like we used to in between reading books, magazines or newspapers. it's nice to not be forced to watch moving wallpaper.... but it's also nice to stick mythbusters on Quest at 8pm ;)
oh how I love my tea, tea in the afternoon. I can't do without it, and I think I'll have another cup very
ve-he-he-he-heryyyyyyy soooooooooooon!!!!
Flibster - when I was young, I begged and begged for a telly in my room. My mum eventually gave in. When I got sick of it a month later, I begged her to get it out! I hardly slept, did any homework or anything else productive!
"Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you realise that money cannot be eaten" Cree Indian prophecy