Why I divorced cable.
I don't miss you.
Cable and I always had a rocky relationship. We would fight over bills and Cable was always late to dates. It just wasn’t working. Why I ever settled down and got married to her I’ll never know. When the final realization happened that we were no longer working as a couple, I knew I had to cut the cord and do it quickly. It was a weird day for us both. It was a long phone call with a lot of pleading on her end asking me to stay. Telling me all the things that I’ll miss, trying to make deals with me about how it will be different, and while I was tempted, I held firm and hung up the phone. My living room had gone dark.
At first it was weird, I felt alone and kind of empty. I’d sit on the couch wondering what to do, thinking about all of my options. Cable used to make it so easy for me. We could just sit together all day not really doing anything but watching time pass. There were a few times I thought I may have chosen wrong, maybe Cable was right, maybe I did need her in my life. I mean Cable made me laugh, made me think about things a little more closely, she even taught me how to cook. What was I doing without her? Over time though I stopped comparing every experience I had to how it was different from Cable and started just doing what I wanted to do. For once I was watching the TV I wanted to watch, not just what cable found. I was watching movies I had meant to watch all along. Cable used to tell me that I’d miss out on all of my favorite things without her, but it didn’t happen. I just had to look in different places. Ultimately, it was a lot cleaner without Cable. I just went to the place with the program I wanted to watch and watched whatever episode I wanted to see. With Cable, I always had to wait for her to be ready to watch what I wanted to see. Sometimes, if I forgot to tell Cable about something I’d just miss it entirely.
There have been others though, Roku, Xbox, Hulu. The funny thing is, they all know about each other and they are OK with it. Hulu doesn’t care that I call Netflix up when I want to watch a movie. Netflix doesn’t get mad that I sometimes ask Amazon about watching new movies and TV. Hulu is perfectly fine catching up on my favorite shows a day or two later, she doesn’t bitch about how I always ask her to hold to much, like my DVR used to. And the savings! These dates are all so cheap. I mean Amazon doesn’t even care if I watch anything with her for months at a time. She doesn’t make me pay for things I don’t care about. It’s great! Netflix and Hulu are my constants. I may take them out every month, but its a drop in the bucket compared to what I used to spend on cable.
Did I mention that now I actually enjoy watching TV again? It’s not this brutally one sided relationship anymore, where cable just tries to sell me combo deals and over priced channel packages that I don’t want to watch in the first place. Plus, if I have a long break at work, sometimes Hulu or Netflix will come to my work and hang out with me. Cable never did anything like that.
Yeah, life has been OK since I finally broke it off with Cable.
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Love the article. I am tempted from time to time to do the same but it primarily comes down to getting the best deal (the jew i know). So, who are you getting internet from?
I’ve been on the fence about this topic for so long it’s not even funny anymore. I just can’t seem to pull the trigger, however, with my current status my hand may be forced. It’s good to know the options are out there.
With the $50+ you’ll most likely save each month, it’s more than enough money to buy a season of something on amazon, if it’s not already on netflix or hulu. If you’re looking to expand your TV capabilities, PlayOn Media Server is still a worthwhile investment in my book.
But what are you using for internet?! I feel like everything I’ve seen is $55+ a month for decent internet. With that I still feel like my savings are barely worth it.
RR Standard is exactly $50 and sufficient for internet TV. TV Bundles start at $89 (introductory pricing), which does not include taxes and equipment rental fees.
The notion is that you’d sub that for Hulu + Netflix for ~$20, and add an $8 antenna to your TV. You’ve also got ESPN on Xbox. The Roku also has some additional movie / webcast / concert channels. Anything else is purchased a la carte via amazon or in box set.
I think at that point the only thing you’d be missing out on is “noise”… as in, “oh, I just have the TV on for background noise, I’m not really watching it”. Even then, hulu does a reasonable job at filling that void.
Personally I think it’s worth 20 bucks extra a month (After doing the above math) to keep cable for G4 and Cartoon Network alone. Both of those channels have a very limited presence on Hulu/Netflix/BobaCrust/FlamJam… or whatever other funny words you guys are into.
To each there own. I haven’t missed it for a minute. The $20 you’re talking about pays for xplay, attack of the show, and clone wars. Thats $240/year for a dvd set that costs $20 and two shows that while they are entertaining I don’t ever think about anymore. I cover my video game news with podcasts (G4’s included), and AOTS hasn’t been strong in a while, unless Candace Bailey is doing something I’m unaware of. I’d rather put the responsibility on G4 to provide better access to their shows through pay channels or not, if AOTS was available on Hulu or something similar I’d probably watch it, but as it stands now they put a “best of” clip show together that feels like an afterthought.
And $89 that is for the most base of channel packages. I was paying upwards of $140/month after all fees were said and done for both cable and internet. To be honest, most of what I was paying for was mindless crap. I watched HGTV or Food Network or G4 or whatever because I didn’t want to think about what I was putting on. Now I watch a show I’m actually interested in. Hulu and Netflix are pretty in depth now with selection, and I’m patient enough to watch the rest when it comes out on DVD or Amazon.
Mike if you want to look into different internet, I believe U-Verse is in your area, it’s cheaper with better speed but requires a contract. If you are averse to paying for Hulu+, you could always spend the $25 on playon or build a cheap net-top box that you connect to your TV to stream any online content.
I just thought the article was a light and fun way to talk about my experience. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
BobaCrust/FlamJam – Think about it
Yeah I have just about the basic cable package as I can get…with an HD-DVR its $103 a month. Like Ash said, for me I can still justify spending the extra cash a month for content not really expressed in streaming form yet. I’m getting closer every month though.
The other small dilemma…multiple TVs!