Do you own a television?

[reader99]

We had satellite service for years, but when the receiver died, we canceled the service. So yes, we do have a tv, but we only watch what we can get over the antenna and Netflix. Interestingly enough, we haven't really missed the satellite service and being limited to what is available locally has greatly reduced getting sucked into just sitting and watching what is on.

We do have some friends who have never had a tv and are vehemently opposed to them. However, they do watch some tv shows online and regularly rent dvds to watch on their computers, so I really don't see how that is different than just having a tv.

Thank you. In terms of the more-off-the-grid-than-thou thing, I don't think there is a difference. Could be a difference if it means not paying for TV service. Could be a difference in a very small space where the computer can save clutter by carrying the TV's purpose. To be comfortable watching TV on my computer I'd have to move it to where I could see it from the couch. But if my TV stopped working, I would certainly try moving the computer and learning how to find the shows I want on it. With my TV I can just look at tvguide.com and know what's on; I don't know if there is a central way to find shows online.

[jennipurrr]

We have two TVs in the house, which I think is more than enough! They are both the old bulky style which people can't believe we have still. They are both perfectly working so no plans to replace with a newer model. I laugh that if our house ever gets broken into thieves would be really disappointed since we don't have flat screens, game systems, etc.

I did have tenants in one of my rentals this past year who were super crunchy granola types who didn't have a TV, but then about 6 months in did end up dumpster diving one.

[Bastelmutti]

We do have one now along with satellite TV, but have gone through periods of years without a TV or with very limited access (communal TV, TV w/only 2 channels). We enjoy watching TV, so plan to keep it around, but I really like having Netflix and a DVR so that we can "tape" or pull up exactly what we want to watch and skip the commercials. The kids never get to watch in real-time, so they are used to picking from recorded shows and fast-forwarding the commercials.

[peggy]

yes we have 2. One on the lower floor and one on the main floor. None on the upper floor. We mainly watch in the evenings and the hubby likes football on the weekends. We watch more in the winter since during the spring/summer/fall we are outside more of the time.

[JaneV2.0]

I lived for quite awhile without a TV, but caved when CNN came along (back when it was worth watching). Programming, in my opinion, has vastly improved since then with science, history, food, nature, investigations, etc. channels. Not to mention picture quality!

I've been an avid reader all my life. Call me a heretic, but I don't think there's a dram's worth of difference between reading a book and watching equivalent TV. I guess you could say I like to watch.

[bae]

Just last Christmas, we replaced our mid-1980s-vintage glass tube with a more modern LCD display.

It is only used for DVDs and Internet streaming, there is no broadcast or cable available here, and we haven't missed that for 12+ years now.

[Miss Cellane]

We do have some friends who have never had a tv and are vehemently opposed to them. However, they do watch some tv shows online and regularly rent dvds to watch on their computers, so I really don't see how that is different than just having a tv.

To me, the main difference is that with DVDs and some on-line shows, you don't get all the advertising. And even when on-line shows have advertising, there's usually much less of it. You can't fastforward through it, but there's maybe 3 or 4 ads per show, instead of 4 or 5 ads per commercial break, which you get when watching real-time TV.

I've discovered that I can get through boring computer-related chores while watching streaming shows on my computer. Half the screen is the show, the other half is my email mailbox or the list of all the files on my computer. I'm always saying I need to clean those up and delete or move or organize what's there, but it's so boring, I deal with 5 or 6 emails and then I'm done. But I can watch a show for 45 minutes and get a lot of files cleaned up at the same time.

[flowerseverywhere]

I've been an avid reader all my life. Call me a heretic, but I don't think there's a dram's worth of difference between reading a book and watching equivalent TV. I guess you could say I like to watch.

1. commercials
2. books are available for free at the library. You pay for TV, electricity, cable etc. if you watch the same on TV
3. I find a great deal of difference between books and TV. Especially for young children. Sitting on a couch with a box screaming at you is very different from an adult quietly reading a book and talking about the images or words on a page.

But if you like to watch TV, there is nothing wrong with that. Whether it is for sports, nature or history programs or to watch soap operas, if it floats your boat then it is OK for you. I just think books stimulate the mind in very different ways than flashing images.

[creaker]

I have a TV with no cable or antenna. Use Netflix and a roku box.

It was given to me, last TV was from freecycle. I think the last TV I bought was sometime in the early 90's?

[sunnyjoe]

We don't techincally own television set. We have EyeTV" software for our Mac which along with out cable subscription turns our Mac into a t.v. We only really use it for live broadcasts (football games) and more typically get movies from the library. Our girls watch most of their cartoons on youtube.