Life without TV – is it possible?

Jun 4, 2007

Tonight is the first night without my TV. Yep, it’s gone. I gave my Philips 32” widescreen away for free yesterday and tonight reality kicks in. I start to wonder if it is possible to live without a TV while sitting here on my couch writing this. It’s sooooo quite.

Information overload

Everyday I read 10 RSS feeds, read 2 online newspapers, follow tech stuff on 5 websites and watch the news on TV in the morning and at night. That covers the basic information, but then there are all the work related websites I find on Google each and every day. They vary from 3 to 50 depending on what problem I’m trying to solve.

E-mail from various people – work related, BlogEngine.NET related or from friends and family. Then add the text messages and phone calls combined with Skype and instant messaging.

I’m getting stress just thinking about all that information I need to process every day.

Out with the TV

The TV was the least important information channel, so I just thought it was the easiest to get rid of. I can’t get rid of my phone, e-mail or instant messaging because I use those at work. The RSS takes no time and I need to follow the tech stuff to keep up with the business.

After taking the decision I borrowed and bought some books just to make sure I wouldn’t get too bored.

New toys

We geeks need our gadgets and without the TV, something needs to take its place. Otherwise I’m down a gadget and that’s just wrong. I’ve set my mind on a Windows Home Server for my home network, but I’m not sure it has been released yet. It probably will very soon. Also, I would need a digital wi-fi radio to play my MP3’s. That should be enough to keep my gadget-meter point the right direction – up, up, up!

It’s still strangely quite here on the couch or should I say nice and peaceful…

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Comments (11)

Comments (11) -

Eber Irigoyen
Eber Irigoyen United States
6/4/2007 9:31:13 PM #

I've been living without a TV for a few weeks now, and now I don't even miss it, there's a whole lot of stuff out there on the internet to keep you awake (and I'm not talking about pr0n), by the way, only 10 RSS feeds?

perhaps you can subscribe to more blogs now...

Brad
Brad United States
6/4/2007 11:33:21 PM #

I still have a TV, but have lived without cable for 3 years now.  I found it made the television much more enjoyable as I can put in a DVD and watch on my own time and relax.

Also, WHS isn't out yet, but the RC is up on the Microsoft Connect site.  I'm actually looking forward to it.

Denny Ferrassoli
Denny Ferrassoli United States
6/5/2007 2:38:19 AM #

I don't watch much TV ever since my 12th grade English teacher placed a bet with everyone in the classroom to not watch TV for the first semester of school. If anything good came out of high school it was that bet. I watch the TV maybe 4 hours per week and on my own time now that I have a DVR and can record the shows.

Mads Kristensen
Mads Kristensen Denmark
6/5/2007 5:44:06 AM #

Eber, yes only 10 feeds. Actually many more, but there are only 10 of them updated each day.

Lars
Lars Denmark
6/5/2007 9:13:12 AM #

I've been without a TV for alot of years, but when the "medielicens" was introduced in Denmark - forcing everyone with broadband internet to pay a media fee - I thought it was time to get a new TV.

The only times one really misses the TV are when you have hangovers Wink

Most danish TV-programs are available on the net, and you can even watch DR and DR2 live on dr.dk, so it's actually not that hard to live without a 'real' television Smile

KG2V
KG2V United States
6/5/2007 10:36:11 AM #

TV?  We (the family) own one - the kids watch it.  I watch about 2-3 hours/year, so I guess you could say I watch tv - Joke?  I work developing code for one of the big 3 TV networks...

Jimmy
Jimmy United Kingdom
6/5/2007 11:36:15 AM #

Yes, it's possible. I'm living about four years without TV and I'm happy. BTW, I gave my TV for free as well. Keep going, live without TV is much more interesting.

Josh Stodola
Josh Stodola United States
6/5/2007 12:12:52 PM #

Hi Mads, very interesting.  I ditched my cable a couple months ago becuase I never watched it and was paying far too much.  I still have my TV for the sole purpose of playing DVDs and DivX movies.  And let me tell you first hand, the day you fry your processor (I did this on saturday) is the day you will wish you still had your television!

Eric D. Burdo
Eric D. Burdo United States
6/5/2007 1:44:45 PM #

Been 5 years for me now with no TV.  No VCR/DVD/Movies on PC.  Productivity went up some, but the amount of drivel going into my head has gone down drastically.

One of the best "investments" I ever made.

Simone
Simone New Zealand
6/20/2007 9:50:07 PM #

I'm living without TV since 6 years, and still alive Smile

Simone
Simone New Zealand
6/20/2007 9:50:42 PM #

And I hope my blog is among your 10 feeds Smile

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Mads Kristensen

Mads Kristensen
Program Manager at the Microsoft Web Platform team and founder of BlogEngine.NET.

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The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer’s view in any way.