# Rant Mode - TV



## Dave Martell (Aug 24, 2011)

OK I'm not super old like Joe C  but I'm old enough to remember black & white TV, rabbit ears, roof top antennas, and the introduction of cable. In the past each new thing brought a huge improvement to the quality level of viewing programs. Today though, we've made a leap to digital signals which brings a high level of video and sound quality but it comes with a price to pay......we can't click around anymore!!!! :scared4:

Yeah it's either read a program guide for 15 min (scrolling through hundreds of choices) OR click on each station (one by one) and wait for 3-5 sec (starring at a blank screen) & wait for the sound to come on and then another 1-2 sec for the video to appear. What the hell is that crap?

Youngsters say, "use the program guide - it's quicker" - yeah my ass it is! I could surf through 600 channels in the time it takes to read 50 choices in the stupid program guide. Hell, I'm not interested in paying to watch menus, I'm paying to watch TV!

Am I just getting old and crotchety or does this bother anyone else?


Note - We just "upgraded" to DishNetwork but had similar luck with both the local yocal cable company's offerings as well as DirectTV.


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## Eamon Burke (Aug 24, 2011)

I'm a young'un, and I did grow up in a kind of time-warp--not phone, tv, computer, video games, etc. But YES.

This drives me NUTS. Every new advance in TV has made changing channels less and less efficient. Sounds like a lazy man's gripe, but if a car took longer and longer to change gears, it'd drive people NUTTY. You pay thousands and thousands of dollars buying a tv, cables, devices, furniture, mounts, installation, services, etc etc and what do you do? Spend an hour watching 20% commercials, 10% black screen, 20% filler and about 50% content.

It's getting inefficient to watch TV. Even on the internet.


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## Delbert Ealy (Aug 24, 2011)

I have had cable for a few years, but I chose to go one level above the basic cable. I really wanted sci-fi and I got it, but I spend more time watching the food network. This gives us about 100 channels and some of those I don't watch(espn and golf). 
Now the kids watch more tv than I do, mostly its just a few shows I really want to see. 
Dave you just need to scroll through the guide a bit faster, I usually spend 20-30 sec for the 100 channels.
If you want to group me in with the kids for this opinion thats fine.
Now I just have to find a way to keep the kids off the remote
Del


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## apicius9 (Aug 24, 2011)

What, you still have time for TV, Dave? Get in the shop  I have pretty much given up on TV, it annoys the heck out of me. I watch once or twice a week, usually get stuck on one of the cooking channels, Frasier, House, or one of the old movie networks because it is so much more relaxing without ads every felt 3 minutes. Ads drive me nuts, even with the Tivo thing to watch things slightly delayed. I almost cancelled the whole cable thing but that was a bit too daring. In 90% of the time, I prefer surfing the web or - remember this, guys? - reading a book.

Stefan


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## sw2geeks (Aug 24, 2011)

I remember as a kid if the TV started acting up you could stomp on a loose board on the floor sitting on the couch and that would shake the tubes and fix the picture. Those were the good old days old days of TV!


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## SpikeC (Aug 24, 2011)

Most of the people that I know that had satellite have switched to cable. It is fast and easy here.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 24, 2011)

Stefan you're correct that I don't have time for TV watching and that's a good thing because I'd throw the damn thing out the window if I had to read the menus all the time. I probably don't watch an hour a week anymore really but with setting up the new DishNetwork crap I was forced to see the inefficiency of what's being offered these days. Man this annoys me so bad.


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## 99Limited (Aug 24, 2011)

I've been a satellite tv customer for 15 years, first with Direct and now with Dish Network. I guess I'm just use to scrolling through the channel guide trying to find something to watch. It is annoying to have to wait a second or two for the audio to come on after the picture is displayed. It always makes me wonder if I missed something important being said.


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## Dave Martell (Aug 24, 2011)

johndoughy said:


> I'm a young'un, and I did grow up in a kind of time-warp--not phone, tv, computer, video games, etc. But YES.
> 
> This drives me NUTS. Every new advance in TV has made changing channels less and less efficient. Sounds like a lazy man's gripe, but if a car took longer and longer to change gears, it'd drive people NUTTY. You pay thousands and thousands of dollars buying a tv, cables, devices, furniture, mounts, installation, services, etc etc and what do you do? Spend an hour watching 20% commercials, 10% black screen, 20% filler and about 50% content.
> 
> It's getting inefficient to watch TV. Even on the internet.


 

Yes - I'm feelin ya!


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## l r harner (Aug 24, 2011)

i have dishnetwork but watch about 6 channels so it dont take long to flip through them. not like i have to get up and turn the dial (or 2 for uhf)


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## echerub (Aug 24, 2011)

I really miss the old days of fast-clicking-channel-surfing. Take a half-second to ID and assess each channel and just keep going. I agree with Dave - I could skim through a whole whackload of channels faster that way than scrolling slowly through an on-screen tv guide.

Oh well, those days are gone I guess. I know my nephews have no channel-surfing ability. They never developed the skill


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## steeley (Aug 24, 2011)

[video]http://youtu.be/-EIN0emWpgw[/video]

here you go


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## kalaeb (Aug 25, 2011)

I gave up on tv years ago...I simply could not find anything decent to watch. We are still cable/dish less and are happy that way. My 3 year old is always bugging me to go outside instead of watching tv...its great!

We did however succumb to the itv which connects to Netflix for an occasional show, but even with the itv we cap out at about 3O min. Life is too short to live vicariously.:2cents:


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## mc2442 (Aug 25, 2011)

DVR and Netflix streaming is the way to go. Fast forward through the adds with the DVR, and can knock out a season at a time of a tv show with Netflix if you so choose.


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## apicius9 (Aug 25, 2011)

I tried Netflix streaming on my Ipad, but everything I was even remotely interested in only came as DVD. Oh well, I get the Daily Show on the Ipad and a bunch of news channels, better than nothing...


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## Cipcich (Aug 25, 2011)

I know this is sad, but I really miss the days when everyone in the country watched the same three channels for news before dinner. It may not have been true, but at least everyone shared the same reality. 
Of course, I still wonder how it was possible that I watched the fleet sailing out past Point Loma on its way to Diego Garcia, immediately before the end of the hostage crisis in Iran, and Walter Cronkite forgot to to mention it when I got home and turned on the TV . . .


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## apicius9 (Aug 25, 2011)

Sounds familiar, even if I lived on another continent. We had 3 programs and there was more to see and learn than on the onehundredsomething channels I get out here on cable. Growing up in Germany, I remember when my Dad bought the first color TV - of course, to see the soccer world cup 1974 in color. When the games were on, there was a ghostly silence all over the cities because everybody was watching. Good times.

Stefan


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## echerub (Aug 25, 2011)

I haven't had cable or satellite for the past few years and I have no intention of signing up for TV service again. The occasional DVD and sometimes-more-than-occasional video online is enough. Hey, I wasted 45 minutes last night watching a documentary on YouTube recorded off the History Channel! 

As TV audiences get fractioned off with the increasing number of channels, no one network/channel has the revenue (existing or potential) to invest a lot in innovative or quality programming. Things have to be done on the cheap now, and it shows. Maybe there's still some good stuff out there, but at least the few times I go over to someone's place where they have a lot of channels I always have difficulty finding anything worth watching.


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## Andrew H (Aug 25, 2011)

apicius9 said:


> I tried Netflix streaming on my Ipad, but everything I was even remotely interested in only came as DVD. Oh well, I get the Daily Show on the Ipad and a bunch of news channels, better than nothing...


 
Watch Mad Men:biggrin:


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## WildBoar (Aug 25, 2011)

Delbert Ealy said:


> ...but I spend more time watching the food network.


Uh oh, be careful saying that around here :nunchucks:

:laugh:


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## Eamon Burke (Aug 25, 2011)

Andrew H said:


> Watch Mad Men:biggrin:


 
lus1: Totally worthwhile, for the dialog alone.


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## Delbert Ealy (Aug 26, 2011)

WildBoar said:


> Uh oh, be careful saying that around here :nunchucks:
> 
> :laugh:



I figured that would be safe to say as long as I didn't say anything against Rachael Ray.(although I personally like Claire Robinson-5 ingredients!!!!!)
I have to improve my cooking skills somehow and the commute to work for Salty is a bit onerous 
Del


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## ThEoRy (Aug 26, 2011)

I'll take old and crotchety for a thousand Alex...


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Aug 27, 2011)

I canceled my cable/tv in May, and haven't looked back. Best thing I ever done, so much time for...well work and school haha.


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