The future of TV: HDTV or no TV at all?
by Matt Burns 
posted Jul 5th 2006 at 8:47AM
HDTV is the future of TV; right? It should be if we have anything to do with it, but there is also the notion that TVs are not needed anymore. That's right, no TV. There are a growing number of people in our society that no long want, or need, a television. Think about it. You can get your news online, or even the local newspaper. How many TV shows do you follow on a regular basis? All we want to know is it worth it to you?
Us? Well, it is ether HDTV or nothing. Once you go high-def you will never go back. Sure, it is more convenient to jump on a website for news, but most techies will still sit down and watch the evening news. If you are thinking of axing your TV 'cause there is simply nothing on when you are ready for some good TV, we feel you, just give a DVR for a spin. Many people are tired of what cable, or satellite offers but a DVR changes the game.
As for the no TV, crazy...simply crazy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TJ @ Jul 5th 2006 9:34AM
Sad, but true: I can't live without my HDTV. I'm a big movie buff, and since I can't afford to get a stadium seating theater built-on to my house, HDTV is the best, most affordable option.
I can definitely forsee a time, however, when I simply download shows like Lost to my TV off of ABC's Server, rather than wait for the 8pm Wednesday broadcast time. I can definitely see my computer and HDTV becoming more intertwined over the next few years.
Zach @ Jul 5th 2006 9:50AM
"... but most techies will still sit down and watch the evening news..."
I dont know about you, but I stream my news over my internet to my computer. I will point out that I rarely ever watch TV for a specific show. The only thing I watch on my TV are movies and sports.
Ian @ Jul 5th 2006 9:55AM
I have to admit that I'm very close to cancelling my cable. I really feel that I spend way too much time watching garbage shows, especially stuff that I'm watching just because it's in HD. And especially now that it's summertime (the lack of watchable TV sports, re-runs and terrible "late-season" replacements), there's even less reason to have it around.
I'm also worried because my two-year old son now requests to watch TV (Dora and the Wiggles) on a near-constant basis. I'd rather that the two of us went outside and played in his sandbox.
But after the World Cup is over. ;-)
Vince @ Jul 5th 2006 10:14AM
Prior to HD I almost stopped watching TV. Now that I have HD, I watch more TV than I did before. I get well over 40 channels in HD (including locals) and I record enough HD that every time I turn it on theres something worth watching.
Big Sam @ Jul 5th 2006 10:31AM
The past few years I have found plenty of good shows to watch. There are even a few others I'd like to add, but I don't have room for anything new unless its really good. You are right, the DVR changes everything. I watch what I want, whenever I eventually get around to it.
TV will always be around, even if its only for HD Sports. Thats the one thing I have to watch live. I need my NFL, NBA and now I'm even getting into some World Cup action :)
Jim @ Jul 5th 2006 11:16AM
I love HD and cannot get enough of it, but if the MPAA and the like get their way with the broadcast flag and make recording/viewing HD a bigger hassle than it already is, that is make it more restrictive and expensive, count me out of the game. I'll live on with SD and watch alot less TV. My favorite shows today are non-HD (but I have the DVD's, so it's pretty decent when upscaled) so it's not crucial. I'm not buying into the whole HD-DVD/Blu-Ray nightmare either unless an affordable hybrid player shows up, or one of the formats dies off. I have a HTPC and that allows me to record and watch HD all I want. This is all big business and trying to control and corner profits and control what and how we watch TV. It's America, I'm not a pirate, and I'll watch what I want, when I want, and how I want thank you very much. If I'm not allowed to do that, then so be it and my choice is to turn off the TV and cancel my services. Seriously.
Paul A. Houle @ Jul 5th 2006 12:20PM
It's not crazy to stop watching TV. I did it eight or nine years ago. At some point I realized that we were sending $50 a month to Time Warner and that was the reason they had all the money and we didn't have any.
These days we have a bunch of computers in the house and we can get all the entertainment we want that way. The quality of YouTube is awful, but you can get really good content when you want it. My 4-year old son loves watching Sailor Moon fansubs with me, while I read him the subtitles.
I'd imagine that computer monitors will someday converge with HDTV, and someday I might get a computer monitor that is really an HDTV. You can't get digital TV where I live because there are too many hills, and I find the compression artifacts in cable and satellite HDTV disturbing. Yes, uncompressed HDTV is ~sweet~, but the commercially available product doesn't impress me right now.
Dave @ Jul 5th 2006 1:47PM
No offense--but there are numerous grammatical and spelling errors in this post.
Nick James @ Jul 5th 2006 2:52PM
There are a shitload of TV shows I watch. Not all are in HD however, but the ones that are.. giggidy.
kevin @ Jul 5th 2006 3:50PM
More TV for me, I don't watch news on television, but if I'm home, the telly is usually on. I watch hours a day and have to still catch up on my unwatched DVD collection. If a show was in HD, I might even give it a second chance, but then think "it was a bad show before, HD doesn't make it better."
Ray Morris @ Jul 6th 2006 5:34AM
We got rid of our TV quite a while ago. DVD movies and TV shows off of DVDS. We get enough news from the radio and newspaper and the internet.
Way too much junk on TV and with our in home theatre we watch what we want, when we want.
Ray Morris @ Jul 6th 2006 4:13PM
We got rid of our TV quite a while ago. We now watch DVD movies and TV shows off of DVDS. We get enough news from the radio and newspaper and the internet.
Way too much junk on TV and with our in home theatre we watch what we want, when we want.
(sorry for the two posts)
Brian @ Jul 29th 2006 2:39PM
I am all for the convenience of the internet, but good luck downloading HD content to your computer and even better luck streaming it. The TV is not going away -- I can absolutely assure you of that. People are not going to go out and spend the $$$ to buy a powerful enough computer to handle HD. And good luck convincing your wife to have a keyboard in the living room.