OT: TV delivery alternatives (was: DirecTivo vs. 'New Direct TV DVR'?)

[Jim Kuzdrall]

On Tuesday 22 May 2007 18:49, Dan Jenkins wrote:

> It's been well over a decade since I've watched television. Do get a
> lot more reading done.

    I quit is 1987.  I don't know how I would find time to fit it back 
into my schedule now.  It is such a waste of time.
 
> Does cut down on "water cooler conversations" 
> though. Does mean I have to research modern pop cultural items to
> understand common references; I actually had to look up "American
> Idol" in Wikipedia to see what it was. :-)

    My wife and I noticed that you don't have to watch TV to 
"participate" in water cooler discussions.  They all consist of 
repeating what was seen on TV - no more than that: "Did you see him 
when he opened that can of grapes!  Man, grapes all over.  He still had 
purple on his shirt when he left the house.  Cool."  So, you always get 
the "highlights", which will keep you right up to date.

   Later that day you can pop into the conversation with, "Did you see 
him open that can of grapes!", and someone will repeat the whole thing 
for you.  And you have the warm fuzzy feeling of being accepted by the 
group.

> Just had no time for TV 
> (or leisure, in general) for a few years, and lost interest. For me,
> definitely not worth the cost in money nor time.

    Try this some time.  Record the sound of your favorite "educational" 
TV program.  Transcribe the audio track to text.  The audio content of 
a half hour program seldom fills a sheet of paper.

    And the content is drivel.  All the statement are qualitative: "This 
beautiful tropical butterfly lives high in the forest canopy."  Rather 
than: "The beautiful Cambodia Flicker Back lives in mahogany trees at 
heights between 20 and 50 meters."  The information content is aimed at 
a rather dull 10-year old.

    Not that I am against the populous having their thoughts and desires 
centrally controlled.  (As Marx would say, "The opiate of the people.")  
With out this consumption-driving device, our consumer society would 
collapse, devastating my stock market investments.

Jim Kuzdrall