I know a lot of people that have been abandoning traditional cable and satellite TV services and moving all their viewing to online sources. Some are doing it to save money, others are doing it to cut down on the amount of TV their family is consuming. One of those who took this step was Josh Griffin from MoreThanDodgeball.com. He posted an update on how it’s going.
Why we love it
We haven’t missed traditional TV nearly as much as we thought we might. The big win here is the money we’re not spending on the cable bill. We also don’t waste time channel surfing and we’re just watching less TV altogether. The TV is no longer the focal point of the house and life, it is a side note when we want to enjoy it. The picture quality is great, and nearly every show we do watch is available within 24 hours of the TV airdate.Why it isn’t for everyone
I still miss a few live shows – American Idol being the big one this season. I haven’t even seen a single episode, which is hard to believe given my past. We still get football, but some special events like the Academy Awards tomorrow night won’t hit the web live. Also, certain sites work better than others – Hulu has the best interface, but ABC has the best HDTV picture quality. And when the internet is down, although rare, you’re offline without TV, too.
Do you think your family would make it? If I was going to do this, I would need to install something like PLEX to get my mac mini ready for it.
I’ve been watching all my TV online for about three years now–back when it could be a pretty painful experience. Now, though, I’d never go back. I can plug my laptop into my TV with an S-video cable or just watch on the computer screen. It really does limit the TV that I watch because I can’t just channel surf–I choose which shows I want to follow and stick with them. However, one of my favorite reasons to watch on the internet is that I see fewer commercials, and I love having less marketing in my life.