I am the only one left ...

[centex]

I was just wondering if I am the only one left who still uses an old fashoned outdoor TV antenna, rotary dial telephones, and dial-up internet. I have always maintained that I would just quit watching television if it became necessary to pay for it, especially since I really can't find anything worth watching on it anyway. I can buy used DVD's from the rental place for less than $10 and I find watching sports on TV ironic. I have never been able to come to grips with paying more for touchtone telephone service when I know it costs the telephone company less to provide it than rotary dial and I have better things to do than sit in front of a computer all day. I guess I am just old fashoned but I rather go fishing or wear out my tractor so that is what I do most of the time. I am seriously considering having my telephone disconnected because I do not like doing business with dishonest businesses and the telephone companies lie more than even politicians. They tell you they will sell you phone service for $X and then when you get your bill it has so many extra charges that they won't tell you about that the bill is actually more than $2X. Besides, 80% of the calls we get are telemarketers and 90% of the emails are SPAM.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...I find watching sports on TV ironic. )</font>

I tried watching sports on my radio, but the instant replays were pretty fuzzy. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[PhilNH5]

Don,
I was with you until this past Christmas. We had rabbit ears on my TV. Got one channel - two if it rained. We don't watch TV.
My daughter used to play B-ball. Once when she was 11 a coach asked her if she watched a womens pro basketball game the night before. My daughter said "no". "Why not ?"queried the coach. "Because I'd much rather play B-ball my self and have fun than watch some one on TV having all the fun" The coach was speechless. I thought it was a great answer myself.
We got cable internet access for Christmas. It was cheaper to lump it in with a basic cable package than to get internet alone. So we now get 8, count 'em 8 channels /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif But we still don't watch.
There is to much fun to be doing out in the real world as you mentioned. We spent last night skating. Today we had a big breakfast cooked on the woodstove. Then we will haul firewood. It is 1 F out but a beautiful day.

So even though I now have cable internet access I still share you aproach.

Phil

 

[PineRidge]

Don you sound like a unique individual to me. My hats off to you for holding on to the simple things. Satellite TV, high speed Internet access, touch tone phones, and computers are everyday tools to me and nothing out of the ordinary. Different strokes for different folks I guess. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

But hey at least your using DVDs. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

You can thank the politicians for most all the extra $$$ on your phone bill.
My Basic local service is $10.03 but my monthly bill gets up to $19.71 due to all the fees, charges, surcharges and tax. Yes they even charge taxes on the fees,charges, and surcharges.

It is still ( I feel) a very fair price that can save me a bunch of time, money and from having to travel many miles to get or give information...Kyle

 

[tc35dforme]

Centex,

First let me say that I do respect you and your rights to be somewhat individualistic.

Now, that said, without acceptance of change and progress, with its related costs and headaches, we'd still be beating our selves up trying to plow with oxen pulling a hand hammered blade.

Change is costly, change is scary, change is a pain in the a$$, but change is necessary. Have you tried the Do-not-call list ?? Maybe a SPAM blocker program. Try it, maybe you'll like it.

The way I look at it ... change is progress. Here's a neat quote I like:

"I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better."
-G. C. Lichtenberg

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Different strokes for different folks I guess.
)</font>

I have to agree with you. My internet provider suddenly decided to mark "spam emails" before forwarding them to me.
Check out the attachment and what they considered to be spam. How could they do that? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[RobertN]

We are not too far behind you. We have the antenna on the roof. We use DSL for the network, since it does both home and work purposes. And, the phone we need for work.

A few things about the TV... We have come close to taking ours out. Even with cable, there is really not that much good programming(IMHO). The programming there is just sucks you in from the rest of the world. I know with our son, we just lose him in a program. I know the same thing happens to me too.

There is soooooooooo much to do in this world besides sit in front of the tube. The tractor, a book, skating, walking, actually talking to family and friends, pondering, stargazing, the list could go on forever. Yet, we often get sucked in to watching a screen which gives us so little yet takes so much of our life.

Then there's these here computers... Switch from one screen to another.... And, you can even arrange to have TV tuned in to it!

There's a balance kind of thing. Too much of anything is usaully not best for a person. I see kids sit in front of the TV for hours, either watching shows or playing games. A little outside time would not hurt them, especially as out of shape as a lot are(not all, but still a lot).

I wish we had Discovery, HGtv, and the cartoon schannel. I really like Discovery, cause you can actually learn things. HGtv has interesting stuff. The Cartoon channel or Nickelodeon play "real" cartoons(I miss Roadrunner, both the cartoon, and my old car).

I know folks with tv's in all rooms. We have one too many, and we only have one. There is so much out there besides TV! It is hard to believe the impact it has had in what, the last 50 years or so(since it really took off commercially).

 

[PineRidge]

Jim while I agree that spam is really getting out of hand I think your provider went a bit overboard on that call.

I applaud the "do not call list". Now if they could make a "do not email list" we would all have extra time each and every day. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AndyM]

To each their own. We have a rooftop antenna in the garage attic, and I sometimes go a week at a time without watching it. I do have DSL internet, and there are web sites I have to check daily (TBN for one). We finally bought a DVD player last week when our local video store quit renting VHS tapes, and my wife rents a lot of movies when she's home by herself.

In life, there are "needs" and there are "wants", and I TRY to stay towards the "needs" and less towards the "wants", but there are some times I can't help myself--
I didn't NEED a new tractor, I WANTED a new tractor! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AndyM]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You can thank the politicians for most all the extra $$$ on your phone bill.
My Basic local service is $10.03 but my monthly bill gets up to $19.71 due to all the fees, charges, surcharges and tax. Yes they even charge taxes on the fees,charges, and surcharges.
)</font>

My phone comapny offered me one heck of a deal--
Local phone service with all the bells and whistles (caller ID, call waiting, etc), unlimited long distance (everything we call is long distance), and DSL service. Total cost was $89 per month.

I was floored when we got the first bill-- it was $120 with all of the fees and taxes! It doesn't seem like as good of a deal as they made it sound like!

 

[Knight9]

Lets see...

Rabbit ears on the TV = 4 channels
Dial up internet = 52kbps connection speed
Touch tone phones but not "powered" = phone capable with the power out

We moved to the acreage to spend time outside...except of course the TBN time /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Kevin

 

[OkeeDon]

I watch maybe 2 or 3 hours of "normal" TV a week, usually some program my wife wants to see. But, the TV is on almost all the time, often in the background. I don't understand what is meant by "nothing good" on TV. I watch PBS and Bravo for the arts, Discovery, The Learning Channel, the History channel, National Geographic, the various financial networks, a smattering of the cable news channels (CNN, MSNBC, Fox) to see what's going on in the world (and to cheer or jeer when it's opinion); and, of course, I'm a C-Span junkie. S-Span is the best thing that's happened to TV because it's just an eye and an ear -- you make your own judgments.

I can always find something worthwhile to watch, without ever seeing sports, a movie, a sitcom or any of the inane broadcast channel shows.

How can you vote without watching debates? How can you judge the factors that affect you unless you learn about them? I'm not talking about 11 PM news "sound bites"; I'm talking about the in-depth coverage that's available if you know when and where to look.

 

[thcri]

I am not much for TV anymore either. But with kids it is kind of a must to have internet for school and the TV and DVD players all come with it I guess. But three years ago I made a threat to my kids and told them if they don't quit watching TV some I would disconnect it. They didn't believe me and I disconnected it. You would be surprised what happened. Yep they started reading books. All three read over 20 in a months time and the youngest read 50. So now when I tell them to back off, they do.

murph

 

[yellowsocks93]

The internet does help a little but as a student I much prefer going to the library to get the books in hard copy since you know the info is correct and not made up. I have normal antenna TV and dial up internet. I don't wish I had them any different though. I think it is a waste of money. I would rather spend it on stock, cars, and tractors.

 

[DIYGuy]

I would not use the phrase "only one left". It sounds like you're questioning yourself, and that is something only you are qualified to do.

For myself, I'm on the compete other end of the spectrum. I've had a digital TV for 5 years now, and just upgrade to a DLP from Plasma.

We watch movies (DVD Widescreen only) in full 1500 watts of surround sound in a room tuned for that purpose. I use a DSL connection to maintain 5 of my own websites and a commercial site. (www.trekstop.com)

My wife uses DSL to connect to work and conduct e-conferences between her development team in England, ******, and Chicago.

I was a technology worker for over 2 decades (retired, now a simple carpenter) and am still fascinated by new technology. My wireless LAN in the house is 4 years old and it replaced a 10 year old UTP ethernet set up.

My next home technology project is to put a PC in my car to control the stereo such that I can pull into the garage and have my wireless server upload new MP3 encoded songs to my stereo before I even shut the car off.

I get less than one telemarketing call a month, and haven't gotten a spam email in weeks. Just a matter of never handing either out and not posting it directly. Here at TBN it's an indirect listing.

Junk snail mail is a whole 'nother beast.

If the technology is working for you, great. However, if you had high speed internet access, you would not wait for any of the TBN pages to load.

 

[thcri]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The internet does help a little but as a student I much prefer going to the library to get the books in hard copy since you know the info is correct and not made up. )</font>



I would rather them go to the library also. However, some assignments tell them to get information only from the internet. I don't know why the teachers do that but they just do. Not all of them but quite a few.

murph

 

[OkeeDon]

When we were kids, one of the primary reasons for writing reports was to teach us to use the library. Information, and knowing how to access it, is essential.

Today, there is almost nothing you can't find on the internet. Knowing how to use it to find information is an essential skill. It's still important to be able to find things in a library, but if a teacher didn't introduce the internet, students would be woefully unprepared.

 

[RobertN]

The internet can be a powerful study tool. But, it is so hard to know if it is fact or fiction. Who wrote it it? Will the link still be there tomorrow? Is the data accurate?

With the library or a book, you can proof it out all the way to the Library of Congress number. Papers usually have the full author/source attached, along with bibliographies. And, they are usually there tomorrow too.

Now, there is still the debate about whether the info/data is accurate. Anyone who wants to spend the money can get published...

I think of it kind of like email vs USPS mail. email is a powerful yet informal tool. It is good for a note, or for sharing something. But, for formal notice or important stuff, a document printed, signed, and mailed USPS or courier is still how a formal important document should be done.

A balance of both is good. Start research on the web, find applicable resources, and then refer to the printed info.

 

[cowboydoc]

I have all of those things but I would sure like to go back about 150 years in time. Some of my best memories are from being out in the middle of nowhere in linecamp. It's like going back in time. No phones, electricity, vehicles. Just horses and cattle.