anybody go completely cableless?

[Ava]

I'm thinking about cutting back to the lowest allowable to keep internet and then just using Netflix (we already have it).

I don't know who your provider is, but with ours (Cablevision) you don't have to have any TV or other services in order to keep internet. We dropped the TV service completely a few months ago and now only have internet.

We dropped cable TV completely a few months ago and are surviving.
It's just us & DD1, so no teens or older kids who are used to having TV, but we really don't miss it. I sometimes miss the DVR, but not enough to justify the price. If we miss watching a show when it airs, we can watch it on the network's website the very next day. We also watch a lot less shows now than we used to; some we realized we were only watching because the DVR recorded them for us & we feel no "loss" by not watching them any more.

Unless your kids are hardcore TV junkies, I think they'll adjust pretty quickly to not having cable.

 

[Muushka]

The cable companies are looking to put a stop to this....and while I'm not thrilled with cable companies, why should people get things for free while others foot the bill?

So you'll likely see an end to free shows on Hulu and the like.

I don't see a problem with it. Everyone is able to access this free programming.
No one is forcing anyone to pay for cable.

 

[JB2K]

I've read plenty about streaming from the internet. The problem is, connecting the computer up to the TV looks absolutely horrible. My TV is a 27 inch CRT. It doesn't take to the computer output at all. Not only that, the computer is in the basement, not upstairs where the TV is.

Oh, it is hockey season! There is no way I am going to sit and watch a hockey game buffer in every 3 minutes with my horribly slow internet connection, if I could even find somewhere that it is streaming from.

You brought-up a couple of valid points as to why many people won't "cut the cord"...

In order for internet streaming to work on your TV set, you would have to buy a modern TV (As the "old school" TV sets don't have all the right connections to hook-up to your PC). All the new sets (even the cheap ones) have some sort of PC/VGA and/or HDMI connection.

I always recommend buying an inexpensive laptop to dedicate to the TV (if you are not buying a Roku box, Apple TV, etc.), as all the web-surfing/third party software that is on your everyday computer will seriously slow things down.

As for buffering, you would need to upgrade your internet speed to the speed that is appropriate for streaming video (as while the budget-tier internet is OK for chatting with your friends on The DIS, it's not very much to work with for TV-watching).

 

[mtblujeans]

We haven't had cable for years. We have rabbit ears and a digital box...which hardly ever works! I've been trying to talk DH into putting a large antennae outside but he's not too thrilled with that idea since we get lightening strikes around here some times.

I'm going nuts not being able to watch the news on some days.

 

[MommyBryn]

We have never had cable, satellite, or Tivo or any of those fancy things. We get like 4.5 channels over the air (LOL) and that's it. We don't really have any desire for that other stuff. We did recently get gifted a Samsung Blu-ray player and watch Netflix through that so that's been kinda fun, but I don't want myself or my kids to WANT to be stuck in front of a TV very often anyway, so even Netflix is proving to be too much at times.

Oh wait, I lied- we DID get cable for 6 months a few years ago as an "introductory" thing for our internet (it was cheaper to get the package than it was to get the internet alone!). It was cool, for a few weeks, and then it just got old and repetitive, and I can't imagine us paying for that. But we're not in to a lot of TV shows, either. And the ones we do like, we can just watch online at any time (The Office, Lost when it was one, etc).

 

[bjscheel]

We have a digital converter box and rabbit ears. With the new digital spectrum, we get about 25 channels for free!

We have never had cable. The new digital channels are pretty neat. In addition to ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, and PBS, we now get their ".2" offerings- one is retro shows, two are weather, one is music videos. PBS has 3 stations, so the kids can now watch cartoons after 5 pm. But, a lot of channels wouldn't come in very well. So annoying! We had a big antenna on the roof but it was old. We just got a $50 antenna for the roof on eBay and now everything comes in clear, plus a few more channels like Qubo. It's plenty of channels for us, all the kids and I watch is Dancing with the Stars and PBS. DH watches random things. They can catch some of the Disney channel shows on Saturday morning or at Grandma's house, but they don't really care about them.

I suppose if you were used to it, though, it might be hard to give up. I would hate to get rid of my internet, but then though my sales on eBay it pays for itself. It wouldn't make sense to get rid of an income producing item!

 

[bjscheel]

We haven't had cable for years. We have rabbit ears and a digital box...which hardly ever works! I've been trying to talk DH into putting a large antennae outside but he's not too thrilled with that idea since we get lightening strikes around here some times.

I'm going nuts not being able to watch the news on some days.

Like I posted above, we were having trouble, then got a small digital antenna on eBay for $50. It's way smaller than the antenna we had before- would a small one be acceptable to him? Lightning happens everywhere and people still have antennas...