I DID it!

HenryBHough

Diamond Member
Jul 14, 2011
33,412
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Oak Grove, Massachusetts
First off, I put this in the media forum because it's about how we get information but it might equally fit in some other forum so I have no complaint if it gets relocated.

What I DID was to "cut the cord".

Today I disconnected my cable TV service, cut back my landline phone service to bare minimum and upped my internet service by more than double the speed and data allowance.

I could rationalize it on cost saving alone and that might be attractive for some of us hereabouts. With the substitutions I'm making my cost will drop by approximately $90/month!

Cable TV: I had a 150+ channel service for which I paid about $90/month. Of those channels I found I as using seven, of which four are available to me free using a small (true, unsightly) indoor antenna. One of the remaining channels I used off cable was recently changed over to a different provider with programming I won't watch. To rub salt in it, the converter box would have to be replaced with a newer one (mandatory) but for several more bucks a month. True, more features, but things I wouldn't use

The few "cable" channels I watch now come off a Roku box (others work well, too; this one was just most convenient) for which I pay zero per month of itself but I added "Sling" and "Acorn" for a total of $25/month. I already had Hulu-without-commercials so no cost change there.

Phone: Was $45/month for unlimited long distance/local calling and stuff like voicemail that I never used. Reduced service now $15/month. At $15 I'll keep it indefinitely but will one day switch over entirely to Ooma at $4.24/month. I'm already using that device (internet phone) for all my long distance and international calls.

Internet: Was 12 meg/60 gig per month for $50, upgraded to 50 meg/150 gig per month for $85. If I go over that I can buy additional in $10/increments - no surprise overage fees.

All this is a preview of what's coming and now your media access will change very soon. Hey, I qualify as "elderly" and was able to figure it out and make it work. Yes, it will be a barrier for some with no technical background but also a job opportunity for those who do have the skills.

What's coming? What people have wanted for years is a la carte TV - buy and pay for only what you want. The cable companies have not allowed that an attempts in Congress to force it have not worked out. So it's developing all on its own. The first shot was Apple TV - which offers a somewhat limited choice. Apple was (and probably still is) negotiating with the major providers but they're resisting. Dish TV had more success and now offers "Sling" - a small sub-set of the channels they offer by satellite. AT&T has pre-announced a service they'll be providing and has bought DirecTV as the vehicle.

So the big issue is acceptance. Younger generations will take to it; older will resist but actuarial tables are a bitch. Are there others among us who have cut the cord? What works for you and what doesn't?

Maybe we have a need for a new forum if there are enough interested?
 
:clap2: Welcome to the vidiot*-free zone, Henry. Huzzah.

You and I both know that radio is an inherently superior medium anyway.
And I completely agree this is a Media topic. Television is the most insidious propaganda tool ever invented.


*
 
What works for you and what doesn't?

I came to the realistion several years ago that anything I wanted to watch was available on the Innerwebs, with the exception of live sports, which I would still have to pay for with TV.

So the grand total of what didn't work out in cutting the rabbit ears would have to be expressed as Zero.
 
Been cable free for...what...two years now I guess.
It is sooooooooo much better without cable and the 50 commercials an hour.
As you learn more things to watch...trust me...you will never even THINK about going back to the cable ripoff.
 
Congratulations!

I think we've been off cable/dish/directTV for at least 10 years now. Hulu and Netflix with FTA broadcast TV for news and the extremely limited amount of sports that we watch. I can't remember the last time we had a landline. We had Vontage for awhile, but with cellphones, even that was eliminated.

So, 20 bucks a month for streaming programming, Youtube for free, Internet Archive for public domain movies free, PBS, CBS, FOX, MeTV, ABC, NBC and CW broadcast FTA free, Redbox for newish movies and a pretty decent DVD collection...I'm have more choices than time to watch.
 
2 years ago I purchased the Verizon home phone system that I take with me all over the US. I even hook it into my car while I am traveling. Plus a Verizon WiFi. The only problem is I can't Fax anything on that system. Have to go to Office Depot to Fax.
 
2 years ago I purchased the Verizon home phone system that I take with me all over the US. I even hook it into my car while I am traveling. Plus a Verizon WiFi. The only problem is I can't Fax anything on that system. Have to go to Office Depot to Fax.

Nah - there are online cheap fax services that can do that. You send them a word file, PDF etc. and they fax it.
 
2 years ago I purchased the Verizon home phone system that I take with me all over the US. I even hook it into my car while I am traveling. Plus a Verizon WiFi. The only problem is I can't Fax anything on that system. Have to go to Office Depot to Fax.

Nah - there are online cheap fax services that can do that. You send them a word file, PDF etc. and they fax it.

"Fax" ?

Somebody still faxes? :disbelief:

What is this, the Eighties?
 
Gotta admit I still have an old fax machine hooked up. Haven't used it for sending/receiving for years but, for quick and dirty copies of documents it's faster and cheaper than scanning. Especially since I still have a couple of the old carbon rolls hanging around., I would imagine that if I had to buy any I'd dump the whole thing quick.
 
What works for you and what doesn't?

I came to the realistion several years ago that anything I wanted to watch was available on the Innerwebs, with the exception of live sports, which I would still have to pay for with TV.

So the grand total of what didn't work out in cutting the rabbit ears would have to be expressed as Zero.
You can now stream ESPN which is owned by ABC..
 
First off, I put this in the media forum because it's about how we get information but it might equally fit in some other forum so I have no complaint if it gets relocated.

What I DID was to "cut the cord".

Today I disconnected my cable TV service, cut back my landline phone service to bare minimum and upped my internet service by more than double the speed and data allowance.

I could rationalize it on cost saving alone and that might be attractive for some of us hereabouts. With the substitutions I'm making my cost will drop by approximately $90/month!

Cable TV: I had a 150+ channel service for which I paid about $90/month. Of those channels I found I as using seven, of which four are available to me free using a small (true, unsightly) indoor antenna. One of the remaining channels I used off cable was recently changed over to a different provider with programming I won't watch. To rub salt in it, the converter box would have to be replaced with a newer one (mandatory) but for several more bucks a month. True, more features, but things I wouldn't use

The few "cable" channels I watch now come off a Roku box (others work well, too; this one was just most convenient) for which I pay zero per month of itself but I added "Sling" and "Acorn" for a total of $25/month. I already had Hulu-without-commercials so no cost change there.

Phone: Was $45/month for unlimited long distance/local calling and stuff like voicemail that I never used. Reduced service now $15/month. At $15 I'll keep it indefinitely but will one day switch over entirely to Ooma at $4.24/month. I'm already using that device (internet phone) for all my long distance and international calls.

Internet: Was 12 meg/60 gig per month for $50, upgraded to 50 meg/150 gig per month for $85. If I go over that I can buy additional in $10/increments - no surprise overage fees.

All this is a preview of what's coming and now your media access will change very soon. Hey, I qualify as "elderly" and was able to figure it out and make it work. Yes, it will be a barrier for some with no technical background but also a job opportunity for those who do have the skills.

What's coming? What people have wanted for years is a la carte TV - buy and pay for only what you want. The cable companies have not allowed that an attempts in Congress to force it have not worked out. So it's developing all on its own. The first shot was Apple TV - which offers a somewhat limited choice. Apple was (and probably still is) negotiating with the major providers but they're resisting. Dish TV had more success and now offers "Sling" - a small sub-set of the channels they offer by satellite. AT&T has pre-announced a service they'll be providing and has bought DirecTV as the vehicle.

So the big issue is acceptance. Younger generations will take to it; older will resist but actuarial tables are a bitch. Are there others among us who have cut the cord? What works for you and what doesn't?

Maybe we have a need for a new forum if there are enough interested?

get apple 4 from ebay or amazon all loaded and ready to go

to include hbo

need a digital antennae for local news

unless they stream

we had been paying 200 a month for direct tv

cut our land line a few years ago
 
What works for you and what doesn't?

I came to the realistion several years ago that anything I wanted to watch was available on the Innerwebs, with the exception of live sports, which I would still have to pay for with TV.

So the grand total of what didn't work out in cutting the rabbit ears would have to be expressed as Zero.
You can now stream ESPN which is owned by ABC..

I meant real sports, not ESPN --- which seems blissfully unaware of any sport that doesn't involve the letters "NFL"....

Actually in the last year I've gotten most of that from satellite radio, or when the ionospheric timing is right, good ol' terrestrial.
 

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