Cutting the Cable (Sort Of)

I've been getting free cable for quite awhile now. I've paid for the basic package, but I got all the non-digital channels as well. This had nothing to do with me. Cable has changed so much in the past decade that most of the switch is done remotely. In the past the Cable company had to send someone out to put traps and filters on your line to block channels. Since this is a college town and people move in and out all the time most cable companies hardly have the staff to keep up with the changes. I guess 10% of the subscribers slip through the cracks. If you don't complain or have a problem there is no reason for the Cable guy to show up in your neighborhood. The people at the main office are too busy billing to check anything else.

So what the problem? I got the SciFi Channel which was great, but I also got the Disney channel, Cartoon Network, and all the other mind numbing crap as well. Some of those channel I have no problem with, others are just evil. Some channel such as Disney are just there to push product on my kids and the TV shows are really bad TV. They are shows with bad stereotypes, canned laughter, lousy plot, and poor writing. I got tried of hearing TW says "DAD! We have to get home and watch ICarly meets the Jonas brothers". What Crap! If see another High School Music anything I'm gonna go nuts.

So I cut the Cable, but not quite. Turns out if I drop my cable TV and just have the internet at home I get Charge $10 more each month! WTF! It really does piss me off. So I may start looking for a new Internet provider.

While I was at it, I pulled my TIVO subscription as well. No SciFi, NO BSG anymore, so I don't need the TIVO. I've got Netflix and fast computer hooked to my TV. I haven't missed it yet.

It will be interesting to see how the summer goes, when the only TV the kids have is Fox News, and Public Access.