Cable and Internet - Cold Turkey

[IslandsAC]

Ok, I've been on the fence, but I think I'm going to finally cancel my Charter Cable and Internet bundle.

 

This is a big step for me since I live alone and on the nights I don't have softball, I basically come home from work and sit around on the internet and watch the Brewers until I go to bed (hence, one of the reasons I'm thinking about getting rid of it). All I watch on TV are the Brewers, but I would enjoy them just as much by listening to Bob and Jim. I don't really mind paying for it, although it is pretty steep for the amount I use it, but I'm really sick and tired of Charter and it would just be a load off my mind to be free from their shackles.

 

I figure without the temptation, I'll hopefully find something more constructive to do with my time (although that remains to be seen). Plus there's a library right down the street where I can get on the internet if I need to.

 

Anyone else ever gone without cable and/or internet for an extended period of time??

 

 

(tag consolidation --1992)

[brewers19]

Wait, doesn't no internet mean... no Brewerfan.net?

[mothershipconnection]

Yeah, I went a few months and it sucked. The cable you can go without (I wasn't in the Brewers market, so that softened the loss), but internet is pretty much necessary for most people. You should be able to get out of Charter's clutches with DSL, and could get satellite unless you live somewhere that won't allow it. Buy a decent UHF antenna and you'll get several free channels in most places. I get like 15 channels in MSP with an antenna I scored online for $27.

[saget]

Not being able to watch the games drives me insane pretty much every day. But that's just me.

[pitchleague]

yeah, I'd chime in that you might want to wait until baseball season is over at least. Especially with the Brewers in the race.

[ajgodson]

I've done it.....I haven't had cable since '04 and it's been fine. I miss the easy updates of sportscenter, but I'm better off for not being subjected to ESPN in general. What really killed me was not having internet. That lasted about 3 months, which was far too long. I paid more in library parking tickets during those 3 months than internet would have cost me.

 

Without TV I go to more games...which is cool. I usually do something productive, but sometimes wish I had it. I watch a lot of shows online...everything from ABC, comedy central and a bunch of other stations are available the day after it's on, so you can watch stuff if you're really up for it.

 

For me, no TV was a great move....no internet [shudder]....

[zingsheim]

I could go without internet, but I'd still keep the cable.

[jason21nl]

I'm very pathetic. I couldn't live without tv and internet. They go hand in hand. I'm watching the tv, and the laptop is well, on my lap. If you can go cold turkey and quit both, you're a better man than I.

[RyDogg66]

Ive been living with just 3 channels (fox, abc, nbc) for a year now and dont miss the cable at all. The internet is another story.

[brettac1]

I had withdrawls when my DSL was out for a couple days a month or so ago.

 

It felt like I was just missing all kinds of stuff.

 

I don't watch a lot of TV, outside of the Brewers and other baseball, football, and usually boxing. I watch most of the TV shows I watch on DVD rather than watch them week by week, so I wouldn't miss anything there.

[logan82]

If they would put out more decent videogames I doubt I would miss either much. Of course missing Brewers games would be tough.

[M Skjellyfetti]

I went without the internet from last January to May. It was actually kind of cool, because I realized that I suddenly had tons of extra time to do stuff. It seemed like it was going to be difficult finding stuff to do with all the new free time at first, but within a few weeks or so, I got used to it. I'd recommend giving it a try, because there's probably a lot of better things that can be done instead of chilling on the internet.

[SeriesFinale]

Ive been living with just 3 channels (fox, abc, nbc) for a year now and dont miss the cable at all. The internet is another story.

 

Same here, we ditched cable a few years ago and I can't say I miss it...we spent so much time watching garbage when we had it that you scarcely realize at the time.

 

On the other hand, the internet has its tether hooks in me...I feel like at the least it's a little more interactive than television.

[IslandsAC]

And don't worry, I realize the futility of asking a very involved internet community about the downfalls of cold-shouldering the internet. I can tell you right now that I wouldn't miss cable at all. I've become very attached to the internet, but anything that I NEED the internet for, I can take care of at work (err, I mean over my lunch break?)

 

I would anticipate an increased amount of reading, exercising, making actual meals, etc... but I'm sure I'll find some other mindless activity to fill the void.

[bork]

I've been without cable for 6 years now and I don't miss it at all. I guess part of it was because I grew up in Montana with only 2 channels. We even went a number of years without a TV at all.

 

But I couldn't do without the Internet for very long. I tried to give up the Internet for Lent this year. I was only partly successful. I didn't use it at home and got a lot done around the house. But then I found myself using it more at work, so that was no good. The only time I'm without the Internet is when I'm on vacation for a week. But then we're so busy having fun, that I don't miss it.

[gypcasino]

My parents didn't even get a color TV until 1985 and they still don't have cable.

I grew up without cable and now I will not be deprived.

[burniebrewer]

I could do without cable (DirecTV), but I can't give up Extra Innings. I have an excellent monitor and fast connection, so I could get the mlb.com feed, but I hate watching stuff like that on the computer.

[GAME05]

i've found there's no middle ground with me, that i can't watch any helthy amount of TV. it's either always on or always off.

 

i didn't get cable when i moved to NC two years ago, and apartment reception only gets me two fuzzy channels (one being the WB, which is is never worth watching). i'll end up watching 15 minutes of some show i can barely make out, plus it's usually some garbage like Friends, and it's the best motivation to do anything else. i don't miss television one bit.

 

plus as a single person, the last thing i need is to fall in the habit of watching tv all the time and never leaving the apartment.

 

wish i could dump the computer, too, but it's just not an option right now.

[SenatorShriv]

I went all last summer without cable and internet. It is just too expensive for one person to pay the whole bill. Once my roommates moved in we decided to hook it up. We tried to avoid Charter but there was no way to do any combination of both for a reasonably comparable price. I ended up taking my dog out on a lot of jogs and reading more. It also meant that I spent a lot of time at the Blue Moon for the AC and Brewer games.

 

You know where my place is. If you're ever going through withdrawls over a lack of Brewer games just invite yourself over.

[DuWayne Steurer]

When I had elbow surgery 4 years ago, I more or less became an internet/message board addict. There wasn't much else to do, and I was out of work for almost 18 months. There were about 3 message boards, as well as countless sites that I visited every day that if I didn't see them all at LEAST once a day, I was wondering what I was missing out on.

 

Like any addiction, they're tough to break, but once you do, you really do realize what you've *actually* been missing out on.

 

We bought a new house and moved in April, and I find I really don't have time for surfing the web all that often, and the more time I spend away from it, the less I feel the urge to be on it.

 

I still check here now and then, I check the weather every day (It's a heck of a lot faster than waiting for Local On The 8's!) and I'll read the news a little bit, but that's about all I have time (or the inclination) for anymore.

 

As for the tv, I think it's probably the same deal. If you tear yourself away from it, you find you don't miss much after a while. I don't watch anything "regular" anymore. I still watch tv, but there's no program that I'm hooked to on a weekly basis.

 

As for the Brewers, I think Jim and Bob are in many ways preferable to watching on tv.

[IslandsAC]

Just got off the phone with Charter and by this time tomorrow I'll be living in the stone age. It was actually one of the most concise and efficient phone conversations I've ever had with a member of their award-winning staff, clocking in at just under 5 hours. Ok, so it was only about 10 minutes. Good riddance anyway. (...that is, until I inevitably come crawling back to them with my tail between my legs in a couple weeks)

[aracko]

Good Luck dude. I seriously envy you.

[Principessa21]

Andy, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Did Conor and I leaving make you lose your mind? I would rather starve than not have cable. Don't be a stranger to facebook.

[IslandsAC]

haha, well don't worry, i'll find a way to circumvent the internet filter at work so I can still waste hours a day on facebook. except now it'll be on the company dime, not mine.

 

booyah.

[TooLiveBrew]

Booyah is right, buddy. Take that, Initech! Glad to hear we won't be missing you... http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif