No television in this house
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I am in a minority group of people in this country in that I am one of those rare individuals who happen NOT to own a television. I currently rent my house (property prices is another gripe!) and when I moved here I was bombarded by letters from the TV licensing people who more or less demanded that I buy a TV licence. Naturally I ignored all of these letters for months and months with the vague idea that I could perhaps paper a wall with them one day. |
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Eventually however, I succumbed to the torment and decided to tell these morons that I didn't own a television and therefore had no intention of buying a TV licence. I did all of this online of course; there was no way on earth I was going to waste money on a stamp or a phonecall to tell these people that I didn't have something! Anyway, to the point of the gripe. It's not the constant harassment from the TV Licensing people that annoys me. It's the attitude of other people that I find quite incredible and a bit irritating. |
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If you work in an office (as I used to) there is the usual banter about what was on the box the night before and when the conversation swings round to you with "Did you see that last night?"; you get the usual sea of dumbstruck faces when you explain that you don't have a TV and you don't really want one. People just can't cope with the fact that you don't own a television. |
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It's as if you have just spent most of your "life on mars", because they just don't understand how you can live without a TV. For example my girlfriend has a daughter by her ex-husband and he seriously believes that her development is going to be stunted because we don't have a telly, therefore she wont be able to watch "CBeebies" like all the other kids. I think the more likely scenario is that she will grow up a little bit smarter because she'll have spent more time reading, playing and communicating instead of being dumped in front of the box as so many parents are apt to do. |
$AS125x125$ |
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So there you have it. It is possible to live in a television free environment and still be normal - really it is! By the way, it's not that I don't enjoy movies and television programmes. It's just that I prefer to watch what I want, when I want. Hence we have that wonderful thing called the Internet, a PC, a DVD player and a projector. Video on demand is in fact here now for those of you who don't want to be passive consumers of commercial junk. By the way, I really can't stand the adverts and that was another good reason to toss the goggle box in the bin! By: Kenny |
Comments from visitors
We have a tv. Personally I don't watch it much as I work all day and then have other things to do in the evening. There's the odd thing I enjoy on there but nothing I couldn't live without. My wife on the other hand watches loads of tv.
I think that the tv licence is a waste of money but what concerns me more are the mumblings every now and then about internet viewing. I think it is only a matter of time that people will need a tv licence just to have a broadband connection. If they don't do that then there'll be a surcharge added to your subscription in a manner that you cannot avoid paying it. The only reason it isn't already there (or is it and we don't know?) is that they know how much outrage there'll be. Interesting times ahead maybe.
I think that the tv licence is a waste of money but what concerns me more are the mumblings every now and then about internet viewing. I think it is only a matter of time that people will need a tv licence just to have a broadband connection. If they don't do that then there'll be a surcharge added to your subscription in a manner that you cannot avoid paying it. The only reason it isn't already there (or is it and we don't know?) is that they know how much outrage there'll be. Interesting times ahead maybe.
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Me too.I have just received yet another letter today from them & I too haven't had a tv for years.It's so annoying as they just don't seem to get it that some of us choose not to have a tv for whatever reasons.
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Mrs K H Hemmings - 1-Apr-11 11:39
No television here either, just found your blog here after doing the same as yourself, sick fed up receiving the letters so decided to sign online that I don't have a tv.
I don't have a tv for 2 reasons, the first being that I really grudge paying a tv license., With the digitasl switchover the bbc should have put their money where their mouth was and showed that people really want the BBC by making it sub based and encrypt the channel, that would prove once and for all that people wanted to watch bbc, but alas they havent because they are greedy and lazy and know the vast majority wouldnt pay for it.
The second reason for not having a tv is because we dont need them anymore. If I want to watch something I download it and watch as and when I please, most importantly I am watching WHAT I want and not being bombarded with rubbish repeats or substandard programmes.
I do admit I watch iplayer, for now anyway, until they turn that into a license fee needed aswell, no doubt they are concocting some scheme to make us pay, the science programmes and some of the history is worth a watch, but I can live without that aswell should they manage to implement some fees, I dont think its worth paying for.
I don't have a tv for 2 reasons, the first being that I really grudge paying a tv license., With the digitasl switchover the bbc should have put their money where their mouth was and showed that people really want the BBC by making it sub based and encrypt the channel, that would prove once and for all that people wanted to watch bbc, but alas they havent because they are greedy and lazy and know the vast majority wouldnt pay for it.
The second reason for not having a tv is because we dont need them anymore. If I want to watch something I download it and watch as and when I please, most importantly I am watching WHAT I want and not being bombarded with rubbish repeats or substandard programmes.
I do admit I watch iplayer, for now anyway, until they turn that into a license fee needed aswell, no doubt they are concocting some scheme to make us pay, the science programmes and some of the history is worth a watch, but I can live without that aswell should they manage to implement some fees, I dont think its worth paying for.
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I subscribe to Sky, everything except 'sport', in which I am utterly disinterested, mainly because it's not sport but big and dirty business, and movies, because I'd rather get the DVD when it comes out than wait for it to appear on Sky.
I switch the TV on twice a day, to watch a news bulletin, usually early morning and late evening. Then it goes off. I usually check the listings and if there is a documentary, film, music programme, or news feature of interest I will watch or record that.
The TV is never on unless it is being actively watched, I detest it as background noise or distraction, and if visitors come, it goes off regardless of what is on.
I have never watched any soap opera, 'reality' show, or any of the other daily diet of bilge that seem to occupy most people's shallow lives.
As the previous poster said : ..... "I have an apartment full of books. I socialise every single day. I read and write everyday. I get out everyday. I exercise...and when I got to the cinema it is a real experience. "
I also cook every day, I don't have a microwave, preferring to cook real food the real way from scratch, not heating up ready made meals. I realise I am more fortunate than many others in having the time to do all this, but it's partly about choices. If people wasted less time watching trash on TV they would have more time to enrich their own lives and the lives of those around them. It's about time management and priorities. As Alexandr the meerkat would say : "Simples!"
I switch the TV on twice a day, to watch a news bulletin, usually early morning and late evening. Then it goes off. I usually check the listings and if there is a documentary, film, music programme, or news feature of interest I will watch or record that.
The TV is never on unless it is being actively watched, I detest it as background noise or distraction, and if visitors come, it goes off regardless of what is on.
I have never watched any soap opera, 'reality' show, or any of the other daily diet of bilge that seem to occupy most people's shallow lives.
As the previous poster said : ..... "I have an apartment full of books. I socialise every single day. I read and write everyday. I get out everyday. I exercise...and when I got to the cinema it is a real experience. "
I also cook every day, I don't have a microwave, preferring to cook real food the real way from scratch, not heating up ready made meals. I realise I am more fortunate than many others in having the time to do all this, but it's partly about choices. If people wasted less time watching trash on TV they would have more time to enrich their own lives and the lives of those around them. It's about time management and priorities. As Alexandr the meerkat would say : "Simples!"
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Until this year I had no washing machine, fridge freezer, toaster, microwave, heating, music system of any kind or TV.
I still have no TV. I have an apartment full of books. I socialise every single day. I read and write everyday. I get out everyday. I paint. I exercise...and when I got to the cinema it is a real experience.
I've nothing against TV at all (a lot of it is damn interesting), but I am so sick of being invited over to friend's homes to see them only to sit in a room and watch TV or movies back-to-back in almost silence. Often when I suggest we do something else they say 'like what?' as though I'm suggesting we go bunjee jumping. When I say, 'sit and chat, exercise (go swimming together etc), go for a walk, paint, read poetry, make music (play guitar etc), do crafts (make cards, jewelrey, do DIY), play games (chess or mah jong or go play darts or pool even), do voluntary work together or take the kids out or bake with them or do pasta pictures...whatever...they look at me like I'm crazy.
Even if some of the time we watched TV and then some of the time we did something else...I just don't want to sit infront of a box all the time. If I only live once, I want to experience things, not just watch other people experience them on TV.
I still have no TV. I have an apartment full of books. I socialise every single day. I read and write everyday. I get out everyday. I paint. I exercise...and when I got to the cinema it is a real experience.
I've nothing against TV at all (a lot of it is damn interesting), but I am so sick of being invited over to friend's homes to see them only to sit in a room and watch TV or movies back-to-back in almost silence. Often when I suggest we do something else they say 'like what?' as though I'm suggesting we go bunjee jumping. When I say, 'sit and chat, exercise (go swimming together etc), go for a walk, paint, read poetry, make music (play guitar etc), do crafts (make cards, jewelrey, do DIY), play games (chess or mah jong or go play darts or pool even), do voluntary work together or take the kids out or bake with them or do pasta pictures...whatever...they look at me like I'm crazy.
Even if some of the time we watched TV and then some of the time we did something else...I just don't want to sit infront of a box all the time. If I only live once, I want to experience things, not just watch other people experience them on TV.
-8
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Not having a television has nothing to do w/being holier-than-thou and everything to do w/getting rid of an addiction. My television died a hideous death in Aug. of 1999. Because I thought I was going to be moving from my apartment into a new house in about a month's time, I didn't replace it right away. But due to various complications, I didn't end up moving for a few months. Since I didn't know when I would be able to move, I still didn't replace the TV. When I finally got settled into my new place, I had been w/o a TV long enough to ask myself whether I really wanted one and was surprised that the answer was no.
Since then, I have found that I'm calmer, my thoughts don't race around at the pace of television any more and I don't need that much to entertain me and keep me occupied. Getting free from TV honestly felt like being free of a drug. It was like my head was finally clear for the first time. I've also found that my inclination to see films has dropped to nil because I don't see the trailers.
A lady trying to sell me satellite over the phone once was dumbfounded that I don't have a television. She asked me first how I got my news and I told her: newpaper, radio, internet, word-of-mouth. She then asked what I did for fun and I listed a whole host of things, ending with, "I just don't watch television."
It's been over 11 yrs and I still don't miss it. My husband's 57 and he's been television-free since he moved out of the house at 18. It can be done.
Since then, I have found that I'm calmer, my thoughts don't race around at the pace of television any more and I don't need that much to entertain me and keep me occupied. Getting free from TV honestly felt like being free of a drug. It was like my head was finally clear for the first time. I've also found that my inclination to see films has dropped to nil because I don't see the trailers.
A lady trying to sell me satellite over the phone once was dumbfounded that I don't have a television. She asked me first how I got my news and I told her: newpaper, radio, internet, word-of-mouth. She then asked what I did for fun and I listed a whole host of things, ending with, "I just don't watch television."
It's been over 11 yrs and I still don't miss it. My husband's 57 and he's been television-free since he moved out of the house at 18. It can be done.
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I must admit to downloading some programmes (not altogether legally); usually an episode that I happened to have missed of something we normally watch, but occasionally a whole series of something the BBC or ITV has got us hooked on and then let go to Sky, like House and Dexter.
However I don't mind paying the licence fee at all; although I records just about everything it's still a pain to have to fast forward through adverts every few minutes, so anything from the BBC is most welcome. They also do have some really good programmes too! As Tee Vee mentions, there are some really good documentaries, as well as stuff like Dr. Who and QI.
However I don't mind paying the licence fee at all; although I records just about everything it's still a pain to have to fast forward through adverts every few minutes, so anything from the BBC is most welcome. They also do have some really good programmes too! As Tee Vee mentions, there are some really good documentaries, as well as stuff like Dr. Who and QI.
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grumpyoldwoman - 1-Feb-11 13:39
Tee Vee, we download dude and watch it on a massive screen at our leisure. The Internet provides telly on demand and no licence required. No TV sometimes means just not owning a box and a receiver that you have to pay a licence for.
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No television either - 1-Feb-11 12:27
Do those who refuse to watch TV at all not think they're missing out on some great TV. I obviously dont mean Eastenders but what about the amazing Planet Earth (especially in HD) and pretty much anything with Prof. Brian Cox in. You might scoff at those who watch TV but my ownership of one does not mean I'm having "my brain numbed".
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andreas just because my actions don't push your buttons or your imagination cannot understand my acceptance of the rules, I still accept your petty meanness without question, but choose to ignore your mud hut attitude to civilisation & sit all smug in front of my TV. Feel free to never do pay my friend.
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Well andreas, that's ok if you've got a good enough connection. Some of us don't!
I can connect my laptop to the tv but if I try to watch anything live it just breaks up all the time.
I can connect my laptop to the tv but if I try to watch anything live it just breaks up all the time.
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grumpyoldwoman - 1-Feb-11 11:17
I watch live tv all the time on my laptop, I will continue to do so and I have never paid for a tv licence and I will never do pay. I cant imagine that someone can be so stupid as to go himself and say to those people: hey if u must know I watch live tv so I feel the need to pay you… WTF!!!
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We are still in exactly the same position at 11 Malvern Avenue, Gatley, in that we do not watch television by any means whatsoever. We have previously tried to tell you this on your website, but our message was not conveyed to you because of an automatic reaction that it contained an error because we did not quote our televsison licence number. This we found not only frustrating but insulting. Why should we have a licence if we do not watch at all? Could you clean up your act and stop refusing to take note of messages such as this?
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We got rid of the television twenty years ago, while living in a valley with no signal. We do have to respond to letters from TV Licensing, but it's a small price to pay for not having our brains numbed,
Would be interested to know if other telly-frees have found they have become more sensitive to unwanted moving images; a bit like cigarette smoke, you only notice when you give up.
Would be interested to know if other telly-frees have found they have become more sensitive to unwanted moving images; a bit like cigarette smoke, you only notice when you give up.
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We went on a paradise holiday far away and did not watch telly for 2 whole weeks. What a therapy! We felt happy and stress free, un-opinionated, non-judgemental, non-argumentative, unpolitical and free mind, free from the influence of the smelly telly world.! Yay!!
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I don't have a tv as I can't afford to buy one yet. I've just moved into a flat for the first time. At first I thought oh no what am I going to do? But now it's the norm for me, I come home and put music on instead or surf the net. I don't have time to watch tv most evenings as I'm either out, working or at night school. We can live without it, we just need other things to do in life.
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Craig 04-Apr-2010 21:34 "I am embarrassed for you..."
You can't feel 'embarrased for him', you can only feel 'embarassed' yourself fella. But your comments are a nice example of 'normalisation', and probably a bit of 'projection' too.
You can't feel 'embarrased for him', you can only feel 'embarassed' yourself fella. But your comments are a nice example of 'normalisation', and probably a bit of 'projection' too.
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I totally agree with you, I've not got a TV either. I find them very intrusive. I've always thought that when TV became popular that was the beginning of the breakdown of family life. People just stopped talking to each other at home in favour of watching the 'one eyed idol'. I get the odd looks and comments at work too but rise above them; I tell them.... 'No, I don't have a TV, I have a life!.'
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The government backed jobs for the boys bbc extortioners apparantly, send these letters by computer and bluff.Then hope you will communicate one way or another, [they even charge you] saving them time and money.I mean for example,the D.V.L.A. dont send threat letters if there is no record of a vehicle licence at one's address!See www.bbcresistance.com
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I don't do tv either. Oddly, the reactions that I get from people are positive. It's almost as though they consider watching tv as being on par with smoking. "That's great for you! I wish I could do that. My family watches way too much."
Kudos to you; however, it has been an uphill battle for me trying to convert my co-workers to being non-watchers. They aren't ready to hear about the effects on the brain that tv watching has, especially for the kids.
Kudos to you; however, it has been an uphill battle for me trying to convert my co-workers to being non-watchers. They aren't ready to hear about the effects on the brain that tv watching has, especially for the kids.
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