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I knew someone who repeatedly mentioned that they didn't have a TV. As per the TV licensing thread though they did have a laptop, and used it to watch films and, occasionally, TV programmes.
What are the acceptable circumstances to brag about it?
1) When you're a blatant fraud and have broadband and thus the technical capability to watch all the telly, but don't have a huge display in any room.
2) When you only watch films on the other smaller displays
3) If you have a large screen, but don't call it a telly and only watch films on that, and they are usually low budget independent films
4) If you have no displays including smartphones in the house.
I think really 2, 3, and 4 would be OK, but only 4 shows that you're not a massive fraud. Am I right?
Also, why is anything screen related seen as "bad" (computer games, TV, films etc) whereas radio and books are never seen as a negative thing?
I hate it now where you get on a train/whatever and everyone is staring at a phone.
i much preferred it when everyone was buried in a newspaper.
Bemuses me why they're so superior and what these mystical things they can do for 5 hours each night actually is...
We don't have a TV and feel very superior.
Does that help?
People who say they grew up in a house without a TV probably did, they just didn't know that Daddy had a secret room behind the stud wall panelling in the hallway and it was where he and Mummy loved each other very much with some added televisual stimulation.
Or at least that's what I tell people who tell me they grew up without a TV.
Yeah, the people who go on and on about it, mentioning it at every opportunity are pretty annoying.
I think something must be missing from their lives.....probably a TV.
Aren't no-TV braggers just as insufferable as no-car braggers or no-smartphone braggers?
I think something must be missing from their lives…..probably a TV.
Vegan food and Crossfit?
they're nearly as boring as militant vegans
Aren’t no-TV braggers just as insufferable as no-car braggers or no-smartphone braggers?
Good reminder, I don't have a car nor a TV! Now I can feel doubly superior!
I wish my kids were glued to the TV like the good old days. At least then I could keep an eye on what they were watching and know that at least somewhere there was some quality control even on the worst run channel.
Now they just watch you tube on their phone and I have no idea what they are being subjected to and there is no quality control or regulation at all.
As for the TV - I reckon it gets switched on once a week at most (my wife and I don't watch it very much)and just takes up space
i reminds me of my crusty friends who live in vans and pop by for a shower but 'love the freedom'.
There is a whole generation coming along who could arguably have never watched live tv. Plenty of screen time, just not live tv. Old Skool TV viewing by gen z is incredibly small.
Never been a big TV watcher but I do think society has lost something with the reduction in 'water cooler' moments talking over the latest tv series half the work place were all glued to at the same time the night before. Netflix boxset binging is a very solitary exercise.
wish my kids were glued to the TV like the good old days. At least then I could keep an eye on what they were watching
I think you pretty much nailed it with that comment
I reckon it gets switched on once a week at most (my wife and I don’t watch it very much)and just takes up space
So lets assume you get home at 6pm each day... What do you do from 6-11pm every night ?
The answer is it's never acceptable to brag about it.
but none of your examples necessarily prove they would be breaking the law re TV licences
they did have a laptop, and used it to watch films and, occasionally, TV programmes.
as long as the films or TV programmes were on a catchup app or via Fletnix etc then he is breaking no laws. if he watched TV programmes on Iplayer and had no licence then yes, law breaker
1) When you’re a blatant fraud and have broadband and thus the technical capability to watch all the telly, but don’t have a huge display in any room.
Just because they have broadband doesn't mean they use it to watch live TV via Virgin/Sky etc
2) When you only watch films on the other smaller displays
As long as these films aren't being watched as they were broadcast live then again, no issue re the law
3) If you have a large screen, but don’t call it a telly and only watch films on that, and they are usually low budget independent films
As above
4) If you have no displays including smartphones in the house.
These people are just weird
There is nothing fraudulent about watching TV without a licence as long as you don't watch it live as it's broadcast or on the Iplayer, these are the only reasons you actually by law need a licence.
Thing of the past isn't it? Telly isn't that important anymore. Bragging about no TV years ago was a good way to advertise your ignorance, because who would insulate themselves from the most important medium of the 20th century? Nowadays though it doesn't have the same impact.
Bragging about no social media is probably more the posture de jour. I'm impressed with younger people who can do this, tbh. Growing up with it yet rejecting it as corrosive insular bullshit is a meaningful position, far more than some arlarse crowing about not owning a telly.
You could acceptably brag if you managed to get a spot on Gogglebox.
RM.
So lets assume you get home at 6pm each day… What do you do from 6-11pm every night ?
6pm would be a distant pipe dream.....
Make dinner
Eat it together and talk to each other
Listen to radio (4 obvs)
Do some exercise
Get clothes and lunch ready for the next day
Read a book
Get jiggy with it
Get to bed a bit earlier than 11
i much preferred it when everyone was buried in a newspaper.
A pauper's funeral?
We have a TV which is always on but neither of us actually watch it. I've always got a book or something highly important on my smartphone (FB) and Mrs OOB is always on social media.
I've suggested we put background music on instead with no luck.
So lets assume you get home at 6pm each day… What do you do from 6-11pm every night ?
I get home by 5pm every day
Head to gym for 1.5-2 hours, back home by 7pm normally.
Domestic stuff eg Light the fire, cook dinner, eat dinner etc takes me to maybe 8.0 - 8.30
Browse the internet for 30 mins, then watch 1 hour of Netflix normally 9-10pm , then bed.
why is anything screen related seen as “bad” (computer games, TV, films etc) whereas radio and books are never seen as a negative thing?
Class is one of those things that just can't be explained.
We don’t have a TV and feel very superior.
It's a good start but you live in a terrace which cancels it out. 🙁
Browse the internet for 30 mins, then watch 1 hour of Netflix normally 9-10pm , then bed.
Which is essentially the same as watching TV really isn't it ?
Never mind a telly. I think people who haven't got full Sky Sport, BT Sport, Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions are weirdo's.
I'm presuming they go to the pub to watch Champions League games, right?
It’s a good start but you live in a terrace which cancels it out.
Must be a miner.
Which is essentially the same as watching TV really isn’t it ?
SHHHHH don't tell them
Which is essentially the same as watching TV really isn’t it ?
No, completely different! Not even close....
"So lets assume you get home at 6pm each day… What do you do from 6-11pm every night ?"
Domestic stuff, paperwork, mtb straight after work, run, drive kids around, business stuff, read, talk, online stuff, pub occasionally...oh and my wife works late and has a long commute anyway so is rarely back till 8.30-9
I dream of being able to drop onto the sofa and watch a film but it rarely happens - I've had Solo to watch for about 2 months and not yet got round to it
Also, why is anything screen related seen as “bad” (computer games, TV, films etc) whereas radio and books are never seen as a negative thing?
We always have a moral panic about new medias. All the things we say are bad about TV/social media/games - the notion that they are addictive once used as an escape from 'real life' and social interaction are exactly the same thing people said about comic books in the the 1950s and novels in the 1800s. Now if it was said that 'you can lose yourself in a book' - that somehing is a 'page-turner' (and there for addictive) thats seen as a good thing - but exactly those qualities were considered bad things when the medium was new.
Having worked on the technical side of TV for 18 years I don't feel the need to switch the TV on as soon as I walk in the room. I'll check the schedules and if there's something that interests me and I remember to turn the telly on then I'll watch it. Not subscribed to any streaming service (but that is generally how things are going in TV) given that we watch so little anyway why pay for more stuff we aren't going to watch? I accidentally signed up for a free month of Amazon Prime and there was nothing that I wanted to watch so hit the cancel button (a million times) before the month ended. I got given a Roku box through work, my wife used it a lot whilst recuperating from an operation but since then it might get used once every couple of months.
Don't watch much on Youtube* or Vimeo unless I'm looking for instructional videos on how to fix something.
As @convert says there is quite a lot to do other than sit and watch TV. A bit harder to do through winter obviously.
* A couple of years ago I had to run some YouTube tests on a product. Set up YT to autoplay the first suggestion then walk away and come back in 12 hours to see if the product was still running. Invariably no matter what "channel" I started on YouTube would end up playing Barbie World until the end of time!
If you can't make time to sit on your fat arse, shovelling crisps into your gob, drinking beer and watching football then you really need to take a long, hard look at your life.
No, completely different! Not even close….
So if you watch a series on Netflix and i watch the same series on a TV, yours is somehow 'better' ?
I get home at 2.:30pm from work each day... I've done my exercise by 4pm, I've then got 2 hours before the wife gets home.... I don't need to do 'paperwork' nor DIY.... I don't even need to do chores... as i've done them.
I'm struggling with why TV is wrong and bad....
I own several TVs, but tbh, there's naff all on.
I just brag about never watching anything that's hyped enough to lead to #trending #hashtags on twitter. Never seen DrWho (since the guy from All Creatures Great and Small), and never seen Strickly or or that show about baking cakes (that flooded my #twitter #trending #tags list all last night).
Those that exhibit a level of superiority about never having a TV would probably quite enjoy BBC4.
So if you watch a series on Netflix and i watch the same series on a TV, yours is somehow ‘better’ ?
Of course, morally and ethically superior in every way. I can't even believe you had to ask!
There is a whole generation coming along who could arguably have never watched live tv. Plenty of screen time, just not live tv. Old Skool TV viewing by gen z is incredibly small.
Never been a big TV watcher but I do think society has lost something with the reduction in ‘water cooler’ moments talking over the latest tv series half the work place were all glued to at the same time the night before. Netflix boxset binging is a very solitary exercise.
Pretty much the first para for me. I spend a lot of time looking at a screen, just not news, reality tv or Strictly bakeoff jungle. So no real sacrifice on my part as I do it all on a large computer monitor.
I didn't have TV/broadband for about 30 years from my early 20s. I had lot of social life that involved be on beaches or in a pub and occasionally watching TV at a mate's. I didn't miss it or feel left out. As for Netflix binging, well a group of us all binged on the same shows so we had plenty of water cooler chat.
People who smugly claim not to watch TV, but still watch Netflix or other streaming services on a laptop or tablet, are like people who claim to be vegetarians but still enjoy the odd bacon sandwich 🙂
There is no such thing as an odd bacon sandwich, you must be doing it wrong
Netflix is awful, you can tell that by the deliberate misspelling.
LoveFilm was acceptable, but only their postal service.
If you can’t make time to sit on your fat arse, shovelling crisps into your gob, drinking beer and watching football then you really need to take a long, hard look at your life.
+1000
I get home at 2.:30pm from work each day… I’ve done my exercise by 4pm, I’ve then got 2 hours before the wife gets home…. I don’t need to do ‘paperwork’ nor DIY…. I don’t even need to do chores… as i’ve done them.
Gotta hate those Smug part timers and all their telly watching 😉
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/stop-watching-tv/
Never been a big TV watcher but I do think society has lost something with the reduction in ‘water cooler’ moments talking over the latest tv series half the work place were all glued to at the same time the night before. Netflix boxset binging is a very solitary exercise.
People seem quite happy discussing Netflix series and recommending them to each other.
Less people using the term 'water cooler moments' can only be good for society
I don’t have a tv but watch stuff on iPad and laptop. It’s more convenient for me.
most tv is garbage. Actually most content is but it doesn’t stop me watching it....
I'm just interested.... Can I just ask the 'I don't own a TV' brigade how they consume their grot?
Is it PC/Tablet or do you keep it old school and go rummaging around in the bushes by your local electricity substation for a soggy copy of Razzle?