Author Topic: The Cruelty of Big Cable (Read 2124 times)

Perd Hapley · « **on:** May 10, 2006, 06:40:40 PM »

Dear Friends,

I do not have cable or satellite television, and in fact there is no antenna attached to my television. Yet I have family members, friends and co-workers who do have cable television, and I can no longer be deaf to their cries, their pleas for mercy.

Each year, rates go up and up. And each year, they pay for more channels that they do not want. And my friends and loved are forced, cruelly, to pay ever higher prices for European football games they do not watch, raunchy and pornographic material they would love to watch, but don't want their kids to see, and an infamous "music channel" that no longer plays music.

I see them, day after day, working through lunch because they need the money, and have no money with which to buy food, selling blood and sperm to make ends meet, and watching that awful show with Bill Maher that was pumped into Abu Graib as a means of torture. Some of them I see no longer, because they robbed and stole to make their cable money. They get free cable in prison, but the saddest of all are those reduced to tiny, tiny televisions in their homes. I cried with them as the giant, flat-screen plasma was hauled away. They were forced to choose between programming and screen size!

These horrors must stop!

K Frame · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:56:48 PM »

Dude...

Increase the dosage.

Vodka7 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2006, 08:24:51 PM »

I work for a cable company and greatly appreciated the above post.

Recently, the FCC raised one of their fees from six cents a month to seven cents a month. We, honest to God, have had multiple customers call in asking why their bill is now a penny higher.

Harold Tuttle · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2006, 08:40:30 PM »

the friggin cable company just trenched my lawn today

this is the 4th time they have screwed up my landscaping since december

i just resoded the lawn 2 weeks ago and yesterday Miss Utility showed up

guess what?

I DON"T HAVE CABLE TV!!!

Strings · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2006, 08:58:30 PM »

I think we're all missing a bigger issue here...

>Yet I have... friends<

And when, exactly, did THIS happen? :neener:

m1911owner · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:45:27 PM »

We found TV to be just too much of a time-waster. We disconnected from cable, and now the only TV we watch is DVDs from Netflix (& an occasional rental from Blockbuster) while working out our Exercise Room. (Well, OK, I work out; the kids just goof off watching DVDs.)

Art Eatman · « **Reply #6 on:** May 11, 2006, 05:17:34 AM »

I like car racing and football, and a few other programs, but I spend more time messin' around on the Inet than watching the toob.

But $50 a month for the satellite TV doesn't seem like any big deal. My neighbor's cell phone deals cost more than that. He's gotta have both digital and analog because of the types of towers in the general area, and for one the calls are all long-distance with roaming.

, Art

El Tejon · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2006, 05:32:50 AM »

Unplugged the television January 2005. The socialist poltroons in television will have to continue their Great March to Socialism without me. Cheesy

charby · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2006, 05:36:53 AM »

What bothers me is that I have to have a digital cable box to get HBO, so I have to pay for rental fees each month for the box.

I wish you could pick and choose what cable channels you want and only pay for that package of channels. With channels like Home Shopping Network and all the damn local commericals on all the channels, cable should be almost free.

C

The Rabbi · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2006, 05:40:46 AM »

Havent had a functional TV since 1991. Don't miss it at all.

grampster · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2006, 08:19:19 AM »

El T,

Are not those poltroons also pettifoggers?

Antibubba · « **Reply #11 on:** May 11, 2006, 06:11:41 PM »

I never have the desire to get high, and I enjoy the occasional drink, but if I had a TV and cable I'd watch it until my eyeballs dried out and started attracting flies.

I don't have a television anymore.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #12 on:** May 11, 2006, 07:48:23 PM »

Quote from: Antibubba

I never have the desire to get high, and I enjoy the occasional drink, but if I had a TV and cable I'd watch it until my eyeballs dried out and started attracting flies.

I don't have a television anymore.

Same here. I'm a sucker for a story, no matter how banal.

doczinn · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2006, 05:23:10 AM »

I have one, but I watch maybe one hour a week, tops. Shut the cable off.

doczinn · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2006, 08:54:58 AM »

The choices on the Internet are far, far broader, more educational (potentially), and cheaper.

gunsmith · « **Reply #15 on:** May 12, 2006, 12:09:38 PM »

gotta have it, it comes with my cheap rent though.

I have to figure out how to record and get a vcr because I work during AMW and cops and the glenn beck show
other then that it's gov propaganda fox, cnn, cspan and history...24...

jefnvk · « **Reply #16 on:** May 12, 2006, 12:23:29 PM »

Its nice to have hockey and racing to watch. Heck, even other sports. It's about all my TV gets used for though. Occasionally something will come on the History channel, OLN or that crab fishing show in Discovery (Travel?) will be on. Out of 74 channels, though, maybe 5 get watched with any regularity.

I'm paying way too much at an introductory rate though, good thing I'll be moved back to school before I have to pay the full rate.

Honestly, I wonder though if all these people complaining about gas even ever think about their cable bill. You can't tell me it cost them anywhere near $69 a month to provide me that signal on that cable.

thebaldguy · « **Reply #17 on:** May 12, 2006, 01:51:30 PM »

My first cable bill was in 1987. We got 40 channels in our basic cable for about $10.95 a month. No HBO, Showtime, or any premium channels. Just basic cable. Our last bill was around $54.00 per month. We get about 50 channels in our basic cable now, and five are shopping channels. Without cable in our inner city neighborhood, reception is horrible. My sister and brother in law have a similar basic satellite package, and they pay about the same. It doesn't work well in heavy rains. My girlfriend and I watch about 12-15 channels in the package on a regular basis. We can afford cable tv, but every month I open the bill it sets me off...I know it's a ripoff, but I love my news channels and the girlfriend likes her channels.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #18 on:** May 12, 2006, 08:01:01 PM »

I almost forgot to point out the whole point of this thread, in case you missed it. I am getting sick and tired of the grousing about ala carte cable and the high prices. Some people are discussing this as if it actually had any importance. You don't like your cable service? Make your own.

Strings · « **Reply #19 on:** May 12, 2006, 08:55:23 PM »

Heck... I'm still trying to figure out when you got friends, man! :neener:

Firethorn · « **Reply #20 on:** May 13, 2006, 02:19:02 AM »

personally, I agree with fistful. My current choice, and it's a perfectly valid one, is 'none'. It's not worth $50 a month to get cable for me. The cables have at least some compitition from the dishes. Plus, as it's not a critical service, if they can't make it 'worth it' for families, they will simply do without. It's not like you can't get lots of series on DVD today.

My televison hasn't been tuned to a station in about 3 years. (It's been that long?!?). And that was when I programed it when I first moved here. Instead, it's used for DVD watching and console gaming.

I had cable for a short period years and years ago when a roomie bought it for a few months, ended up dropping it because we were getting better quality out of the broadcast stations. The closest I came was I called the cable company to inquire about their cable internet service, but they didn't answer their phone, so I haven't tried again.

If I were to get cable, it'd be for three channels. Not 40, three. Sci-Fi, Cartoon, and a news. If they're not too expensive, I might pay a few more bucks for some of the nature/science stations. My work has cable(and no radio reception, and no radios are allowed in, well, you get the point), and when I have to work weekends/nights tuning the boob tube to a music station was nice. Not even VH1 plays music anymore, reducing my choices to country(yuck) and rap(yuck).

griz · « **Reply #21 on:** May 13, 2006, 07:21:12 AM »

Quote

I am getting sick and tired of the grousing about ala carte cable and the high prices

At the risk of getting attacked, I feel the same way about gas prices. Why did you buy a behemoth SUV to pick the kids up from school if a 15 percent rise in the cost of gas will be that much of a hardship?

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #22 on:** May 13, 2006, 07:48:10 AM »

Why you!

At risk of also getting attacked, would it also be appropriate to say, "If you don't like the price of gas, get your own."? Could one start one's own cable company or start one's own oil firm?

About gas, it annoys me to hear people whine about how we aren't developing enough alternatives. If we haven't developed the alternatives, it's probably because gasoline and diesel are more efficient at this point.

doczinn · « **Reply #23 on:** May 13, 2006, 02:27:45 PM »

Well, there is a lag time for tings like this, but in general you're right. The market, if allowed, will find the best way. The market, so far, has decided that petroleum products are the best way.

News:

Author Topic: The Cruelty of Big Cable (Read 2124 times)

Strings

Strings