Seniors driving increase in television time at the expense of reading

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm 78 and I live in a retirement home. Probably 1/3 of the tenants here do some reading and quite a few of those, me included, do a lot of reading.

Of the other 2/3 all that I'm aware of watch TV fairly regularly. A few of those claim they used to like to read but when I try to find out what they've read or when I get vague answers and I have doubts that they really ever did much reading after they got out of school.

I don't own a TV and haven't for most of my life. I used to sometimes watch TV shows at friend's houses. Now I'll watch some TV shows on the internet. But I probably spend more time reading than watching TV and among readers, even elderly ones, I don't think that's uncommon.

Barry

I had a great uncle who was born in 1900 (made keeping track of his age easy) and whenever I went over to their place he was always planted in front of the TV. And this was before cable had gobs of channels. Now I have some young neighbors and they have 3 or 4 boys and they're rarely playing in the back yard regardless of the weather and whenever I've been over there they're all in front of the TV. One time I was talking to the father out in their back yard and they even have a TV on the patio.

What bothers me is that there is so much garbage on TV and people don't realize how the "race to the bottom" in quality of TV shows is so pervasive, even on things like PBS and the BBC. You can't see it until you go cold turkey on TV for a few years.

[FizzyWater]

Just because seniors have the screen on more hours per day, it doesn't necessarily mean they're reading any less than they ever did. My mother tuns her TV on when she wakes up, then putters around the house (and outside of it). If you just count the time the TV is on, it looks like she's watching TV all day. She may stop in and watch a few minutes of this and a few of that. And maybe in the evening, she'll watch a couple of shows all the way through.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Just because seniors have the screen on more hours per day, it doesn't necessarily mean they're reading any less than they ever did. My mother tuns her TV on when she wakes up, then putters around the house (and outside of it). If you just count the time the TV is on, it looks like she's watching TV all day. She may stop in and watch a few minutes of this and a few of that. And maybe in the evening, she'll watch a couple of shows all the way through.

Even with modern energy-efficient TVs, doing that's costing her a significant amount of money - probably several hundred dollars a year in wasted electricity. It might be worth pointing that out!

[John F]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Even with modern energy-efficient TVs, doing that's costing her a significant amount of money - probably several hundred dollars a year in wasted electricity. It might be worth pointing that out!

That sounds a little high? Using this website:

https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/led-...ectricity-cost

Running a 55" oled for 16 hours a day at $.20kwh would cost $114.

[DiapDealer]

I don't really differentiate between the extremes of "only reading" and "only watching TV" in the war of "Which Churns out 'Better' Humans." I see both extremes as equally problematic in that regard, myself.

[Deskisamess]

IMO, you could do many studies about tv viewing habits, and support any POV you might have.

My elderly (almost 89) mother watches more tv in the winter, and when it's raining or too ugly to be on the porch. When she had pneumonia she watched much more. She still drives, and works in the yard a bit, though that will chance as she sold her house and is moving to an apartment.

She makes weekly trips to the library, and reads a couple of books per week. She also knits everyday, while watching tv. She rarely just sits and stares at the tv...her hands are always busy doing something. She works jigsaw puzzles too, and always has one going. There is a tv in that room, but she usually has a music channel playing, not television.

My MIL, same age as my mom, rarely if ever reads books. She reads devotional material, and daily bible passages. She loves Hallmark channel, and has it on all the time. She usually does various crossword puzzles while watching tv. She also colors little post cards for giving to friends. She no longer drives, so her tv watching is increasing, as her physical conditions changes.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Even with modern energy-efficient TVs, doing that's costing her a significant amount of money - probably several hundred dollars a year in wasted electricity. It might be worth pointing that out!

I have a feeling electric rates are higher in the UK.
A modern LCD (HDTV) 55" (big), has a typical power consumption of 90W and a Peak of 205W
In my part of the US 1 KWH is 15 cents US. That is 10 HOURS of TV watching.

We don't have a TV receiver tax, So set purchase is the final cost to own

Depending on Location, Free over the air TV may meet their content needs. In the SF Bay Area (my old location) I got 104 digital channels (50% were in languages I do not speak ) with a roof top Antenna.
In my new location, Cable or Satellite (~65-200 depending on content package) is needed for over 4 (OTA) local channels

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Lparsons21

I’m 75 and live alone. So the TV is on when I’m in the house a lot but I’m probably reading or doing something else. Just noise in the house for the most part.

Try music, any music that you enjoy. There are a lot of streamers available today. My neighbor now links his computer to a good quality speaker and plays music from Youtube much of the day instead of leaving the TV on. They have 8 hour playlists of classical, Disney, piano, you name it. My sister, who lost her husband last year, also needs the noise (first time she's living alone, ever), but she was thrilled with an Amazon Echo and gets the music streaming. That may not fit your budget, which is why I made the first suggestion.

I'm not going to beat up anybody who watches a lot of TV. I like TV when I watch it and I am subscribed to Acorn and Netflix (for my Mom, but I use it too). I happen to be a reader/listener. I am somewhat disappointed in my living relatives as almost none of them have read a book since graduating high school or college. Even my brother, who has had two strokes, was determined to keep reading, although he had to switch to simpler plots and he does text-to-speech (uses a different part of the brain). Decades of no reading? Just not in my sphere.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by John F

That sounds a little high? Using this website:

https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/led-...ectricity-cost

Running a 55" oled for 16 hours a day at $.20kwh would cost $114.

Even if that is the case, leaving the TV on unnecessarily all day long undoubtedly wastes money.

[Lparsons21]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Try music, any music that you enjoy. There are a lot of streamers available today. My neighbor now links his computer to a good quality speaker and plays music from Youtube much of the day instead of leaving the TV on. They have 8 hour playlists of classical, Disney, piano, you name it. My sister, who lost her husband last year, also needs the noise (first time she's living alone, ever), but she was thrilled with an Amazon Echo and gets the music streaming. That may not fit your budget, which is why I made the first suggestion.

I'm not going to beat up anybody who watches a lot of TV. I like TV when I watch it and I am subscribed to Acorn and Netflix (for my Mom, but I use it too). I happen to be a reader/listener. I am somewhat disappointed in my living relatives as almost none of them have read a book since graduating high school or college. Even my brother, who has had two strokes, was determined to keep reading, although he had to switch to simpler plots and he does text-to-speech (uses a different part of the brain). Decades of no reading? Just not in my sphere.

Thanks for the suggestion. I do play music a fair amount of time too. But my dog prefers the TV!

I have Homepods, Echo and Google devices all over the house. Just ‘cause I’m old doesn’t mean low or no tech.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Lparsons21]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Even if that is the case, leaving the TV on unnecessarily all day long undoubtedly wastes money.

True. My electric bill is $113/month and I’m in an all electric home. Probably $3/month of that is the TV. I’ll suffer!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Catlady]

I work at home, and my TV is on all day long. It's white noise for me, not something I'm focusing on. Music is too intrusive when I need to concentrate; I start humming/singing along in my head. But an old Leave It to Beaver episode that I've seen a hundred times? Perfect white noise.

[4691mls]

I'm guessing that for an older person who lives alone and doesn't get out much, having the TV (or a talk radio program) on with voices talking in the background may provide a feeling of companionship in a way that music wouldn't. Like if you live with family and can hear them talking even if you are in another room and are not participating in the conversation. (Heck, I'm neither elderly nor homebound and I have done this on occasion.) They may consider it money well spent, not wasted. Probably all of us spend money on things that matter to us but might seem wasteful to other people.

[Greg Anos]

Is looking at a glowing screen worse than looking at a piece of paper?

[crane3]

I did not notice whether the study differentiated between TV viewing channels & TV streaming as there is a difference in what is being viewed. I can watch a full opera on TV via Youtube or a concert performance or even listening to a full album of music rather than a track.

It did looked like TV & computer screen are lumped together as tv viewing. This does not make a difference between reading a book on Amazon unlimited which is considered "reading"? Some sites has reading online of web/light novels which is also reading.

I have downloaded video lectures on courses from Coursera & EDX to my nas for viewing on a 55" TV as the diagrams are easier to see/read. Is this viewing TV or reading?

I think the "study" is flawed since it only wants to publish a predetermined end. Anyone remember the "studies" that came out when apple produced the mac & that one can just use icons & do things visually? Several high school got some 'headlines' showing that mac users are hampered in their writing compositions skills versus the dos or windows users.