Quiet times

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

"I don't watch TV, but I DO watch TV."

Why do so many people try to make some sort of distinction? Say you don't watch much TV. Say you don't watch cable TV. Say you don't watch TV with commercials. Say you don't watch TV shows when they originally aired. But make no mistake ... what you've described is "watching tv." You do it. You even admit to being interested sometimes when you do. It's OK. Just say it. You watch some television.

Umm... actually no. I watch Netflix on my tablet. My TV set doesn't even have an internet connection.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Umm... actually no. I watch Netflix on my tablet. My TV set doesn't even have an internet connection.

Keep telling yourself there's a difference.
My TV doesn't have an internet connection either. Yet I still watch Netflix on it. Netflix is television. How you consume the show(s) makes no difference. Just like consuming ebooks is still reading books (even though there's no "book" involved). You watch TV. It's OK. No one thinks less of you because of it.

[taosaur]

The only DC show I'm still watching is Black Lightning. I watched 2 or 3 seasons each of Arrow and The Flash, but both got so soap operatic, with performances to match. I'm pretty well burnt out on the superhero thing in general, I think.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You watch TV. It's OK. No one thinks less of you because of it.

Yep. I don’t watch TV because I don’t like TV. Not because I think it’s bad or there’s anything wrong with it, I just don’t like the process. I especially don’t like the noise.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

But that episode dribbling on TV, one episode at a time... can't stand it.

That’s the only way I can stand it. One episode a week is about as much as I’d want to watch. Then you can think about it for a bit and in another week, you can see the next episode. A weekend spent bingeing on a show sounds like absolute hell to me.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Keep telling yourself there's a difference.
My TV doesn't have an internet connection either. Yet I still watch Netflix on it. Netflix is television. How you consume the show(s) makes no difference. Just like consuming ebooks is still reading books (even though there's no "book" involved). You watch TV. It's OK. No one thinks less of you because of it.

Well, by your definition I do watch TV. I have no beef with it. It's just that I've always thought TV to mean cable TV, yes. Or satellite TV, or free national TV. Not something you watch online in an app. Is Youtube also TV, then?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

That’s the only way I can stand it. One episode a week is about as much as I’d want to watch. Then you can think about it for a bit and in another week, you can see the next episode. A weekend spent bingeing on a show sounds like absolute hell to me.

Why should it be more of a hell than to spend a weekend binge-reading? I don't like noise either. No way could I watch something for hours with speakers blaring at full blast. I usually watch on my tablet, curled on my sofa, sound level pretty low, using subtitles so I don't have to strain to hear what's being said. Almost the same experience as reading a book (even the sofa is the same )

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Is Youtube also TV, then?

Are you watching shows (with actors, scripts, directors, producers) on it? Then yes. Saturday Night Live is TV whether watched live on cable/satellite/antenna, live on Youtube/Hulu/Sling, streamed on Hulu, Youtube, Netflix, Amazon. On a TV, PC, laptop, tablet, or phone. Same for any show/series produced for consumption by audiences. How you "watch TV" hasn't been limited to the type of device you're looking at for a long time now.

Let me ask you a question. What is the distinction you're trying to make? How is being curled up with a tablet watching a show on low volume with subtitles a different activity than being curled up watching the same show on low volume with subtitles on a television?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Are you watching shows (with actors, scripts, directors, producers) on it? Then yes. Saturday Night Live is TV whether watched live on cable/satellite/antenna, live on Youtube/Hulu/Sling, streamed on Hulu, Youtube, Netflix, Amazon. On a TV, PC, laptop, tablet, or phone. Same for any show/series produced for consumption by audiences. How you "watch TV" hasn't been limited to the type of device you're looking at for a long time now.

Let me ask you a question. What is the distinction you're trying to make? How is being curled up with a tablet watching a show on low volume with subtitles a different activity than being curled up watching the same show on low volume with subtitles on a television?

I don't watch anything on Youtube, it was just a question.

To my mind, it's not really the device (after all, one can watch cable TV on a tablet as well, so my mention of a tablet was more of a joke), but the program. I've always thought of TV as a fixed program, where I can't really choose what I watch. Or when, except within the limits of a fixed period (a week with my cable subscription). Yes, I can change channels, but the program is still pre-determined on another channel as well. With streaming services I can choose whatever I want to watch or when, even months after the initial release. So I've never thought of them as television. Perhaps there's something different about TV in the US, the selection between different providers and channels is almost certainly bigger.

I don't think watching TV makes someone a worse person in some way. All my family members and acquaintances watch TV, after all. And I can't say I never watch cable TV either. I do watch something once or twice a month, perhaps.

[DiapDealer]

Thanks for the explanation. Perhaps it IS a cultural thing. It just never occurred to me that watching a produced show/series would be called anything other than "watching television." Regardless of how it was being viewed. If someone calls me and asks me what I'm doing, I'm probably never going to say "watching Netflix," or "watching Amazon Prime." I'm going to say I'm "watching TV."

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

To my mind, it's not really the device (after all, one can watch cable TV on a tablet as well, so my mention of a tablet was more of a joke), but the program. I've always thought of TV as a fixed program, where I can't really choose what I watch. Or when, except within the limits of a fixed period (a week with my cable subscription). Yes, I can change channels, but the program is still pre-determined on another channel as well. With streaming services I can choose whatever I want to watch or when, even months after the initial release. So I've never thought of them as television. Perhaps there's something different about TV in the US, the selection between different providers and channels is almost certainly bigger.

I think the mix of available services has blurred the lines to the point that how / where / when one watches doesn't define the type of content itself anymore, if that makes sense. I have Youtube TV. The channels are live, like regular TV, but there is also a lot of on-demand content, plus it comes with unlimited DVR with recordings that don't expire for 9 months, so I can record and either watch the new stuff from that week or wait and binge at my leisure.

I watch a ton of TV compared to some. Sometimes I tell my roommate, "I'm watching my shows!" and I realize I sound just like my mom and grandmother did when I was a kid. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Thanks for the explanation. Perhaps it IS a cultural thing. It just never occurred to me that watching a produced show/series would be called anything other than "watching television." Regardless of how it was being watched.

Yep. Here, when someone mentions watching TV, it's almost always cable TV they mean (or our free national TV which has only two channels, so most people subscribe to a cable TV provider). There are very few streaming services legally available here, Netflix, Amazon, also a couple of local ones (but those are offered by the same cable providers and part of their general subscription plans, so they don't really count) and that's it (unless something's changed recently). So people still think of streaming and TV as two different things.

[BelleZora]

Since being ordered to stay home I've read even more than usual. I try to walk around the neighborhood every day if I can catch a dry spell with all the rain. Yesterday my son-in-law's father died from Covid-19. I've known him for almost thirty years. He was a dear, sweet, much-loved man. I'm so very sad for his family. I have several vulnerable family members I worry about, but just have to get through this one day at a time.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Since being ordered to stay home I've read even more than usual. I try to walk around the neighborhood every day if I can catch a dry spell with all the rain. Yesterday my son-in-law's father died from Covid-19. I've known him for almost thirty years. He was a dear, sweet, much-loved man. I'm so very sad for his family. I have several vulnerable family members I worry about, but just have to get through this one day at a time.

I'm sorry for your lose. I would be pretty sad if anyone that I've known for 30 years died. One day at a time is how one takes it these days.

Reading more and walking when the weather permits is pretty much what I'm doing as well. I only have a few at high risk people who I'm close to that I worry about- my mother, an old college roommate who just went through chemo. I think the biggest thing I miss with the social distancing thing is not having the daily interaction with people that I know.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yep. Here, when someone mentions watching TV, it's almost always cable TV they mean (or our free national TV which has only two channels, so most people subscribe to a cable TV provider). There are very few streaming services legally available here, Netflix, Amazon, also a couple of local ones (but those are offered by the same cable providers and part of their general subscription plans, so they don't really count) and that's it (unless something's changed recently). So people still think of streaming and TV as two different things.

Most people that I run into tend to refer to streaming and TV the same way. I hear a lot of people say the same thing - I don't watch TV anymore, I just stream.

[mlewis78]

Watching a show, whether streamed or on cable, whether on a flat screen TV or a tablet or a phone, is still watching TV.

I know people on facebook who brag about never watching TV and then they tell you about a movie or tv show they are watching on their Apple large screen monitor. That's watching TV. I don't know why they feel superior. It's the same activity.