The Smith family is taking a huge step. It is so huge I had to add a new category named “life changes” to our blog because nothing else sufficed. I believe I am making the biggest sacrifice here, but I think that Michelle might argue that she is giving up the most these days. So what is this momentous change I am talking about? Well, I am sure you have deciphered it based on the subject heading. We have cancelled cable television!
I admittedly watch too much TV. My parents never had cable when I was growing up, but even then I watched whatever was on. So you can imagine that I watched a bunch of bad shows, but at least that was in a glorious time before reality TV hit big. But once I got to college (past my first semester) my eyes were opened by the offerings of cable television. Of course, that was before I was paying for it myself.
It has now been almost 9 years that I have been paying for cable myself. And I cannot claim one good experience with the cable companies. Their practices border on the criminal. I don’t think they spend most of their time on the just side of that border. I’ll never know how the companies are able to legally maintain their regional monopoly scheme. Whether it is Time Warner or Comcast, the result is the same. Low quality product at a high cost with terrible customer service.
Their product is always changing, they never provide exactly what you want without giving you a bunch of stuff you don’t want. Recent experiences have showed me that the uncompressed over-the-air (OTA) network high definition broadcasts look better than what the cable company provides. Their high costs are what was the final straw. They charge a significant rate for their service, but what angers me is the extra charges…
When I moved into my house 4 years ago, I finally asked for the HD DVR box, at the time it was $7 a month and you couldn’t buy it outright (now I know why). The HD was great because I was finally properly utilizing my plasma TV. Except it flickered. It doesn’t flicker now with OTA broadcasts, but I digress. The DVR actually changed my life. I thought it would make me watch more TV but it actually made me watch less. Before the DVR I was forced to run my life around a few of the shows that I “had” to watch. Then when I got other free time where I could relax I had to watch whatever was on at the time. Now, with the DVR, those two times are one in the same. I make plans without regard for what is on TV (because frankly, I don’t want to be that loser), then when I do have some free relax time I just sit down and watch a show that I actually want to see. Because of this, I have become more selective about the TV that I watch. Through the experience I have noticed that I watch much less of those cable channels that show old movies or random tidbits of moderately entertaining shows. So what do I watch cable for? Well, what held me back was ESPN. This is going to be my real sacrifice. How will I feel missing an Aggie sporting event. Honestly, I will die a little inside every time, but my family is worth it. We got a new bill last month where they increased the “extra” services once again. I was now paying $15 a month for this cable box after “renting” it for 4 years. How could the cost of that box go up? If anything, it should go down. I could no longer pay for it. That was enough. The money we save and the statement we make by cancelling it will fill up that hole in my chest when I have to miss those sporting events.
Now, with regards to customer service, I won’t speak too much. There is just so much out there on the web complaining about their service. And I believe every word of it. I will just say that I have never had a service guy show up on time. I am also still pretty angry (I kept my cool on the phone) from talking to Comcast today. They have to send out a technician to physically stop the cable service from coming to our house because we are keeping the high speed internet (going up by $10, without the package). This visit is costing us $17! I am cancelling the service, I am not hiring someone to stop the signal to my house. If that is how they need to cancel it then that should come out of their end. (Keeping my cool, keeping my cool, let’s move on)
So now what do we do. I’ve already said I watch too much TV and the DVR changed my life. I can’t just quit watching TV. And why should we. After Ike, when our cable was out for a month, I ran out and got a terrestrial HD receiver so that I could pick up the HD OTA broadcasts. It worked great, and the picture looked better than the cable. So, I am cool with that, after all, it’s free! To complete our conversion we decided that we would get a Tivo. The Tivo box isn’t that cheap ($300) and we still have to pay for a service. The difference is that they are upfront about the costs. We own the box outright now and we bought 3 years of service. It was tremendously cheaper than cable and we don’t have to worry about monthly costs and unexpected rise in prices. I am pretty sure that Michelle wants to write a review on the Tivo because she is enjoying it greatly in only a couple days of use. We have barely even begun to touch all the media that the Tivo provides.
I appreciate the interest for those of you who actually read all the way down here. I am sorry for the long post but I am not jesting when I say that this is a momentous step in our lives. It is a scary step but I feel really good about it. It is a very freeing experience and I doubt that I will ever regret it. And as soon as there is a decent alternative broadband internet option we are dropping Comcast completely.
–Ries, I feel $80 a month lighter
Defying Genetics 