Rob likes canceling cable. In fact, I am overcome with joy ever since I pulled the plug on that dark gray box. Now that the studios and networks are not longer terrified of digital distribution, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix and others have made sure that there is no reason to watch most programs through a traditional cable carrier.
Netflix allows us to watch most movies we are interested in, on demand, and Roku and Boxee both put anything on Netflix on our television, and an iPad makes movies via Netflix totally portable. iTunes makes a crapload of HD films and television programs available, on demand, and of course AppleTV makes anything on iTunes available on our television.
So why on earth did we keep our cable subscription for so damned long? We haven’t watched traditional television broadcasts in about five years. For the past few years we were still somewhat content to watch Weeds, Big Love and other programs through the Time Warner Cable on-demand channels. But TWC on-demand content had technical problems about 25% of the time, which is totally inexcusable. And of course paying for HBO and Showtime was nearly half of our bill. So we were paying a small fortune for the privilege of being able to watch probably two or three series during any given season, when the system worked.
And I have yet to hear of anyone who is truly happy with the customer service from any cable carrier. We all have our own nightmare stories, and most of us have had to pay hundreds of dollars at some point for no discernable reason. I know there are millions of you who have experienced pure rage after dealing with abuse and neglect from these media monopolies. It’s amazing what we’ll tolerate in exchange for a little entertainment. But I am here to tell you that you need not suffer any longer, and you can join the ranks of millions of us who have cancelled their cable subscriptions. In 2009 alone, Nielsen reports that 22% of cable and satellite subscribers reduced or cancelled their services.
Cancel your cable subscription and share our joy.
Further reading:
http://adage.com/garfieldtheblog/post?article_id=120338
And of course the video that defined the movement:
