Cable television and its effects on the national population are far greater than I can express in one essay. But let’s just say that the effects are huge. On the national population, that is. In my life, cable TV has almost no impact. I have never lived in a house where we had cable. When I was younger, I had no idea there were more channels out there aside from the usual network stations. A Saturday morning cartoon for me would consist of the classic PBS Kids shows such as “Cyber Chase” or “Arthur.” For me, these were enough. One day my sister and I were going to spend the night at my grandma’s. We get there in the evening and when I walked through the door I saw cartoons playing on the TV. Cartoons!? At night!? This seemed unreal to me. Its not even Saturday morning! I sat down and watched them all evening, enjoying every second. Looking back, I was a little bit too excited about these cartoons.
I later learned that this magical channel that was playing these cartoons was called Cartoon Network. I learned of other channels too. I discovered it was a common thing in most people’s homes. But not mine. I often wondered why my family had never bothered to install all of these magnificent channels. Who wouldn’t want thousands of shows available to you in your own home? Only then did I realize it costs extra money. Cable and satellite companies -- Directv, Time Warner, or Dish Network -- all cost an upwards of $80 per month, not to mention installation costs. “The cost outweighs the benefits,” my parents would always tell me. They were right.
In this day and age, technology has reached an all new level of accessibility and just use in general. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets, you name it and I can almost guarantee there is a way to watch videos. This being said, paying extra money for cable television is irrational when you can find and watch all TV episodes or movies online. You can find the current scores to a sporting event with the click of a button -- a tap of a finger. Netflix, an online video streaming company, allows access to thousands of TV shows and movies for a monthly fee that is under $10! There are many alternatives to cable, some of which may not cover all the capabilities of a little black box under the TV, or a satellite on the roof, but they sure do come close.
Life without cable has allowed me to become more productive. Maybe not so much with school work--procrastination on that particular area is inevitable--but on other things such as cleaning my room or even talking to my family. I almost like being one of the few households without all the TV channels. People seem amazed when I tell them I don’t have cable, and that fascinates me because I always ask myself why I would need it. I don't find myself wanting cable or missing all these channels everyone else has. I am content with only having the network channels, and of course Netflix.
Social media helps me to keep up on things I might be missing with cable TV. When the season premier or the season finale of a popular show airs, it is simple to just look on Twitter and find out what’s happening at that very moment in the show. So basically, I am never out of the loop!
Not having cable has been something unique about my life ever since I was born. It seems silly, considering the fact of not having cable to be a defining characteristic. But in this modern society, it is rare. It’s as if my family and I have conquered the pressure to purchase the little black box. It has effected my life quite a bit, more than a materialistic thing such as this would. My Saturday morning cartoon memories will always be different than the other kids, and I don’t see a problem with that at all.
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