My life-span matches up quite well with the history of television technology, Aside from the dates (late 1950's to present), my Mother claims that television was one of the few ways she could get me to sit still for more than six minutes. I apparently mastered that posture throughout my childhood and into my adult life, which spanned the invention of commercially-sponsored network programs, through the innovation of Public Television, BetaMax and VHS, the creation of cable system technology, ESPN, MTV, the Fall, Rise, and now Dearth of TV News Reporting, even the marriage of TV to modern cultural events such as Assasinations, Wars, and the struggle for Racial, Gender, and other Equality on Live Broadcasts in your own Home.
So unplugging my television feed on December 1, 2010 (exactly one year ago) was an interesting science experiment for someone with my proclivity for television as a way of interacting with the world around me. I had toyed with this idea for years, and raising children in a home with TV as a central place of gathering was not completely comfortable. Other factors included an occurrance of unemployment ,matched with the monthly cost of Direct TV....hey, what a great time to unplug and find out what life is like without television as a centerpiece in the table of my life?
I must admit that waiting until 2010 for this experiment is not as informative as it may have been in the '70's or '80's. Like myself, Television Technology is on the downward side of it's long and interesting lifespan, competing with various forms of on-line and hand-held communications and entertainment that no one in the late '50's and '60's could imagine in their wildest dreams. And trust me, I had some wild dreams in 1967.
So, one year without a television connection and what did we learn?
First of all, I had Plenty of TV to Watch Whenever I Wanted It
You-Tube, Hulu, Network and Cable Sites, NetFlix, embedded e-mails and a myriad of other platforms make your television connection one of many ways to watch. We downloaded the News, SNL, Movies, and Cable Shows, including some of the very popular dark drama/comedies of the past year. I got plenty of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Brian Williams, True Blood, Mad Men, Breaking Bad and "....did you see that guy with the (fill in the blank)....?" videos. The difference is my ability to control and manage when I wasted time on this (as with your DVR). Instead of the time required wasting my schedule or other commitments.
Yes, It's a Wasteland
Being able to step slightly off the normal human behavior track, my observation is what I hear from many people. Television is not that good. People constantly complained about shows, news, events, and special programs that I had missed. When actually, I had missed very little. They seemed to be "required" to watch somehow, and it was liberating to tell my friends, "...oh, I didn't see that because I don't have a TV connection at home....". A new show with lots of buzz would create some large scale interest, and then, not long after hitting the ratings numbers, people start complaining bitterly about being let down (see: "Lost").
I still have X-Y Chromosomes
Sports for male humans in our culture changed from a participatory effort to a spectator experience in the early 20th Century. With Television, the spectator experience changed to a Family Room (now "Man Cave") experience with the only limitation being the size and number of flat screen displays and the speed of your remote control software. Interestingly, I missed some of the worst sports events of the new century- the lowest level performance for an NCAA Finals Game in history; a forgetable World Series, the Meltdown of both Tiger Woods and some of my previously favorite NBA Franchises (Los Angeles, Cleveland, Portland, and Golden State). I saw the Superbowl at the Presidential Suite of the Excaibur Hotel Casino in Las Vegas (my Team won), and I'm more than able to get to a Sports Bar or betting establishment if needed to catch my UCLA Bruins losing in different seasonal sports. I do miss some of those multi-million dollar highly produced humorous commercials. But I catch up on them when I do see a game somewhere.....and I don't have to see each of them 163 times during a specific sports season as a way of paying for my pleasure with pain.
I'm Way More Connected
Television may be happening for people while they are on their laptop computer doing something else. That's how my wife watches some DVD's (while on Farmville). For me, it's been a year of Facebook, then Twitter, then Google+ and it's been very entertaining. I'm not even mentioning my work (which is LinkedIn). I fully expect this next year to have five different social media, news, and blogging sites that will call my name very loudly. Spotify took over for Pandora which came back with my new smart phone, but now it's Google Music. Television doesn't even play music any more. Still waiting for the new Bevis and Butthead season to be available on-line.
Oh, yeah, That Family Thing
I'm still married and for me that's not because of my television experience. If you are one of those people who expected me to have much more meaningful and deeper relationships with my wife and kids, I can affirm some of that. I can also affirm that relationships are very hard, and without the comfort and brain-recess that television allows, you discover where you have some very broken and damaged communications paths as well as some new and open pipelines. Televsion takes you away from truly connecting with family and friends, and it also hides the fact that you are not as connected as you think you are. Coincidental changes in my family schedule included my daughter living with us for a year (that was great!), my wife working a late night shift for a year (wow, that was tough), and my son being an eighteen year old (yikes, very scary some times). Not talking to someone while the television is blaring is good. But like driving with someone, you get some interesting conversations and insights when your attention is focused straght ahead, and not on the person you need to talk too.
So now what? My wife is determined to get back into a television-based home experience. While my daughter (who has moved to her own house without a television) and I talk longingly of the day when Google or Steve Job's successors can deliver on the promise of an internet television with a full window looking out on both the broadcast and internet worlds. I'm very happy to have had this year of a post-television world and it may have prepared me for something we will all see soon: the end of television as we know it.
Discovery comes from your ability to step away from the norm, and explore new space. It's not a question of television or not, it's another data-set on which you can build something better. I appreciate the television technology, business, and culture that I grew up in. And I hope you recognize it for what it is. Artificial life that's fun, frustrating, and enlightening.
