Tech & Media Thoughts

[kathygnome]

 Yesterday we watched an old episode of Tony Bourdain. The Brazil rainforest one, if you're a fan, which I suspect was one of those episodes that he will go off on at some point in his blog or lectures as he looked utterly miserable and it was, overall, not very good.

Then we switched to the Monarchy series on netflix originally channel 4, which I'm enjoying a great deal. I've never really had much of a sense of how the monarchy evolved and no idea at all about the different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and kings. And the presenter is Very Very British which amuses both Janna and myself.

But what really was strange about this was that we watched anything on the DVR at all. More and more I find myself turning to the roku/netflix to watch things. The other day I got sucked into Tora Tora Tora which oddly I'd never seen before. But it was 20 minutes in. I went to netflix and there it was, so I started it from scratch and I got the double advantage that it was properly letterboxed rather than AMC HDs "squish-o-vision".

What's frustrating is that it's just not quite there. I couldn't, for example, watch that Bourdain episode until next year on netflix. And a few others like Top Chef I don't think we have any access to. But it's getting close to the point where we're paying $70 a month for what amounts to maybe three or four tv series at any given time.

Comments

[dashingdeviant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's still at the point where I feel like it would be nice to have a TV, cable, and a DVR, it's just with how much I move a TV would be a pain and the money is more of an issue for me. You should really check out Hulu, though, I know it works on roku, and series they have they get a day after they air (plus they have a good archive of TV series and all the criterion collection - yes, having a few minutes of ads when I'm not used to watching TV is mildly annoying, but, it is less than a TV broadcast). Paying $8/month for HuluPlus is pretty much what, with my finances, means I don't care about advocating for my house to get a TV and split a cable bill.

[themosh.livejournal.com]

We cut the cable, so to speak, several years ago, and havent looked back. We realized that 90% of what we watched was either online, or OTA. The other 10% was just "whatever looked interesting while veging out on the couch". The cost just didnt make sense anymore.

We have the paid subscription to Hulu, and while still having to watch commercials really grinds my gears, its typically only 2-3 per 30 minute show. For other stuff, you have iTunes, or torrents.

[stepchild-thea.livejournal.com]

wondering if your 70$ also covers your internet access, or if your town pays for that; seeing your "the" IT person and on call 24/7

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

They don't cover internet access, but I have a netbook checked out and they cover a smart phone with wireless internet (Sprint Evo).

Internet is like another $50 on top of the $70.