Jeffrey C. Long

Moving to Nampa forced me to make some media decisions. Our family has two homes now, one in Twin Falls and one in Nampa which means twice the bills. Fortunately all my utilities are paid for here, ‘cept for electricity and I hardly use any. But for the last two and a half years I’ve been spoiled with 200 channels of television and a DVR on Dish Network and wireless internet. Moving to Nampa I knew I couldn’t afford both so I chose internet. So I am now living a TV-free life.

This is really a forced, though fun experiment for me. Before you get all misty for me missing Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes and Numbers, realize that the networks make these shows available online to watch for free. Mind you the video is kinda crappy, there are still commercials and I have to wait the next day to watch the episodes my family watched the night before. And I moved the family’s Netflix account to my Nampa home. Really the only thing that I can’t watch legally for free is my scifi channel shows like Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis. For those I’ll rely on bittorrent which will involve a little more work and hard drive space. So really, I have just as much media opportunities as I had with Dish.

So, can I live without cable? Without rabbit ears? Yes. Could my family? Maybe. If we had a media computer like a Mac mini hooked up to the TV we could get by with our prime time shows online. The kids would have to watch cartoons and Disney programs on Netflix. So who knows… might have to try. In the meantime, I’m getting along just fine for those of you who were worried. <wink>