Quebec Valley

Our familly has officially been cable free since xmas. Why? Well there was a big ugly box taking a lot of space in my living room. No one was using it. No one was using the comfy couch to watch it.

Instead, there was (and there still is) a constant battle to sit on the very uncomfortable wooden chair in front of a tiny computer monitor. And all I could hear all day was “it’s my turn! – no mine! No, you had your turn!”.

See, I have a wife and 2 kids and they are watching Youtube instead of the TV. When my daughters want to watch something, they don’t even bother looking if we have the DVD anymore. They go to Youtube and look for it. They don’t understand the concept of licensing, copy protection or piracy and often innocently ask me why Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh is not on Youtube. Each time I try to explain them but you see, it’s hopeless. They are true “digital natives” I suppose. It’s so funny because now, when my older daughter sees a movie or a TV show that she might like (from an ad on a website for example) she will instantly look for it on Youtube. She doesn’t even ask if we can buy the DVD. She passed that “level” I suppose. If I were a record or movie maker, I’d take this very seriously. These are YOUR future buyers.

Of course they can’t see a full DVD on Youtube but they get so much material that they don’t care. They watch previews of movies, DVD snipplets/samples, old (public domain) episodes and even people’s vacation movies. To them, it doesn’t matter. If it’s got Mickey Mouse or Pooh then it’s all fine, even if the video is about a kid in Russia hitting a Mickey Mouse pinata. I guess it’s becoming “brand entertainment” rather than “content entertainment” (you know how kids can watch the same thing over and over without getting bored?).

As for myself, I’ve been TV-free for the last 2 or 3 years. I slowly stopped watching regular programs (the poor quality made the process very easy) then I stopped watching informative TV (news and geek stuff like Discovery Channel). So now, I don’t watch news anymore, I read them on the Internet. I also read what I want to know, not about some robbery that took place somewhere I don’t care or that lady living with 68 dead cats. I basically don’t want to be fed garbage.

What about movies? Well I never was a big movie fan. I still have gift certificates that I was given almost a year ago. They might have expired and I couldn’t care less. Driving downtown, looking for an overpriced parking spot only to sit down where you can’t pause the movie or do what you want isn’t that appealing to me.

So what do we do now? Well for one, we have more activities outside the house. And when we’re at home, my family watches Youtube and I join them when they find something interesting. I should probably move the computer monitor in front of the comfy couch and put the old TV in front of the wooden chair in case my parents visit…! :) I don’t want to discriminate the “old” generation… :)