Subject: Life After Television
Hi -- As you can see, I borrowed George Gilder's book title as the subject of my e-mail .I am in complete sympathy with the movement to put television into perspective and see it for what it is (no pun intended). My research in television technology, specifically video-on-demand, indicates that people are not interested in better TV technology (pictures, sound, etc) but are interested in better programming. Most cosmopolites, as identified in my research, would rather pick out what they watch, and pay for it, than endure the present output of TV programming.
The fact that your website exists indicates to me that thoughtful people will be able to raise their voices against the tyranny of the tube. Note the recent surveys re the Clinton impeachment proceedings, where there was a vast difference between the opinions of the Internet respondents and those of television viewers.
Thanks for creating and maintaining the website.
Regards,
John E. Thomson, Ph.D.
Subject: Thanks
Two years ago we moved to a new house and never ordered cable service. As we live in a valley in Livermore, CA, we can not watch any TV as the reception is poor. This is one of the best things that has ever happened to us; we play with our young children <underline>every</underline> night; my wife and I each started our own businesses; we read volumes and we read to the kids every night.
Oddly, friends visit and are amazed that we do not have a TV any longer - they think we are some weird religious nuts or Libertarians. I laughed recently at an article in the local paper praising a family who did family activities every Friday night and ignored the TV one night per week. This is a big deal?
In summary, thanks for the web site, it is good to know that we are not alone,
Paul Brunner
To: <kaufman@netreach.net>
Do you believe in burning books? Libraries offer a large selection of books, some really bad, others wonderful. Do we demand then that all libraries be closed due to the bad ones? TV is of a similar nature, I believe. There are tons of really bad stuff on there but there are good programs too, some just light fun entertainment and others highly educative and informative. Like walking through a library and choosing a good book so one must select tv programs. Instead of blaming tv for violence or whatever else we can think of perhaps we should learn to make choices and be responsible for them.
Our society is increasingly becoming obsessed with blaming others for our problems. This anti-tv obsession smacks of this. Instead of banning everything that we decide is "bad" we as a society must learn to make better choices and take responsibility for our actions. The media does not control us, only if we let it. If we can become better educated and informed we can control it.
I read some of the Anti-TV articles, and I must say, I enjoyed them; television in general was not worth watching, "pop culture" itself is not really worth being a part of. It seems as though SO many people are content with mediocrity. If you listen to or watch anything that is related to "pop culture", the majority of it is HORRID. This seems to be a society that is intellectually stagnate; originality and individuality are both dying concepts. If you take a look at the latest batch of "Hollow"-wood movies, they are nothing short of terrible(with several exceptions). One last question to be posed : Is stupidity becoming a trend ?.......Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to read this(if you do)
- Tom H.
To: kaufman@netreach.net
Hey. TV rules the world...and there's NOTHING you can do about it. Whine and moan and piss all you want about how TV is ruining stuff...you can't do jack about it. There's more people who own a tv then you have skin cells. TV rules is the ultimate source for entertainment in the world. And I am The Ultimate Defender of that invention called the Television. And I don't like when people like you, thinking they actually have a firm grip on society, think they can change things. You really think your Anti-Tv web site makes a difference? If so...your dead wrong! Your the kind of person who wants the world to go back to reading a book a day, saying your prayers, taking your vitamins, and drinking your milk. Sorry...those days are long gone. The new era is here. We are at a new millenium...the TV millennium. TV is a way of life.
-The TV Defender
I have no desire to watch television. I want the scenes that I view on a daily basis to be REAL, and to be LOCAL. I want to watch what happens outside my own window, with my own eyes, and talk to my neighbors about what is going on in my own city. I want to go sit in at the city council LIVE - I can't watch local politics on TV without buying cable, and I find that pretty disheartening. Even if I could watch it on broadcast TV, there would be no way for me to stand up and speak at the meeting. I want to walk around outside and watch the seasons changing, see things in actual three dimensions without all the wacky camera work, and I want to make my own images for the songs I hear. When prime time rolls around in the summer, I want to be out watching fireflies at the park rather than that eerie blue flicker emanating from so many windows.
Maiko Covington
Subject: Tv
Well, I just have to do a research about T.V and Communications and I found out about this page surfing on the wave. I think that you are exaggerating this subject about television. Television is one of the most important ways of communication in this world, to be realistic we could not live without it we have to be informed about the things that happens in our time. Maybe sometimes it is used to persuade some people to buy something or even to influence them to do something but if we use it well is a very easy way of mass communications.
We should use it well, and if we do we´ll have too many good experiences.
Alfonso Gorjón Corral, Durango México
To: kaufman@netreach.net
I feel that over the past twenty-thirty years, television has become not just a source of entertainment or information for most people but, literally, their window on the world. And a very narrow window it is, full of young, usually white people living in fabulous New York apartments or married couples living in fabulously large houses in the suburbs. In a way, television has created a false view of reality for most people. And people act on that reality. There are people struggling to have a house that looks as good as the ones on television soap operas, who think that all black people are funny, and expect to see Dennis Franz arresting some 'perp' in the middle of New York.
I won't lie and say that I don't watch some television but I realize that television is not reality. The sad thing is that some people don't know that.
Tezhina Bradley
Subject: TV or not TV
Great page. A few years ago, I moved out of my family home to a shared accommodation situation. There was one TV in the house and it belonged to one of my five roommates. This TV was kept in his room, but we were all free to watch at any time. When I first moved in I continued to faithfully watch the Simpsons and King of the Hill on Sunday evenings. He also had TMN, so I had my fix of COMMERCIAL FREE movies. As time went on, and I started to get a life, I was watching less and less TV. A few months ago, I started taking a course, and at the same time, a friend of mine lent me a TV. Two weeks later I gave it back. Needless to say, our roommate moved out a couple of months ago, TV in tow. The last time I watched television was Christmas '98, when I watched a Sanford and Son video.
I can tell you, between work, school, and surfing I would gladly smash a few TVs for you!!
N@,Ontario, Canada
Subject: What I think.
I know that what you are saying has some validity to it, however, I wonder if you've ever thought about the following:
Jack the Ripper did not have a T.V. when he went on his rampage. I would assume that the orphanage where Adolf Hitler grew up did not have one either. I feel pretty confident that Attlia the Hun had no idea what "prime time" was. I also don't think that Cain ever thought what he was doing to Abel was the result of watching to much T.V. The point is that violence has been around the human race for as long as there has been jealousy, envy, and the desire to hold power over another individual.
If television has a negative effect on children, the parent's need to take responsibility for that.
Take Care, Jannene
To: kaufman@netreach.net
Although it is merely a matter of semantics, I believe it shows just how pervasive television has become in our society when those who speak out against it make the statement: "KILL" your television. You cannot kill what is not alive, but TV has become such an integral part of the modern "family," even those who oppose it speak of it in humanistic terms.
Thank you for your time, and keep up the fight! --Blenderhead
