George & 2 Oldest Daughters

George & 2 Oldest Daughters
George, Oldest Daughter, and Me, 2nd Daughter 1968.

Caroline and Oldest Daughter

Caroline and Oldest Daughter
Caroline and Oldest Daughter in Photo Booth 1964

Boy George

Boy George
George and younger sister in 1940's

George and his Oldest Daughter

George and his Oldest Daughter
George and His Oldest Daughter 1964 in Photo Booth

Friday, December 13, 2013

Why I Prefer Online Media Consumption

Watching television in the living room was the norm growing up in the 70s and 80s in America, and still is for many people. For me, however, the television expense of cable became too much when I went back to school for my degree in 2010, and the television sat in the corner, only to be used to view movies checked out from the library, or for my children to play video games. Now that hulu.com and the major networks like ABC have their own web sites to stream television programs, where is the need for cable or a dish network? Personally, I don’t see a need for an extra bill, and welcome the freed up space in my living room for bookshelves where the television once made its home.

The television now is in the spare back bedroom, and if the now adult children wish to watch a movie or play a video game, they go into the back bedroom, and do so. Television is now watched online via the ABC.com or other such sites. Movies and other uploaded favorites are found on YouTube.com and appreciated.

The convenience of being able to stop the program when you wish, resume it again, or totally abandon it when you are bored with your choice is a feature I enjoy and fully utilize. When I am searching the Internet for research articles for a school paper or project, I can also go to Pandora.com for a musical selection and listen as I work. Consuming media this way I find to be of benefit to my family by allowing us to watch a variety of programs, and then make plans together for activities and outings that in the past may have interfered with a broadcast we needed to watch for a course.

There was a made for T.V. movie called The Day After when I was in high school. Not everyone then had cable, and my family only had an antenna to rely on for our signal. The program came in fuzzy, but I was able to make it out and participate in the class discussion the following day. With media consumption based online, I can watch a movie or available show anywhere I can find a signal, and not disturb anyone if I put headphones on.

This is a new era of media consumption that I plan to use often. Well, what I consider often is three hours of television a week via online stations, maybe a movie once a month, and plenty of research articles. I don't play video games, but I definitely look at Facebook and communicate globally with my friends and family through that online medium. My television is silent most of the month. What are your family's media consumption habits?