Tag Archives: technology

Goodbye to Cable

Leave a reply

Attention: Technology blog – if you have no interest in televisions, cable, or live streaming services, stop reading now.

Universal-Remotes-Toronto

Last August we said “Goodbye” to our cable TV service. It was a frightening decision but motivated by greed. We were paying A LOT for our cable TV services, and it was rising every month. Since the boys are out of the house, the remaining McGarveys aren’t much for TV viewing, unless it’s sports. We don’t really care about movies or TV serials. No need for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. But we do love our sports.

After consulting with Don and my sons, we decided to make the big switch: cable out, live streaming in. For Don, it meant he would get his beloved St. Louis Cardinals games every day, PLUS less $$ out the window. But he would also have to learn a new system. Cable does make finding programs very easy.

The non-negotiables for me were Cubs games and… well, nothing else really. I was willing to learn a new way of doing things, but I wasn’t about to let my Cubbies go.

David did all the research (Thank you, thank you, thank you) and he determined that YouTubeTV was the best option. Plenty of the sports we love to watch, plus less money each month. Then I did the research on how that would happen.

First, our internet service was way too slow. We cancelled our current internet service (and landline phone) provider with some reluctance. We had had our phone number since moving to Iowa 30+ years ago. and we had just purchased a new modem. But our current service just wasn’t going to be strong enough for what we needed. So we cancelled our cable TV with Mediacom and added high speed internet.

Second, I researched various devices necessary to live stream to our current televisions. We had an old Apple TV left behind by David but with three TVs, I needed more options. I did make a mistake here – I purchased a Chromecast. It worked fine but we needed to use our phones as the channel remote, and that was a clunky process. Later in the year, I received a Roku through a live stream service offer and we’ve enjoyed that much more: easier to operate, a more traditional remote and the ability to add free services and apps. One of the best decisions I made was purchasing small antennas for two of our TVs. We still have a DVD/VHS player in our basement so attaching an antenna to allows us to watch any over-the-air channels without using any internet data. Same for our bedroom TV. The person who wants to watch the news or the Cubs on 9.2 plans on watching in the basement or bedroom.

Toward the end of the year we decided we missed a few of the channels we enjoyed that were not offered on YouTubeTV. After more research and advice from friends, we began our SlingTV subscription. That’s how I got my free Roku. During the long, cold winter, we found ourselves maxing out our internet usage, so we had to up our data plan. Yikes. And then in late January, we dropped Sling and switched to the cheaper, less sports option of Philo. We don’t watch it all that often, but it’s nice to have the option of watching Food Network or History Channel if we want.

We received a brand-new Apple TV from David and Tristen for Christmas. It is awesome!! A little harder to get used to the “swipe” remote, but we aren’t opposed to learning new things. The Apple TV gives us access to all our TV watching wants and needs, including Prime Video, PBS, and every sport we could want.

Long blog to say: Don’t be afraid to let go of what you’re comfortable with to embrace something new. Get advice from people you trust, do a little research on your own, try something new and if it doesn’t work for you, try something else. This isn’t life-or-death or rocket science but there is a certain satisfaction in knowing we aren’t too old to accept new technology and enjoy it!

Day 13 – Connected and Disconnected

Leave a reply

“What technology are you grateful for?”

I remember pre-microwaves, pre-Internet, pre-home computers, and pre-flat screen TVs. I remember when you had to watch your favorite TV show the first time, because there was no guarantee it would ever be on again. We did have reruns, but no way to know when a particular show would re-air. I remember when social media consisted of picking up the party line and listening to your neighbor’s conversations. I remember when I got to use one of the four electric typewriters in my Typing class in high school for one quarter. Otherwise, we were stuck with the manual ones. I remember being so excited when my uncle had a console color television delivered to our house for Christmas one year. Color TV! Oh yeah, we were so cool. I remember when my parents had their kitchen remodeled and it included a flat cook top and double oven. I remember when we got a really long cord on our home phone so I could sit in the living room and talk to my friends. I remember when my brothers would call on the holidays and we would pass around the long-corded handset to each family member in attendance.  I remember taking a dime (and later, a quarter) to my high school basketball games so I could use the pay phone to call my mom to come get me. If I forgot the quarter, I just called “collect.” Do they even offer collect calls anymore? Do they even have pay phones?

Me_phone

Not proud that I held that phone throughout the whole wedding reception. Taking pictures was my excuse.

Technology has improved our lives dramatically…and yet, complicated them as well. No longer do we gather around one phone handset to talk to family members. We each stare at our own phones, texting our holiday greetings in words and not voices. When I was growing up, my dad and I talked about movies and actors and who starred in which TV series and when.  Now we wouldn’t need to debate those things – we have the IMDb app to prove our opinion.

 

Of course, I could go on and on. Most of you can remember what life was like prior to the expansion of  technology in the last 50 years. In many ways, I miss the simplicity of life then, but I don’t think I’d turn in my iPhone to go back. I enjoy being able to connect with my friends and far away family on Facebook or to talk/text my kids in far away places at any time (without calling “collect” – I don’t think they’d accept). I enjoy watching my niece dance on live Instagram. I like checking in with my husband multiple times of the day, just to say “Love You” with a little heart emoji.

I certainly don’t want to lose the ease of keyboarding on a laptop from a coffee shop, blogging my thoughts about technology, or life, or gratitude. I like Amazon and Google and dictionary.com.  I need my flash drives because my memory isn’t what it used to be. I’m attached to my e-reader and touchscreen laptop. Though I receive too many, I enjoy reading my emails and shopping online.

So I guess it comes down to balance. Keeping perspective about the old ways and adapting to new ways. The expansion of ways to “know” things has expanded beyond our ability to keep up. If you read all day, you wouldn’t be able to digest the amount of words being written just on the msn home page alone.

Technology will never replace sitting down around the kitchen table for a meal with my family. Cyber hugs will never be as satisfying as real ones. Maybe we should determine to put down our technology once in awhile, and connect the old fashioned way – face to face, not FaceTime. Mano y mano, not selfies. Rants around the water cooler, not anonymously on Twitter. Coffee in a real cup  listening with actual ears, to flesh-and-blood people in need of real connection.

I challenge you to leave your phone at home the next time you go out with friends. Who’s going to call you anyway? You can check the game scores later. Technology is here to stay, but you still control how much it controls you.