After months of flirting with the idea, Em and I finally cut the cord. Or, more precisely, the coaxial cable. This week we returned our digital high def DVR cable box to the mothership (Warwick Mall) and bid adios to Cox Cable*.
Now, after hearing
other people's stories about what happened when they threatened to cut back on their wildly overpriced packages, I was sorely disappointed that Cox didn't even make an effort to keep us hooked up. I was just looking for some validation! Affirm my value as a customer, dammit! But no, nothing. Not even a half hearted offer to give us cheap phone service (not that we even have a phone...).
So begins an experiment in entertainment deprivation. The biggest problem is not getting NESN for the Sox games, but it turns out you can follow the action on, get this, the radio! I'm hoping I'll lose 10lbs, read more, write a web app, learn Mandarin, and maybe get that old cold fusion thing working.
And if that doesn't work out, I think we're getting FiOS in a few months...
* not totally adios, of course. Man can live without cable, but high speed internet is, in reality, indistinguishable from oxygen.
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if i had to choose i would easily give up cable tv over cable internet. good luck!
It only took you two how long to actually get ride of it haha. If I lasted over a year without a TV, you can last without cable. In fact i hate that my house has it now(due to the roommates thinking it’s strange to not have a tv). I’m sure you are quickly noticing how much more productive you are when there is no cable to get sucked into and waste time. Of course you can still use your tv for movies, which is the one dilemma i face without a tv, watching on the laptop isn’t the same. The trick for me was finding good friends that will let you come and visit when there is some show I’m dying to see. Look at how well that worked out for me, wed night at your place is my favorite part of the week.
So update me on how it is without the cable. I’m sure you’re happy to be without it.
Over the past few years, I too have grown increasingly frustrated with the ever-rising cable rates and the fact that I do not have the option to purchase only those channels I actually want to watch. Over the past ten years, the price of expanded basic cable service has more than doubled. During this time, Cox Communications has made no effort to meet the needs of it’s customers by offering more flexible cable packages. Instead, they’ve used their monopoly status to force customers to purchase large and expensive packages of channels in order to receive the few channels that we actually want. In addition to inflating our cable bills, some of the channels forced upon us in the expanded basic package contain offensive material that we may not want in our homes.
Fortunately, this monopoly is FINALLY coming to an end.
I am thrilled that Verizon is entering the Rhode Island cable market so that cable subscribers will have a choice regarding our cable provider. I intend to switch my cable, phone, and internet service to Verizon as soon as it becomes available in my area. I only hope that more consumers will do the same and, in the process, encourage Cox Communications to focus more on the needs of its customers.
Cox Communications has enjoyed monopoly status for years. This lack of competition has hurt consumers by allowing Cox to squeeze consumers, drive up costs, and control content. Consumers deserve more flexibility when it comes to the programming we pay for, and Verizon’s entrance into the Rhode Island cable market will finally provide the much needed competition that will, hopefully, promote change and provide consumers with options that are long-overdue.
New Movie Reviews…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…