Comments on: The Platform is Not the Message, Mark Cuban. http://www.johnon.com/602/message-message.html I think there's an opinion on that subject lying around here somewhere.... Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:46:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Cave Diving http://www.johnon.com/602/message-message.html#comment-128106 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:16:46 +0000 http://www.johnon.com/602/message-message.html#comment-128106 John, I can give you another reason people buy those ridicules boxes. Peer pressure! I know I am not supposed to be affected by it but I was. All my friends were buying big flat TVs and I felt the pressure to have one. I had the money so I got a 37" model and stuck it in my bedroom. The irony is that when I lived in the states I watched exactly 4 hours of TV a week, if that. I was addicted to The Daily Show and Colbert. It was the ONLY reason to watch any TV. My wife on the other hand, enjoys watching TV. I regretted buying the f*** thing from day one. I had to get a new box from the cable company. The cables weren't right. I couldn't find the programming I wanted on the HD channels and the regular channels looked like sh*t if I used all the real estate on the screen. What a f***ng fiasco. That single purchase, more then any other purchase or thing I experienced, confirmed for me the worst about American culture and my place in it. I was a victim of my own indulgence and I suffered for it. The CRT TV I had worked perfect for John Stewart and wasn't so big and bright that it kept my wife awake at night. I miss that TV. Today, I live in Mexico and rent an apartment. It came with a TV with a broken tuner. We get about 50% of the channels we pay for. The tuner only goes to channel 60 and the auto tuner won't learn the channels we have. We get three English channels and I watch far less TV here then I did in the states. I have recently discovered The Daily Show online, which is a God send. I battle on a near daily basis with going out and buying two new TVs for the apartment and spiting the cable in the other bedroom. KEEP IN MIND, I DON'T WATCH ANY F***NG TV! Well, maybe I am lying, I just purchased all 7 seasons of West Wing and plan to watch that. My friends tell me to buy two panels. They tell me to buy them in the states and fly them back. The best part is that panel TV's are the biggest item stolen out of apartments here. If you don't have one, no one breaks in. If you have one, kiss it good bye. I am hopelessly addicted to the idea of owning TVs for those couple of minutes a month I sleep in front of it. I still feel the pressure. I absolutely will watch things on the internet that I will not watch on TV. I would never surf YouTube on my TV, I can't give any real feedback through the TV. The TV is a special device and creates a special kind of experience, one that puts me to sleep or completely turns my brain off. It is electronic Valium. It is completely one sided and lacks any feedback, so I tune in and turn off. The internet is a complete different kind of experience for me. I am completely engaged and able to vector off things I see, here and read. I search things and comment. I participate in the selection of content. I choose when I watch programming, I don't let the programming chose my schedule. I feel like I am heard. Man, what a topic. I can't think of anything more damaging to me or our country then the media and television. TV and the media are insidious, slowly eating away our soul. Almost like a deal with the devil. Before we know it, we are completely lonely, self loathing and empty. I have experienced some pesonally destructive things in my life, but nothing compares to TV. We are powerless ad we don't even know it. **edited to achieve family-friendly ratings** Hans <strong>@Hans:</strong> <em>wow, looks like I touched home with this post. Sorry for the edit but I didn't think you'd mind my removingthe pr0n reference. Forshadowing is a scary thing... Max Headroom, Brazil, The Matrix... no excuses for allowing the programming. That zombie state you describe is perfect for them to start imprinting messages... no?</em> John,

I can give you another reason people buy those ridicules boxes. Peer pressure! I know I am not supposed to be affected by it but I was. All my friends were buying big flat TVs and I felt the pressure to have one. I had the money so I got a 37″ model and stuck it in my bedroom.

The irony is that when I lived in the states I watched exactly 4 hours of TV a week, if that. I was addicted to The Daily Show and Colbert. It was the ONLY reason to watch any TV. My wife on the other hand, enjoys watching TV.

I regretted buying the f*** thing from day one. I had to get a new box from the cable company. The cables weren’t right. I couldn’t find the programming I wanted on the HD channels and the regular channels looked like sh*t if I used all the real estate on the screen. What a f***ng fiasco.

That single purchase, more then any other purchase or thing I experienced, confirmed for me the worst about American culture and my place in it. I was a victim of my own indulgence and I suffered for it. The CRT TV I had worked perfect for John Stewart and wasn’t so big and bright that it kept my wife awake at night. I miss that TV.

Today, I live in Mexico and rent an apartment. It came with a TV with a broken tuner. We get about 50% of the channels we pay for. The tuner only goes to channel 60 and the auto tuner won’t learn the channels we have. We get three English channels and I watch far less TV here then I did in the states. I have recently discovered The Daily Show online, which is a God send.

I battle on a near daily basis with going out and buying two new TVs for the apartment and spiting the cable in the other bedroom. KEEP IN MIND, I DON’T WATCH ANY F***NG TV! Well, maybe I am lying, I just purchased all 7 seasons of West Wing and plan to watch that.

My friends tell me to buy two panels. They tell me to buy them in the states and fly them back. The best part is that panel TV’s are the biggest item stolen out of apartments here. If you don’t have one, no one breaks in. If you have one, kiss it good bye.

I am hopelessly addicted to the idea of owning TVs for those couple of minutes a month I sleep in front of it. I still feel the pressure.

I absolutely will watch things on the internet that I will not watch on TV. I would never surf YouTube on my TV, I can’t give any real feedback through the TV.

The TV is a special device and creates a special kind of experience, one that puts me to sleep or completely turns my brain off. It is electronic Valium. It is completely one sided and lacks any feedback, so I tune in and turn off.

The internet is a complete different kind of experience for me. I am completely engaged and able to vector off things I see, here and read. I search things and comment. I participate in the selection of content. I choose when I watch programming, I don’t let the programming chose my schedule. I feel like I am heard.

Man, what a topic. I can’t think of anything more damaging to me or our country then the media and television. TV and the media are insidious, slowly eating away our soul. Almost like a deal with the devil. Before we know it, we are completely lonely, self loathing and empty. I have experienced some pesonally destructive things in my life, but nothing compares to TV. We are powerless ad we don’t even know it.

**edited to achieve family-friendly ratings**

Hans

@Hans: wow, looks like I touched home with this post. Sorry for the edit but I didn’t think you’d mind my removingthe pr0n reference. Forshadowing is a scary thing… Max Headroom, Brazil, The Matrix… no excuses for allowing the programming. That zombie state you describe is perfect for them to start imprinting messages… no?

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