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Dave miller
31st May 2009, 06:24 AM
Mr Paxman said: "Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8075604.stm) :shock:

and further "I think that the basic problem is that we are all a bunch of barbarians really."

True or false?

wiesmier
31st May 2009, 07:38 AM
Not here. I have no tv and have not had one for 25years.
I'm waiting to see if they catch on before I get one.

Neil Smith
31st May 2009, 04:28 PM
They do sap your time but I find its the internet that is taking over from the TV, I for one go on to check email, but invariably I will still be online at least 45 mins after I finish looking at my mail.

Watching life instead of experiencing it.

Neil

vincent
31st May 2009, 08:22 PM
I have my computer a little over 18 months and I find that since I discovered this site and APUG that I hardly ever watch TV until just before I go to bed. I feel that I get more enjoyment and a sense of participation from the Internet than I ever got from TV. The Internet allows you to upload your photo's and comment on other people's work, whereas the TV allows you to switch off your brain and watch rubbish that you can hardly recall the following day.
It's no contest as far as I'm concerned.

Martin Aislabie
2nd June 2009, 04:24 PM
I heard someone describe TV as the Laudanum of the late 20th Century

How very sad but true

Martin

Richard Gould
2nd June 2009, 07:07 PM
I very rarely watch television, I don't get the time,what with photography,my classic car, which takes a lot of time, and combimes with photography as I am club photographer,and everythingis b/w so that means extra time in the darkroom every week, and so it goes on,Richard

kennethcooke
7th June 2009, 02:55 AM
I agree with with the sentiments expressed here TV and the internet can be very time consuming if we let them. As a sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for the past 15 years I am very mindful of time when I have sufficient energy and try to use it as productively as possible

Martin Reed
3rd August 2009, 08:03 AM
Resuscitation of old thread; henceforth will be referred to as 'ROOT treatment'..

The worst aspect of TV used to be the fear of 'missing something' that kept one chained to it at awkward times, then as VHS came in it was possible to store programmes and watch them later...or not, the main thing was that they were there and one could refer back to them as necessary. But the tape took up a lot of space, and as for setting the recorder...!

I'm now finding the internet has even freed me up from that - with the IPlayer downloader programmes I can grab most of the interesting stuff and stick it on the hard drive or any disc. I end up only watching a fraction of it, but it costs virtually nothing and takes up no space, and I'm released from the tyranny of 'missing it'.

I hope this isn't construed as a plug for digital, Dave :)

Dave miller
3rd August 2009, 08:36 AM
Resuscitation of old thread; henceforth will be referred to as 'ROOT treatment'..

The worst aspect of TV used to be the fear of 'missing something' that kept one chained to it at awkward times, then as VHS came in it was possible to store programmes and watch them later...or not, the main thing was that they were there and one could refer back to them as necessary. But the tape took up a lot of space, and as for setting the recorder...!

I'm now finding the internet has even freed me up from that - with the IPlayer downloader programmes I can grab most of the interesting stuff and stick it on the hard drive or any disc. I end up only watching a fraction of it, but it costs virtually nothing and takes up no space, and I'm released from the tyranny of 'missing it'.

I hope this isn't construed as a plug for digital, Dave :)

Not at all young man, I'm all for recording television programmes so that I never have to watch them; that's a "proper" use of digital technology. ;)

B&W Neil
3rd August 2009, 08:48 AM
Not here. I have no tv and have not had one for 25years.
I'm waiting to see if they catch on before I get one.

Very wise, no need to rush into a decision on this :)


Neil.

Trevor Crone
3rd August 2009, 10:07 AM
Digital......tom foolery........I have all my TV programmes stored on Betamax and my music is stored on brass cylinders. :cool:

Bob
3rd August 2009, 12:40 PM
I haven't switched on my TV in about 3 months.

I watch what I want on iPlayer and equivalents and any US programs I like, I download the Torrent - which has the advantage that I am up to date with episodes while the rest of the country is one or two years behind...

Sandeha Lynch
3rd August 2009, 02:13 PM
You folks with TVs ... I don't know, I really don't.

A Sanderson
12th September 2009, 09:34 AM
I have to be truthful and admit that the reason I have avoided forums such as this for so long, is because I wanted to 'do' photography rather than spend ages on the computer talking about it.
I'm enjoying it now though, because I can do this from my phone while away from my darkroom.
By the way, I don't have a telly, I'd never get anything done if I had one.

mono
12th September 2009, 09:44 AM
We donīt have TV for about 5 years now and let me tell you, we donīt miss it!

Dave miller
12th September 2009, 09:56 AM
We donīt have TV for about 5 years now and let me tell you, we donīt miss it!

I've just brought a new one, :mob: but it's for my wife; honest. :)
Sometimes I have to watch it with her just to make sure she's using it properly. :cool:

JimW
15th September 2009, 05:48 PM
I get looks of horror when I have to tell anyone I dont have an idiot's lantern. I waste enough of my sad and sorry life without having to watch a telly. For me, it's so dangerous because any of the prevailing philososphy comes in via both the visual and the aural, and doesnt give anyone a chance to consider the accuracy, the viability or even the relevance of the point being made, let alone discuss with the proponent the pros and cons. Now, internet forums.......

SteveB
15th September 2009, 09:21 PM
Sometimes I just want to watch the TV, sometimes i just want to view the web. Nothing beats a good book or the conversation of a good friend. As long as its about photography.

knikki
16th September 2009, 08:11 AM
I always thought fishing was the most popular past time.:confused:

Or is that biggest participation sport?

Do not watch a great deal off Telly these days, mind you I do spend far to much time in front of one playing video games :D

Akki14
16th September 2009, 08:15 AM
JimW - That's why I have my laptop with me while watching tv. Then I can immediately google any "fact" and judge for myself ;) And see what the internet consensus is...

I quite like TV which seems to put me squarely in the idiot category on photography websites... There's some amazing nature documentaries on the BBC, human documentaries on Channel 4, occasionally some art, occasionally some trash, just like real life. You just learn to not leave your mind so open that people throw a load of trash in it.

I would agree with you that some people would do better with less TV... my inlaws have a TV in every room of the house except for the bathrooms/toilet rooms and I'm fairly sure they're going deaf from how loud they keep the TV on and their unwillingness to adjust the volume for adverts since "the show afterwards is quiet".

IanB
16th September 2009, 08:35 AM
I have a TV and I'm very happy to admit to using it, but only for one reason - I don't want to become one of those smug people who think that NOT having one is in some way morally superior....:):):)

Phil
16th September 2009, 09:00 AM
Had to jump in - I love TV, though I don't love the majority of what is on, so I don't watch that.
For the rest though, documentaries and general finding out about the world, it is a great educator, and I have to admit to drifting off in my mind's eye and imagining lugging the Sinar around some of the places Dan Cruickshank visited in his past two series. I mean if anyone has been watching The Choir on BBC2, what a great example of how education should be! Inspirational. I could go on but won't :D
I also find it actually educates my eye, esp viz, my recent 35mm thinking dilemma . . .
So, TV - yes it is a great thing, but it is also a terrible thing; to be honest though I find the internet/gaming aspects of modern life far more worrying.
Phil

knikki
16th September 2009, 09:19 AM
to be honest though I find the internet/gaming aspects of modern life far more worrying.Phil

Why?

Phil
16th September 2009, 09:40 AM
Well, how many kids do you know that read? I have a (nearly) 14 year old, we try and encourage him to read and he does, but his compadres rarely read, they nearly all game - it's so bad that he has actually noticed it :eek:
The internet, well it is becoming regarded as this all-pervading panacea for everything, and whilst useful (I will cheerfully admit that, having to use it every day for work purposes, and also for wonderous diversions like this forum :D) I personally don't see it as the be-all and end-all that it is becoming. Hypocritical? ABSOLUTELY!! I will admit that totally, but that's just me. I have a comp at home, but no net connection, and when you tell people this you are regraded as being some sort of modern day hermit :(

knikki
16th September 2009, 10:29 AM
Yeah I know what you mean about reading, I have a 16 year old son and getting him to read is difficult. I try and get him to read some of the Graphic/Comic books I have (I know not Shakespere but at least reading), but even that is hard.

As for the interent LOL it is amazing that if people see it in Google then has to be gospel and very few seem to question it.

As for me?

Yes old enough to know better, use the internet and game online via Xbox more than I should and i do like it :D

Phil
16th September 2009, 10:39 AM
Yes old enough to know better, use the internet and game online via Xbox more than I should and i do like it :D

Well, as Joe (my son) said to me when he was about seven "you can't force me to eat that - everyone is different!" :)
It's what makes the world go round I guess :D

Steve Smith
16th September 2009, 12:30 PM
I don't want to become one of those smug people who think that NOT having one is in some way morally superior....:):):)

Even though it is!


Steve.

Daud
16th September 2009, 02:08 PM
.

As for the interent LOL it is amazing that if people see it in Google then has to be gospel and very few seem to question it.


Hummm..... I had to look up what LOL meant - no hope for me !

David.

JimW
16th September 2009, 05:41 PM
If telly is chewing gum for the masses, what constitutes a good meal? (Whatever you think a good meal is...). For me, and other mere opinions are available, a good book or conversation that makes me realise life is for living, and makes me desire to stay alive all my life. Thoughts?

Akki14
16th September 2009, 07:26 PM
Honestly I don't read books anymore. I'm not sure how reading fiction is that important to life. I can form my own opinions and stories in my head. I'm all about learning from experiences and sitting around reading a book is still... sitting around reading a book. I could be actually doing something! Digging in the allotment, smelling the fresh air, feeling the wind on my face, smelling freshly picked apples, wandering around picking up interesting looking plantlife!
Can't tell what I did this afternoon, eh? Wasn't anything to do with a book...

Phil
17th September 2009, 08:19 AM
Honestly I don't read books anymore. I'm not sure how reading fiction is that important to life.

Sorry Akki - I come at it from the other way, I read fiction because it shows me other people's lives, and it often gives me a different slant on situations. I read every day, often just at lunch, but I make a point of doing it, because I enjoy it.
I know it isn't an essential, but when you start stripping things away, how essential is anything?
I once did a heavy duty walk into the mountains, in terrible conditions: rain, wind, mist, cold, and got to the bothy I was heading for (basically an excavated huddle on a hillside, with a corrugated iron roof turfed over) got inside, sat down, had a snack and a drink and thought that apart from a fire and maybe a bit of company, life doesn't get more basic - that's all you need, food, water, shelter and warmth. It made me appreciate the luxuries we have in modern life (like books, and darkrooms :D) where we're not so involved in the travails of living (unlike our ancestors) that we have leisure to pursue creativity.
Och this has all gone very very very off-topic (again . . typical for me) . . . sorry Dave ;)

hugh
17th September 2009, 10:35 AM
I watch TV about once a day but rarely scheduled Terrestial TV programmes, other than maybe 10 minutes or so of lazy flicking around before trudging up the stairs to bed. I tend to watch DVD boxsets or downloaded torrents of programmes and series that I know are going to be interesting and worth watching.

It's something of a cliche at this stage to say this, but I really believe we are going through a golden age of Television drama at the moment, particularly from the US. As examples I would cite:

- Deadwood (period drama about the colonisation of the American west)
- The Wire (examination of the deterioration of inner city urban America)

Both of these boast production values, acting and scripting that are the equal of (mainstream) cinema, and have the luxury of developing storylines, themes and characters over much more extended periods of time, and hence become much more novelistic in nature as a result. Unfortunately both of them are over as well :-)

So, I wouldn't knock TV completely. 99% of it is crap but there are nuggets of gold in there to be found.

Sandeha Lynch
17th September 2009, 12:22 PM
I guess Paxman's gripe is with the general passivity of the vast mass of the population. TV encourages it and that is pretty depressing.

I've also given up on fiction - got better things to do. ;)

Dave miller
17th September 2009, 07:47 PM
An anaesthetic for the masses then?

Mark-NY
17th September 2009, 11:08 PM
All things in moderation. ;)

Phil
18th September 2009, 10:49 AM
Seen on a bridge in Harrow, in the mid-1970's:

NICHOLAS PARSONS IS THE NEO-OPIATE OF THE PEOPLE

it's maybe still there.
P

PaulG
2nd October 2009, 10:34 AM
An anaesthetic for the masses then?

This reminded me of a song lyric that takes a similar viewpoint. I'm not normally a fan of rap music, but this has always struck me as an insightful take on the power/effects of tv. It's aimed at the US, but pretty much covers all the bases

"one nation
under God
has turned into
one nation under the influence
of one drug

[chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation"

The remainder of the lyrics address poor reading rates, politics as popularity contest, insularity and ignorance of the wider world etc. here (http://www.samulilintula.net/netti/tv.html)

Mark-NY
3rd October 2009, 10:30 AM
Reminds me of the 1970s Gil Scott Heron song: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"