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mikkupikkulast Monday at 11:17 AM5 repliesview on HN

My new rule for modern TVs is don't have a TV at all. The social role of having a TV is rapidly dwindling. First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling. Secondly, even if you find something worth watching, the odds that anybody else will want to watch it is small; everybody has been atomized by recommendation algorithms, everybody gets shown a different set of ads and media, there's no longer and shared culture when it comes to media. It used to be that everybody went home and watched NBC or one of the two other channels, all saw the same ads for the same movies and shows, so if you mentioned one the next day everybody knew what you were talking about. This is no longer true, if you try to bring up some Netflix show you heard of last night, probaby nobody else has heard of it. Now let's say you actually talk somebody into watching something with you despite that... What are the odds that both they and you get through the show or movie without reaching for their phone? Almost zero, in my experience.

It's done. The cultural significance of TV is toast. Our culture is too atomized, too personalized for shared experiences. Large TVs, centerpiece of the living room, are becoming an anachronism that date people as being from a previous era when television was still a shared cultural experience.


Replies

Xiol32last Monday at 1:04 PM

I just want a massive screen to watch my content on - everything else you mention is irrelevant.

aembletonlast Monday at 12:57 PM

I like rewatching old TV shows and films, streamed from my Jellyfin server.

For me, my rule is to get a Google TV, because I can change out the launcher to Flauncher. At least that way I don't see any ads. Google may well still be tracking me, but they do all over the web and I have an Android phone so they've already got plenty of data on me. I just avoid their ads so that it minimises the profitability of that data.

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physicleslast Monday at 7:05 PM

I agree that the days when “everyone” watched the same show are done. But if you can find a small group to watch a show with (better in person), then there are better shows available for that experience these last several years, even if the average quality has gone down.

What are some of your favorite shared experiences to replace tv?

Braxton1980last Monday at 12:13 PM

>First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling

The first item in your list to others is subjective

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Vasloyesterday at 12:34 AM

Yeah I mean it isn’t like there isn’t decades of content you can catch up on or anything.