The Evolution of Entertainment

Last year my wife and I decided the few shows we liked to watch on television weren't worth the high monthly fees our television-service provider was charging, and we decided to make some changes. 

We weren't sure if we were ready to give up television entirely, so we put a High-Definition Antenna on our roof. For a one-time cost of $300 (which included installation), we gained access to many great channels that broadcast most of the shows we thought we might miss by eliminating our television service. (This may not be a great option for you if you like any of the speciality channels or if you're addicted to sports and can't live without TSN or SportsCenter, but for our family, it works out great!)

We were already loyal Netflix subscribers, and we were able to use Netflix to change the way we watched TV; now we choose a particular show, then binge-watching the entire series until it was complete. (Sometimes it was one episode a night, sometimes it was four, but we like the fact that we remained in full control of our schedule.) Then we just choose another show. Rinse, repeat. Netflix also has an enormous catalogue of shows for children, so our kids aren't disappointed. And at $8/month, there simply isn't a better (legal) entertainment option out there.

We access Netflix through our AppleTV, which provides us with a number of additional entertainment options. It lets me watch a newer film that hasn't yet reached Netflix by renting it for about $6. When my kids want to have a "dance party", I fire up the Vevo channel for access to unlimited music videos. If I want to watch the big UFC event but avoid the crowd at the local bar? No problem; I can invite my friends over to my house and purchase the event via the UFC channel. And AppleTV is about to get a whole lot more extraordinary, with the recent announcements that HBO Now will be available (for $15/month) starting in April, and that a "skinny TV" package is expected to be launched by September.

Of course, your Netflix and Apple TV aren't very useful without a great Internet package. Through TekSavvy, I pay less than $50 each month for high-speed Internet; this includes 400GB of data, which has proved more than enough for my family's needs.

But we're not cutting cords. We're switching them.

The term "cord-cutting" isn't really accurate. Yes, we've eliminated our cable cord when we decided we would no longer pay for television services. But we replaced it with a cord running up to my HD Antenna, and an HDMI cable for our AppleTV. And our internet cord remains a critical connection for our household. 

Our basic need for entertainment hasn't changed. But we now have more options available.