Minion21g on 1/8/2018 at 18:59
For the past five years or so, I've gone completely without a cable subscription or even a digital antenna. I've relied solely on Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play for my media consumption. So, I wanted wanted to ask my fellow TTLG'ers how many of you have made the switch to cable-free as well? How are you faring with it? Do you miss cable?
In addition, I wanted this thread to be a place for sharing some of that more interesting, online-only, quality entertainment. I'll start by providing links to some of my favorite YouTube channels. Fair warning, most of my favorite channels are video game related, but not all them.
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(https://www.youtube.com/user/chilledsanity/) Accursed Farms - You might know Ross Scott for his Machinima videos Freeman's Mind or Civil Protection. His YouTube channel is now home to those videos as well as discussions about dead video games, old games he used to enjoy that aren't fantastic (Game Dungeon), and long form monthly chats with his fans.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/XboxAhoy/) Ahoy - Stuart Brown's videos are some of the most visually compelling on YouTube. A graphic designer by trade, Stuart creates insightful gaming videos about the iconic arms in series' like Call of Duty, as well as my favorite, his RetroAhoy videos which look back at arcade-era games and cryptids like Polybius.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/broadcaststsatic/) Noah Caldwell-Gervais - Noah Caldwell-Gervais writes in-depth video game reviews and franchise retrospectives that keep me interested from start to finish. These videos are really documentaries in a sense that mix real-world concerns with video game commentary. He recently did a bus tour around the United States where he combined the motif of Jack Kerouac's travel writing with the modern era, politics, video games, and random oddities and anachronisms.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/CGPGrey/) CGPGrey - CGPGrey writes what I like to think of as "How the World Works for Dummies" videos which describe various topics like death, how elections work, and why the world is the way it is today all with a light-hearted, stick-figured, 2000's era of Flash videos approach to visuals.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/scishow/) SciShow - Originally created by Hank Green, SciShow makes short videos on various science topics. They release vidoes every day and generally are about 5-10 minutes long. I've learned a lot of silly science trivia over the years from SciShow and their presentation style keeps me coming back for more. SciShow has a number of sister channel's which review topics like outer space and psychology too.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/geekandsundry/) Geek & Sundry - These folks were the first to bring you Wil Wheaton's Tabletop series, but are also home to the well-renowned Dungeons & Dragons crew known as Critical Role. All of Geek & Sundry's videos have a focus on table-top gaming in it's miriad of forms, so if that's something you're interested in, there's definitely something for you.
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcOeS5aEIadAhKtJ9_VKAIw/) LadyLike - LadyLike is a reality TV show produced by Buzzfeed. The girls of LadyLike get assigned topics then produce content on them. Honestly, I couldn't tell you why I enjoy them so much, besides the fact that the girls are all wonderful human beings who get to experience things I can't. It's all quite addicting. Careful not to become too attached!
More on the Let's Play side of things I enjoy:
(https://www.youtube.com/user/Dslyecxi/) Dslyecxi - Dslyecxi runs the Arma 3 crew known as Shack Tactical. They're a pretty big group of people who run co-op and adversarial Arma 3 missions. Dslyecxi records videos of those encounters, and if I didn't know better, I would think he ran is own private military company in real-life.
(https://www.youtube.com/user/ChipCheezumLPs) ChipCheezum and General Ironicus - Chip and Ironicus make high quality LP's of their favorite games. These are the guys that brought you the Let's Play of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. They're well-known and adored for their love of the Metal Gear Solid series and try to provide a complete look at Kojima's work including all of it's easter eggs.
Some others to look at (
https://www.youtube.com/user/Kikoskia/) Kikoskia, (
https://www.youtube.com/user/Jingles1215) SorcererDave, and (
https://www.youtube.com/user/ryconroleplays) Rycon Roleplays
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I think that's it for now. I'd love to hear from the rest of you about the ways in which you've cut cable and continue to be entertained!
jkcerda on 1/8/2018 at 19:09
I use Tenchistv.
Renzatic on 1/8/2018 at 19:38
I've had my cable cut for over a year now. Went with Netflix, Amazon, and an antenna outside for my local channels. Though I kinda cheat, using DirecTV Now, which is like cable without a cable.
Overall, I'd say I cut my TV bill in half. It'll be even more than that if I cut Now out of the equation, which I'm considering doing.
Twist on 1/8/2018 at 20:02
My wife and I cut the cable surprisingly long ago... I think about 7 or 8 years ago. For most of that time, we relied on an antenna, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Roku (which, surprisingly, has a lot of useful free channels available beyond the well-known properties; for example there are services that connect to your local library and allow you to borrow films/shows).
We recently added HBO Now. If I'm being honest, I also used something else to fill in the gaps, something that starts with Bit and ends in ent.
I know it's less rare and interesting than cable cutting since many people just rely on mobile phones now, but since we wanted to maintain our long-time phone number and line separate from our personal cell numbers, we also moved to free phone service using Google Voice and this little $40 OBi device that allowed us to drop phone service and use free VOIP.
Using the Roku, Steamlink, Sonos and OBi to handle all our internet, communication and media needs -- all piped through a fiber optic connection -- somehow feels like some part of the future we imagined has finally arrived.
As far as YouTube channels with unique, quality content, I just discovered DUST, which has a nice collection of decent and original Sci-Fi short films:
(
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sDT8jZ76VLV1u__krUutA)
henke on 2/8/2018 at 06:02
I've barely watched TV in years, but I cut it off completely when I bought a projector 2 weeks ago. Now it's just YT/Netflix via the PS4. Occasionally I'll subscribe to Viaplay/HBO Nordic as well.
As for youtube, this week I've mainly been watching this video. At least once a day. It is a calming influence on my life.
[video=youtube;dXidW7fEH8g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXidW7fEH8g[/video]
Renzatic on 2/8/2018 at 06:06
It's moments like the above that make me wish we had an upvote system.
icemann on 2/8/2018 at 06:50
TV is just complete crap nowadays. All the good stuff from the US never makes it over, and so the standard (non pay-tv) channels consist primarily of reality TV, cooking shows and game shows, with very little in the way of shows with an
actual plot.
Over here in Australia, all the good stuff is on Netflix, Stan and Foxtel. No'one wants to pay all 3, especially as they are overpriced over here, so I'm assuming that the majority of people just go the piratebay path. Used to be damn fine shows on TV back in the 90s but it's only slowly diminished over the years, to the current state.
Now for all things Youtube, as mentioned in other similar threads here:
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZC45sBWNdkqSQ9Bwtt5lfA) Anna Akana - Blogging style stuff. I find much of her content quite interesting.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bwov47DseacR1-ttTdOg) Boogie2988 - Blogging. Stuff on life as an obese person trying to lose weight. Views on games etc.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0M0rxSz3IF0CsSour1iWmw) Cinemassacre - AVGN, movie reviews, lets plays.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT6LaAC9VckZYJUzutUW3PQ) Game Sack - Retro game reviews, coverage of retro consoles.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbvPS_rXp4PC21PG2k1UVg) Gaming Historian - Historical coverage of games companies, consoles, game franchises etc etc. This channel is like the National Geographic of video gaming. His 1 hour video on the history of Tetris is excellent.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJdEguB1F1CiYe7OEi3SBg) Jon Tron - Crazy videos. Good for when you want to watch something that's completely random in feel.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEFymXY4eFCo_AchSpxwyrg) MetalJesusRocks - Retro gaming stuff. Lots of different people on this one. Kelsey is so hot *drools*.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1wdop56K-ORxh37G6-fs7A) Pixelmusement - DOS gaming reviews of old games. He is also an indie game developer, so you get that angle.
* (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uT9cgJorJPWu7ITLGo9Ww) The 8-Bit Guy - Repair of old systems and consoles. Very fascinating stuff.
And that's just a few good ones.
Renzatic on 2/8/2018 at 07:06
The 8-Bit Guy is particularly awesome. His videos on old computers actually do a great job of teaching you how computers work in general.
icemann on 2/8/2018 at 07:45
I love his videos since it has that engineering angle of getting machines working. Often has him going part by part in a circuitboard to locate faults, taking you through the processes he uses. I'd nearly say that his show is TV worthy as it would likely inspire many people along an engineering / electronics repair job path.
His experiments on getting rid of the "yellowing" effect on old consoles made for good viewing. The results of that, had a knock on effect to the later repair videos he'd put up since he'd fix that up as well. Yellowing is quite common in old game consoles and cartridges, where over time they take on a yellow tint. Some worse than others. Has something to do the OV rays I think. Applying his "retro brite" technique appears to fix that up entirely.
