Slashdot Mirror
Our Ratings, Ourselves
Ant writes "This long New York Times article (10 pages; no registration required) reports on the mismeasure of television (TV)." From the article: "One of the great contradictions of modern American life is that almost everyone watches TV while almost no one agrees anymore about what it really means to watch television....when it comes to figuring out how many of us are watching these shows, and whether we're paying attention while we're watching and even whether we're actually noticing the advertisements among the shows we may or may not be watching -- well, this is where things get tricky..."
Television agrees with you.
In Soviet Russia reality TV shows explain YOU!
Rediculous is ridiculous!
I have a TV set for ONE reason and ONE reason only: To watch sports. Once in a while I might catch something on TLC or Discovery or Public Access that is halfway educational but otherwise TV is just an annoyance to me. The annoyance/waste-of-time of the commercials completely negates anything positive I could gain from watching something like reality TV. Personally, I feel dumber after sitting in front of a TV for two hours watching this so-called entertainment. If I want entertainment I'll go get fucking drunk and go to a titty bar. Why TV is such a dominant form of media is beyond me. I went with a TV for almost a year and everybody would always be shocked when I told them I didn't have a TV. Now I have one so I can watch some baseball and football on ESPN. Other than that I'll watch commercial-less DVDs that I get unlimited rentals to for $10/month at Hollywood Video.