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Millennials Unearth an Amazing Hack to Get Free TV: the Antenna (wsj.com)

From a report on WSJ: Dan Sisco has discovered a technology that allows him to access half a dozen major TV channels, completely free. "I was just kind of surprised that this is technology that exists (alternative source)," says Mr. Sisco, 28 years old. "It's been awesome. It doesn't log out and it doesn't skip." Let's hear a round of applause for TV antennas, often called "rabbit ears," a technology invented roughly seven decades ago, long before there was even a cord to be cut, which had been consigned to the technology trash can along with cassette tapes and VCRs. The antenna is mounting a quiet comeback, propelled by a generation that never knew life before cable television, and who primarily watch Netflix , Hulu and HBO via the internet. Antenna sales in the U.S. are projected to rise 7 percent in 2017 to nearly 8 million units, according to the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group. Mr. Sisco, an M.B.A. student in Provo, Utah, made his discovery after inviting friends over to watch the Super Bowl in 2014. The online stream he found to watch the game didn't have regular commercials -- disappointing half of his guests who were only interested in the ads. "An antenna was not even on my radar," he says. He went online and discovered he could buy one for $20 and watch major networks like ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS free.

14 of 564 comments (clear)

  1. If you color the tip of the antenna with a by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 4, Funny

    green marker, it greatly improves the picture quality.

  2. Using a TV antenna to watch TV by scourfish · · Score: 5, Funny

    And they said that MBA's were useless. Sure showed them.

    1. Re:Using a TV antenna to watch TV by msmash · · Score: 4, Funny

      I used one of mine :)

  3. Is this sarcasm? by clonehappy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or are people really stupid enough to not know about broadcast fucking TV?

    an M.B.A student

    Oh, nevermind.

    1. Re:Is this sarcasm? by Gilgaron · · Score: 5, Funny

      So... how long did you wait to start mailing her invoices for the radio subscription in her car?

    2. Re:Is this sarcasm? by c6gunner · · Score: 5, Funny

      In order to look something up you have to know it exists.

      You've obviously never gotten lost on a wikipedia excursion. After a few hours not only do you find things you had no clue existed, you find things you would have never wanted to know about.

    3. Re:Is this sarcasm? by Solandri · · Score: 4, Funny

      When I was moving to my new house, my millennial cousin came with me to the moving van rental store. It was a hot day, so on the drive home he complained that the van didn't have air conditioning. I told him to open the window. He fiddled around with his door for a minute, then declared "The windows in this van don't open." I had to explain how to roll down the window with the hand crank. He'd never been in a car without power windows.

  4. Re:Sarcastic & Condescending by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe the headline for the next article will be "Millennials get butthurt whenever you mention them"

  5. Re:Paywalled by cashman73 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Next up, Millennials will "discover" an amazing hack to reading the news -- buying a printed newspaper from a newspaper stand! More at 11!

  6. Re:Paywalled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Okay, found news stand, bought newspaper, I've been tapping and swiping it for half an hour now and it still shows the same page. Halp!

  7. Re: Paywalled by bestweasel · · Score: 5, Funny

    I tried one of those. Fairly low resolution but huge screen size for a portable; manual zoom and the other controls are basic but work well, though not when it's windy for some reason. Easy to read in bright sunlight but sadly there's no backlight. Water resistance is poor though I saw someone using one as a makeshift hat in a downpour! Annotations can be made with an ink or graphite stylus. Cut and Paste works but is messy and Copy is quite slow. I've had mine for several weeks and as far as I can tell, it never needs recharging. I can't get the updates to work though.

  8. Re:what's old is new again by Paul+Carver · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds interesting. I do see an "FM" button in my car but the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons appear to be missing. Any suggestions on how I can permanently block specific songs from playing or make other songs play more frequently on this "FM" device? Oh, and where's the "search" box? Obviously with Pandora I just type in the name of a song or artist on the qwerty keyboard, but it's not clear where the corresponding UI is in my car.

    I tried pressing the "FM" buton but it seems to play quite a lot of crap that I don't want to hear. It definitely needs some serious thumbs down input.

  9. Re:Paywalled by clovis · · Score: 4, Funny

    Next up, Millennials will "discover" an amazing hack to reading the news -- buying a printed newspaper from a newspaper stand! More at 11!

    "There's no batteries to run out!", they exclaimed.

    Oh, no no no, not printed newspapers.

    Those things can catch fire.
    Just try it. Spread one out on the floor or sofa and just light one corner of the thing. See what happens. You'll want to be able to put it out, so be sure to have a full bladder before you begin.

    When I was a kid, all we had to play with was fire. And we were glad to have it.

  10. needs more avacodo toast angst by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Funny

    This should be "How Millenials are Killing Cable TV with this ONE WEIRD TRICK"

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff