Television Options for the New House

This post is part of my work with U.S. Cellular but reflects my own opinions.

With our upcoming move to the new house we’ve started a big debate. What do we do about television watching? We don’t have cable now…will we want it then. The house had an old antennae on it…do we get new antennae?

There are so many options now days. I’ve started talking to my kids about it because they are so much more informed than I am about all of that. I was surprised to learn that most of my kids opt not to afford cable….all have Netflix though. They like the streaming option much better…it’s cheaper, always something there to watch and no commercials. Besides that, watching on a tablet makes it portable. Kelli always is watching a series on Netflix while she sews.

Can you believe she’s watched every episode of “Say Yes to the Dress?” I typically listen to audio books while sewing but Kelli, she sews while listening to Netflix. She loves that she can carry her tablet from machine to ironing board to the kitchen to check on supper all while listening to the show. She’s watched so many series already that she also has a Hulu Plus subscription. If I wasn’t such an audio book fan, I think I’d be doing what Kelli does with a tablet or for that matter I could do it with my Samsung S5. The screen is big enough.

I have to admit I am using my tablet more and more too. I try to occasionally catch Bonnie Hunter’s Quilt Cam. I take my tablet with me to the quilting machine so I can watch YouTube videos on a quilting motif again before I start creating it on a quilt.

So how about me and Hubby…what are we going to do regarding television watching and the move to the new house?? We decided no cable for us….but we will buy a new antennae. We like to get the local news…we like Me TV and ION Television and I don’t want to miss PBS and Downton Abbey. Once Hubby and I decided on the wanting an antennae for the local news I asked the kids about that- we asked don’t you miss the local news???….I got a DUH mom from that question…they all said that they have phone apps for the local news stations and read the news via their phones. Then one of them grabbed my Samsung Galaxy S5 and downloaded an app. I guess I can now be part of the vast population who opt to get their news elsewhere.

Me personally…I could easily never turn on a television for the rest of my life but I would be lost without audio books. I am finding that I like listening to books via my phone. I have a Aubile app that allows me to listen. Better part, I have the same app on my tablet. Best part, I can listen to them interchangeably and each keeps my place in the book.

It seems that life is continuing to change. I always think how interesting it must be for people in their 90’s. Not growing up with television or phones and now we have morphed the two together and can watch television on our phones….it makes me wonder what changes I’ll see in my life…so far…the changes have been pretty good and there are always options to make each piece of technology a part of our own lives….like Kelli watching Netfix and me listening to audio books. We use the same equipment but each tweaking things a bit to our own liking.

Now about that antennae… We decided that we like this one Antennas Direct C2-V-CJM ClearStream 2-V Long Range UHF/VHF Indoor/Outdoor DTV Antenna with 20-Inch Mount. It’s the same one we have now and we like it. I better go get that ordered so the carpenters can put that up while they are shingling the rest of the house.

If you have young ones in your life don’t forget U.S. Cellular’s Parent-Child agreement. It will help guide conversations of proper cell phone and tablet use. You can find that here.

I’ll be back next month with another U.S. Cellular update.