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Comment by cirgue | Hacker News Reader

> passive consumption over leisure

This is the money quote for me. We somehow managed to convince an entire generation of people who were skeptical of the passive consumption of television that 'Hey wait, this other form of manufactured entertainment is entirely different and not at all bad for you because we're the tech industry and we aren't the people in suits."

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Were they skeptical at all though? Or did they just want more control over the content? Whenever I talk to people who would very much be in that category, they don't hate TV at all, in fact they love it and sub to Netflix and Prime (or whatever else), they just hated the bombard of ads and not being able to watch what you want when you want.

So this hypocritical behavior you're trying to highlight just doesn't exist at all IMO, people wanted more control and they got it.

Was it not a commonly held opinion with your friends/family in high school and college that television was a pretty rotten form of media? I don't think that this is a universal phenomenon, but it definitely exists.

Pretty sure this only existed (and exists) on one side of a class divide. TV as entertainment for the "lower class" and thus if you want to be rich and snobby you avoid it for "higher pursuits". Then Netflix comes out and its hip, and gives people an excuse to participate in TV. Once the poor all have Netflix, there is suddenly a gap for a new cultural differentiator built around it.

Nope, far from common. Most people liked The Simpsons and/or various other such things.

There were a few "I don't even own a TV!" folks but they mostly turned into "I don't even own a Facebook!" types, in any case.

There were very few who wouldn't watch any television or film. And as TV production and writing quality went up, television took up more of their time.

No, not really. Most people in my high school liked watching TV and what not. They may not have liked aspects of the format (like ads or being stuck finding repeats into the times when a show wasn't on video yet), but they certainly liked watching TV.

Where the heck did you go to school/college anyway? Never seen that sort of attitude before.

And when did they goto school :-)

> We somehow managed to convince

We did? I though people just switched from TV to Internet because Internet is more fun or more faddy or just cheaper.

Yeah, people switched from cable TV to on-demand niche content, but it's the same kind of passive entertainment.

Is it? people get involved with both film and tv - when BAB5 was firing on all cylinders you'd end watching some episodes pysced up.

And a defy anyone not to watch Theodreds funerial scene in Two Towers and not be moved.

Not at all a representative sample, but the majority of my friends and their families growing up watched very little television outside of the occasional sporting event. Those same people are now enthusiastic social media users.

One can't skip the "cheaper" aspect. Computer games (well at least not the freemium play2win types) are generally much better deals than being a sports buff, as you can spend a lot more time playing/watching replays of games for less than a cable subscription.

The MMOG and freemium types that require subscription fees or have an in-game economy are a different story. I truly hope legislation prevents those types of games from destroying the existing landscape of "buy-once play-many" vs. constantly buying "gold/credits" for upgrades (that you need to even stay competitive).

Even most of those seem to subsist more on pulling in a small percentage of "whales" (who spend thousands and likely have gambling addictions) and people who buy the occasional hat.

Even then on an entertainment/hour basis video games are a remarkably cheap form of entertainment.

I grew up with videogames. My whole life, my mais sources of entertainment were books and video games.

I find that whant attracts me to them is the control I have of my experience. Specially the pacing.

With books and game I can take a breather, explore/reread a portion and progress as fast as I want. In the television, cinema and music media I don't have that control. Therefore I don't like those media as much.

I'm also _really_ picky about the pacing in a movie. It's not that I don't like slow movies. I get antsy if they're not progressing as I think they should and when I'm presented with scenes that have no purpose.

Re: the last paragraph; judging something for what you want it to be rather than for what it is defeats the purpose of engaging with those media.

Oh so you mean the snobbery of the "hyacinth bucket" type those have always existed hardline puritans though that chess playing was a sin as you where not spending time thinking about the bible.

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