TV Free?

I admit to being somewhat conceited because I haven’t had TV—broadcast or cable—for the past nine years. Sure, I’ve had a television set, but it’s only used for the DVD player and the occasional Playstation game. However thanks to Hulu, Netflix and my MacBook I’m seriously considering getting rid of my TV altogether.

This thought has been rolling around in my head for a while now. At the moment I’m in the midst of the process of minimizing the stuff I have. Clothes not worn for a long time? Books that’ll never be read? Random items that are taking up space? Out they go. It’s really pleasant living in an environment that isn’t burdened by clutter and a lot of physical noise. Plus I’m finding that my living space is a lot more attractive and just so darn useful when I don’t have to work around all the extra stuff.

The TV finally landed smack in the middle of my minimizing sights a little over a week ago. Though rarely sick I’d managed to come down with the flu and spent three days laying on the couch feeling miserable. During those days I watched movies and videos constantly but only once or twice on the TV. The rest of the time I was watching things on my MacBook. It became pretty obvious that the TV wasn’t really needed.

The idea of getting rid of the TV is gaining appeal for me for aesthetic reasons as well. It’s a mid-size tube TV set housed in a nice dark wood TV armoire. It looks pretty good and I do like it a lot but it’s large. If it goes away then I can use that portion of my living room for seating instead, something which always seems in short supply when I have more than two or three people over at once (a fairly frequent occurrence). And that big swath of wall currently covered by armoire can instead be covered by art. Plus the next time I move my friends will appreciate toting around a few chairs rather than a huge and unwieldy piece of furniture.

What if I do it and don’t like it? What if I find I get really sick of watching things on my 13″ MacBook? Hell, I can just save up and buy a nice new plasma TV later, right? It’s not like this would be a decision of no return. And, really, it’s not like this comes anywhere close to an important decision. It’s just a TV, for crying out loud.

Anyway, I’m not completely off the fence on this subject yet but I think we all know which direction I’m leaning. Still thinking. We’ll see.