I'm cancelling my Eastlink cable today

Editorial

I am cancelling my TV cable because I want choices. And now that Eastlink is converting us all from analog to digital, it is taking choices from me. It is limiting what I watch. It is controlling what I watch!


With anlog, I was able to use my dvd/vcr player. I had paid for that player.
I had 50+ channels. I could record what I wanted and play it when I wanted.
I could play free dvds from the public library. A huge selection.
I could play dvds which I rent monthly from ZIP. A even larger selection.
This suited me. I watched less than 5% live TV.

On August 16, the nice young Eastlink technician came and installed "the box". And give me my third remote.
He quickly showed me how to use the device. "It's easy. You just...."
He showed me again.
And he even showed me how I could record anything from the first 50+ channels. But to watch the recordings, I needed to rent a unit to record the programs for $14.95 + tax a month.
He left me no instructions. He did leave a promotional pamphlet titled Our new TV revolves around YOU. 

Later in the day I discovered that I could turn on the TV (!) but I could not change channels.

I battled with the TV, the dvd/vcr, and 3 remotes. I thought. I talked to people include Keshia - the IT student who worked at the Hantsport Library during the summer. I knew I could watch dvds on my computer but I work on it all day! And I have a TV. Keshia convinced me that I can watch dvds on my TV without cable.

And I came to the conclusion that I do not need cable. I can watch Big Bang Theory and The Daily Show, This Hour has 22 Minutes, and The Weather Network on my computer if I wish. I will read more books. I will talk to more people. I will walk more. I will play my keyboard more. And I will use my brain more!

So, the Eastlink technician - do they have any women technicians? - is coming this afternoon to take away "the box".

Computers are getting more complicated.
Telephones and cell phones are getting more complicated.
Cars too.
Do we need these continuous updates?
Or is it just as Vance Packard wrote 50 years ago just planned obsolescence? Capitalism at its worse!