Complicated cord-cutting

When did watching television become so expensive? And when did efforts to curb that cost become so complicated? Shouldn't cord-cutting be simple? Isn't that the whole idea?

I remember paying a little more than $30 per month to CableVision for 50+ channels in the late 90's and thinking that was a pricey luxury.

And don't even get me started on my efforts to be wireless and how that seems to backfire every time some new gadget comes into my house. It's absurd.

 

So I'm sitting up in the wee hours of the morning, researching everything from Apple TV to Roku to Fire Stick.

And like a good nerd with insomnia, I'm making a list of all the things I actually watch on cable and what I would be giving up by ditching it. Turns out, not much. I regularly watch exactly five channels. Now that's eye-opening.

I'm also adding up the costs of things like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, and trying to decide if I would need or want any of those offerings in the absence of real cable.

I'll lay it out there:  I pay $160 every month for decent internet speed (whatever that means) and a laundry list of channels I don't watch. But if I want to get rid of the ones I don't watch, I lose the ones I do. There is no in-between, and the idea of "a la carte" gives AT&T Uverse the twitches.

And they do this super nice thing for you: they drill a special little box into your wall so your house is forever branded "AT&T-ready."

This must not continue. My wallet is no longer interested and I'm tired of being a sucker. So what if I miss a few old episodes of SVU? I mean, haven't we all seen them dozens of times, easily?

So far, I'm leaning towards Apple TV. It seems to offer the most options, and I'm an Apple girl.

Thankfully, I know an Apple guy who will graciously come to my house and set up all the little gizmos, gadgets and wireless things that just make me confused (another reason I'm thinking Apple).

I'll get started on this cord-cutting business first thing in the morning... Stay tuned!