Cord-Cutting - Easier Than Ever

Cord-cutting is one of the trends of the last decade or so that the Internet has led to.  This is the situation where someone cuts the "cord" of cable or satellite television through a provider and manages their entertainment options.

Cord-cutting used to mean that you were mostly giving up visual entertainment other than movies.  This option almost guaranteed that you would always be behind the curve in keeping up with the latest releases.  Although this option was not a hard one to choose for those that are not fans of network TV, there was a challenge in keeping up with news and world events. You might have noticed that this is far from the case in the modern world.  The ability to stream content from studio-quality sites like Netflix or Amazon or even independent creations like YouTube has made "legacy" TV almost dull.  Yes, the major networks still put out some good shows.  On the other hand, there is more good content than you can keep up with that is produced by places like Netflix, HBO, and dozens of others. The speed and cost of an Internet connection have contributed to the quality of streaming even as some providers look for ways to cap data transfer each month.  This change does have the effect of shifting your entertainment costs from cable companies to Internet providers.  However, you still have more control over whether you are a heavy or light user.

Even with all of the new options for entertainment the networks of yesterday are still running strong.  It is almost better to go to the website of these networks to check out their web-only shows along with the ones you see on "normal" TV.  There are several options to view these shows, but signing up on the network site can often keep your viewing free or at least very inexpensive. The bottom line is that the ways to find content of all sorts have exploded in recent years.  The way your parents viewed entertainment and kept up with the world is a thing of the past.  Thus, cord-cutting should become the norm instead of a niche approach in the years ahead.  You might as well embrace it now and make your entertainment something you control.  If you do, then channel surfing may become something utterly foreign to you.