Millennials learn about the TV antenna

[dirtyred]

For once it's not the old folks who don't get it:


www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/millennials-unearth-an-amazing-hack-to-get-free-tv-the-antenna/ar-AApmLwm?li=BBnb7Kz

[pixy0stix]

This is how the old people felt when canning started making a comeback, isn't it?

[sofamonkey]

"Is this even legal?" LOFL for days!!

[MrsAxilla]

Wow. How else will millenials discover the Joy of Painting?

[candreco]

Aug 3, 2017 17:27:35 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Wow. How else will millenials discover the Joy of Painting?

It's actually on Netflix, lol.

ETA: Sorry, it's actually Beauty is Everywhere that's on Netflix.  But it's still Bob Ross with his happy clouds!

[juliachild]

I'm a millennial that uses an antenna. Can confirm. None of my peers know what it is or why I have it. Sometimes I don't want to spend forever finding something to watch on Netflix.

[aurora]

We still use an antenna, but we're not millennials so I guess that makes sense.

Our house came with a rooftop one. We only get NBC and ABC, but it's better than nothing.

[UMaineTeach]

Come on people!

I remember that the digital conversation was the topic of the Academic Decathlon speech I gave in what? 2000 or 2001? I was against it on the principle that the government shouldn't force people to buy a new TV.

But then, before the law took effect the converter box was invented and the government gave them out for free. No more problem. Except that now you get channels or you don't. There is no watching it though the snow.

I fear that right after net neutrality is ended, free tv and radio will be next. That 45 will just end the FCC.

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2017 17:35:59 GMT -5 juliachild said:

I'm a millennial that uses an antenna. Can confirm. None of my peers know what it is or why I have it. Sometimes I don't want to spend forever finding something to watch on Netflix.

So you spend forever flipping through the channels?

[winecat]

Next thing you know, they're going to want TVs without remotes so they have to get up to change the channel.

[dorothyinAus]

Aug 3, 2017 21:25:04 GMT -5 winecat said:

Next thing you know, they're going to want TVs without remotes so they have to get up to change the channel.

Wired remotes, so they don't get lost in the couch cushions or taken to the fridge on a snack run.

[litebright]

Aug 3, 2017 21:25:04 GMT -5 winecat said:

Next thing you know, they're going to want TVs without remotes so they have to get up to change the channel.

I can hear the thunka-thunka-thunka-thunka-thunka now. 

[winecat]

Aug 3, 2017 23:01:54 GMT -5 litebright said:

Aug 3, 2017 21:25:04 GMT -5 winecat said:

Next thing you know, they're going to want TVs without remotes so they have to get up to change the channel.

I can hear the thunka-thunka-thunka-thunka-thunka now. 

It'll go perfectly with the clackity clack of their typewriters.

[suburbanzookeeper]

I'm technically a millennial and I know I've had to explain it to friends that we still watch all of the major local channels (and PBS + PBS Kids) since we cut cable/went to streaming. We've been getting our local channels like this for years.

[MrsAxilla]

Aug 3, 2017 21:53:43 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Aug 3, 2017 21:25:04 GMT -5 winecat said:

Next thing you know, they're going to want TVs without remotes so they have to get up to change the channel.

Wired remotes, so they don't get lost in the couch cushions or taken to the fridge on a snack run.

Why the fuck are they little and black?!?  They should be neon orange so you don't lose them forever!

[ginger]

Aug 3, 2017 21:17:51 GMT -5 @bellakitty said:

Aug 3, 2017 17:35:59 GMT -5 juliachild said:

I'm a millennial that uses an antenna. Can confirm. None of my peers know what it is or why I have it. Sometimes I don't want to spend forever finding something to watch on Netflix.

So you spend forever flipping through the channels?

I can't tell if you're serious or not, but no. They make DVRs for broadcast TV so I can still pull up a channel guide. Our channel selection is much smaller though. We mostly use streaming services, but we have all the major broadcast channels. Once we cut cable, we realized quickly we didn't even miss it.

[Velar Fricative]

Yeah, we have a Mohu antenna from when we cut cable, so as a Millennial this is "duh" to me. But I'm also 35 and one of the geriatric millennials.

[wawa]

I'm an old millenial. I grew up with a rooftop antenna. One of the big kind. It had a wired control knob to spin it. The knob had sharpie notes on it about which way to point it for each channel.

We got cable when I was in middle school.

I wish we could just have an attenna and netflix now, but maryland does baseball by cable, and you can't legally watch it online in local market. Stupid orioles.

[penguingrrl]

H and I are technically millennial and know about antennas. I didn't have cable until late middle school. My ILs didn't get cable until 2001. After 9/11 they no longer got signal at all so that's when they got it. We all still get the most basic cable available, which is little more than broadcast channels.

[aurora]

Aug 4, 2017 8:00:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm an old millenial. I grew up with a rooftop antenna. One of the big kind. It had a wired control knob to spin it. The knob had sharpie notes on it about which way to point it for each channel.

We got cable when I was in middle school.

I wish we could just have an attenna and netflix now, but maryland does baseball by cable, and you can't legally watch it online in local market. Stupid orioles.

Our rooftop antenna has a broken motor. We used to be able to watch Fox (H loves the Simpsons) in winter when the trees lost their leaves, so we'd go up on the roof twice a year to adjust it by hand for optimal seasonal reception. "Can you see it now? Now? What about now?" Our neighbors probably think we're insane.

[GilliC]

I seriously thought that this was satire.
Then I was assuming it was one of the pieces built around a few outlying examples.
Then I got to the statistics.

Almost a third of Americans (29%) are unaware local TV is available free, according to a June survey by the National Association of Broadcasters, an industry trade group.

29%?!



ETA - A contributing factor to my astonishment is probably that when I was growing up, you couldn't get cable in my neighborhood. For years, it was a giant satellite dish in your yard or an antenna on the roof. My parents still live there, and they still watch broadcast TV.

[TBM]

Aug 4, 2017 9:05:04 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

We have an antenna. Last night we tried to watch Wheel of Fortune and the tv kept going out whenever we moved. I kept yelling for H to sit still.

Back in the olden days, long before we had cable, we had a portable TV with an antenna that would mess up every time DH moved.   He would experiment with crossing his legs or doing something with his arm, and it would drive me crazy.  He claimed it was his 'magnetic personality,' but that just made me more annoyed with him. ;p

There is an episode of Laverne and Shirley where they are trying to watch something with their friends, and every time it shows them watching the tv, they are in a different position and they are using aluminum foil to help.  They have tin foil ears, hats, etc..  I don't even remember what that episode was about, but I think of that every time someone mentions tv antennas.  My memory is probably much more hilarious to me than the actual episode was.

[fuckyourcouch]

I'm a millennial who had an antenna and a TV without a remote growing up.

[meshaliuknits]

Aug 4, 2017 8:00:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm an old millenial. I grew up with a rooftop antenna. One of the big kind. It had a wired control knob to spin it. The knob had sharpie notes on it about which way to point it for each channel.

Heh. Reminds me of Fox Viewing Positions.