A number of years ago I stopped listening to FM radio stations, and disconnected my TV. A strange thing to do for sure. The first thing that comes to mind when someone says they’ve turned off their TV is that they sit around all day long drinking coffee, reading, writing, solving world hunger, and arguing with their intellectual friends. This image of me post radio and TV couldn’t be farther from the truth.
One moment that comes to mind when I think of when I came to be more of what I am today is some time that I spent in Hawaii. I lived in Hilo for five years from sometime around 2000. I remember driving around in my car, hearing, or seeing, an advertisement for a BigMac or something. I forgot about it, then realized I was standing in line for a BigMac not a half hour later. I like to think of myself as a pretty informed person, but I realized I’m just as susceptible to advertising as anyone else. It was a yucky feeling.
It got me thinking about where I run into advertisements. Pretty much everywhere, but I think the majority of them were any time I spent on TV or listening to radio. I decided to cut out all TV and radio. This hasn’t stopped any of my TV watching or radio listening habits. I had some experience with computers and the internet. I upgraded my internet connection and started getting 95% of all my media via the internet. I subscribe to pod-casts, and watch all the popular shows on the internet. If anything, my radio, TV, and movie intake increased.
Every time I would start to hear or watch commercials, I’d change my source for that media. It’s been a constant search, but a fun challenge. Alison thinks I have a short circuit in my hunter-gatherer Cro-Magnon brain that fuels my constant search for collect things.
Alibot said I should also look at this radio story about a dude “divorcing google.”