End of an era

Since about 1979, we have had cable television.

For decades we were Time-Warner subscribers and ultimately also purchased telephone service from the company. The phone portion was unreliable and motivated us to look for a different supplier.

About three months ago we switched to AT&T Uverse. The telephone service is excellent but, in general, cable television is poor and getting worse. CNN isn't what it used to be and Court TV hardly exists. The endless right- or left-wing squabbles that make up a lot of prime-time programming on FOX, CNBC, and other stations along with an endless litany of programs about crimes, aren't worth watching.

About two weeks ago, I bought a small, butterfly indoor antenna from Radio Shack (see photo) and was amazed by the quality of the signal we receive free through the air. The antenna cost about $5.00 and produces better high definition TV than what we received from the cable. Evidently, cable companies compress HD images, reducing clairity, before sending them down the line. My neighbor, Larry, said this butterfly is all that is necessary to receive signals in a Milwaukee suburb from broadcast antennas about ten miles away. He is right, and as a result, we canceled our cable last Friday.

For the little TV we watch, that diminutive butterfly is all we need. Another factor naturally is the reality that we are now getting most of our news online or through our iphones. There is also plenty of television to view online, both archived and new and we have our computers hooked up to our TVs so the picture is more than acceptable, too.