Life Without

Last year I spent my tax refund and awesome stimulus package on a brand new high definition television. Her name is Samantha and she has been good to me over the past 12 to 15 months since she entered my home.

But yesterday I took away a great deal of her power. Yesterday I rid myself of cable.

Times are tight, therefore changes must be made. Budgets must be cut. Digital cable just didn't make that cut.

Without digital cable and the DVR box that comes with it, I was forced to say good-bye to all of that wonderful HD programming I had so come to enjoy. All the reruns on TBS HD are gone. All the sporting events on ESPN HD are gone. All of the crystal clear movies on the recently added AMC HD are gone. It's a sad day.

But here's the thing: I'm forced by the cable company to pay for channels that I never watched. See, while digital cable does provide me with hundreds of channels for my viewing pleasure, I had the tendency to stick to those 30 or so HD channels. Maybe that makes me an HD snob, but I don't care. It's just what I became after being introduced to the beauty of this advanced technology.

It's like going your whole life using the cheapest, sandpaper-like toilet paper, then suddenly switching to one of the cushiony, quilted-type toilet paper. Once you make that change, it's really difficult to go back. So while I had that option of watching TV in hi-def, why would I dumb it down and watch anything in standard definition?

So why should I pay all that money for the wide array of digital cable stations that I never watched. In fact, if they didn't make it painfully obvious that I had all those hundreds of channels, I'd never know they existed and I wouldn't have missed them.

To the cable companies of the world, I implore you, give the HD snobs the option of an all-HD package. I know that you can pick and choose which channels you release to our individual boxes, otherwise HBO and Showtime would be available to everyone at all times. You have the power to take away all those standard definition channels, leaving us with the 30-something HD channels. Then you wouldn't necessarily be forced to make us pay through the nose for TV we're not gonna watch anyway. I'm sure you'd make us pay through the nose anyway, but at least you're presenting us with the option, the illusion that we're paying less for those few channels.

High definition, I will miss you. For now I'll have to settle for the occasional Blu-ray DVD. Someday, when I'm all growed up, and the economy is no longer in the crapper, I'll return to your enhanced picture and sound quality. For now we must go our separate ways. I'll never forget you.