[ergomarky]

Were they skeptical at all though? Or did they just want more control over the content? Whenever I talk to people who would very much be in that category, they don't hate TV at all, in fact they love it and sub to Netflix and Prime (or whatever else), they just hated the bombard of ads and not being able to watch what you want when you want.

So this hypocritical behavior you're trying to highlight just doesn't exist at all IMO, people wanted more control and they got it.

[cirgue]

Was it not a commonly held opinion with your friends/family in high school and college that television was a pretty rotten form of media? I don't think that this is a universal phenomenon, but it definitely exists.

[kazagistar]

Pretty sure this only existed (and exists) on one side of a class divide. TV as entertainment for the "lower class" and thus if you want to be rich and snobby you avoid it for "higher pursuits". Then Netflix comes out and its hip, and gives people an excuse to participate in TV. Once the poor all have Netflix, there is suddenly a gap for a new cultural differentiator built around it.

[majormajor]

Nope, far from common. Most people liked The Simpsons and/or various other such things.

There were a few "I don't even own a TV!" folks but they mostly turned into "I don't even own a Facebook!" types, in any case.

There were very few who wouldn't watch any television or film. And as TV production and writing quality went up, television took up more of their time.

[CM30]

No, not really. Most people in my high school liked watching TV and what not. They may not have liked aspects of the format (like ads or being stuck finding repeats into the times when a show wasn't on video yet), but they certainly liked watching TV.

Where the heck did you go to school/college anyway? Never seen that sort of attitude before.

[walshemj]

And when did they goto school :-)