Analog to Digital Signal Switch

Last Friday, the FCC finally decided to switch off all analog TV signal and went digital. Now if you’re like me you’ve ignored everything about this “Switch” and suddenly find yourself without a television to watch. So what’s a frugal American to do in these economic hard times? Well you can get a cable or satellite set up, but with the average cable fee being over the price of say a full tank of gas per month (just for the basic package),  who wants to spend that? This is especially considering that you have a perfectly good working internet connection and presumably at least one computer lying around.

The following alternatives are a cheap and often free way to avoid having the cable guy run wires through your house.

1) Hulu & other online free video services. Hulu, ABC, CBS, NBC, and a plethora of other sites offer completely legitimate and 100% free content for your computer. Hulu offers you rolling episodes, generally the last 5 episodes that aired from the current seasons of the hottest shows on Fox, NBC and ABC as well as other Disney channels. ABC.com is now offering up lots of free episodes of their hot shows, such as the first four seasons of Lost, in case you’ve been living under a rock like yours truly. NBC even has certain episodes of their shows that you can view from your mobile device (i.e. your iphone).

2) Netflix. One of the best things about Netflix is that it offers a free streaming service with your subscription. While their DVD selection is much larger, being able to fire up an episode of Californiacation at 3 AM is always a nice thing. But on top of that they offer an enormous amount of shows on DVD. The best part is that you can watch shows from across the pond that you’ve probably never heard of before. While Netflix isn’t free, it’s worth the $7.99 a month, and it’s a steal compared to your cable bill.

3)Boxee. Boxee is a free program available for most computer operating systems out there. Not only does it have built-in support for Hulu, Netflix, and CBS, but it also has access to lots of other free video services that you might not think to check. Boxee also inventories your current library of legal and illegal movies and television shows and lets you watch them with ease.

4) Pirating. Arrrr! While we here at Ploomy in no way want to make it seem like pirating is in anyway a good thing, many people use it as an alternative. Pirating movies and television shows allows you to get your hands on stuff that you can’t find anywhere else, like TV shows from ______ (insert foreign country here), or just get access to movies that had a small release and have no chance of getting a DVD deal anytime soon. Of course the MPAA would probably argue that these are just excuses and either way you’re stealing, so pirating is strictly at your own risk. Also just one last thing since we’re talking about this, get rid of Limewire, right now. It’s only good for getting viruses and creating backdoors for malicious people to get onto your computer. Would you do it with a prostitute and not wear a condom? Well when you use Limewire you went to town with the whole brothel and were unprotected each time.

Of course the best way to enjoy any of these services is on your television, and luckily for you all of them can be, with ease. Just buy a connector for your laptop or computer and connect it to your television, and voila you can watch whatever you want for free. If you’re interested in freeing up your computer from the television you can go pick up a Roku Box at your local big box store. The Roku Box allows you to watch all your favorite shows on your TV for a low low price which is a steal compared to a year of basic cable. Other options are your Xbox 360, which has Netflix support built-in, and if the rumors are true the PlayStation 3 will soon have similar support.

Hopefully this article has convinced you to cut the cord that is your cable connection and embrace the freedom and cheapness of the internet. Because what’s better than beer? free beer of course.