<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_quote"><div>I can't believe all the anti-live-tv sentiment here. There are plenty of reasons to watch live tv where scheduled recordings don't make much sense:</div>
<div><br></div><div>1. background noise: I tune in to CNN while I work and just leave it on most of the day with the volume low.</div>
<div><br></div><div>2. severe weather: If I notice things are looking particularly bad, I tune in to one of the local networks to see if they are saying anything about it... may need to scan a few channels to find one that didn't just finish talking about it.</div>
<div><br></div><div>3. breaking news: If I hear about something major going on, I flip through the major networks/news channels to see if anyone is reporting it.</div><div><br></div><div>4. a change of pace: I have a couple of dozen shows I record... but sometimes I want something different/new so I channel hop, watching a few minutes of this or that until I find something that keeps my interest.</div>
<div><br></div><div>5. KIDS!! I don't know about your family, but my kids will watch just about anything that airs on Disney and Nick... if I told them that live tv wasn't an option, they'd give me a list a mile long of shows they want recorded... I'd have two tuners running around the clock recording stuff for the couple of hours /week they actually watch tv. Far better to just let them watch what is on, they don't complain, and I don't burn disk space needlessly. I just record a couple of their favorites so they always have something... just in case.</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div></div></blockquote><div>First, I'm not trying to convince you to change your viewing habits. What works for your family is all good.</div><div>But we do not watch live TV in our house and here is how we handle your situations:</div>
<div>1.) I can't stand "background noise" personally, I find it way too distracting from the task I'm trying to accomplish. My wife on the other hand loves it and we record a plethora of shows that she can just have on while she works at home.</div>
<div><br></div><div>2.) Both of our phones alert us of severe weather conditions. I usually turn to the web for more weather information rather than the tube. We are also planning on getting a weather radio.</div><div><br>
</div><div>3.) We're not news junkies and don't watch any television news regularly. Though we do record the nightly news in case there is a particular story we want to watch. I listen to public radio for the majority of my news coverage.</div>
<div><br></div><div>4.) New shows are constantly added to our recording schedules. In fact, just this week my wife found a show in the recordings list that she hadn't seen before and really enjoyed it. If we can't find anything in our recordings we resort to streaming sources.</div>
<div><br></div><div>5.) Our children don't remember a time without MythTV in the house. My oldest son actually has a hard time with the concept that shows are on a specific channel at a precise time. He's used to just turning on the TV and picking the show he wants to watch. He is very good at letting me know if there is a new show he would like to record as well.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Like I said, not trying to force you away from livetv but don't assume that other families perceive the same problems with only using recorded television.</div></div>