Is anyone at Shaw Cablesystems listening?

I called to cancel my cable today. I had the package just above basic and it was costing me about $100/month when bundled with my cable internet. Canceling cable TV completely dropped the price down to about $40/month.

Why did I do it?

I did it because, aside from Heroes (which is looking very promising this season, by the way), I don’t watch TV like I used to when I was a kid. I don’t see Thursday as being “[insert name of TV show that aires on Thursday night] Day” like it was in the mid-80s when you had the Family Ties/Cheers/Night Court block of programming. Almost no show on the schedule commands my attention on any evening. TV does not run my life.

So why would I pay an extra $60 a month? I couldn’t justify it.

Even though I wasn’t “watching” TV, it was still a reflex for me to turn on the set for background noise when I got home. And it almost didn’t matter what was on, but sometimes I’d catch myself following along with the same episode of Mythbusters that I’d seen a half dozen times already (sometimes even an episode I’d listened in on already that very day). That’s when I’d feel the deep self loathing and wonder what the hell I was doing wasting my time and money with this stuff. I have research to do, books to read, artwork to design, communities to build, users to engage and most importantly big ideas to think up. I never have enough time, and I think now I know why.

I can’t think BIG when my head is stuffed inside that little box in my entertainment center.

All that said, I love engaging storytelling and often it inspires me to great thinking. So, I won’t be giving up on my TV entirely. I own an AppleTV and I’ve already bought a seasons pass on iTunes for Heroes Season 4. I’ve heard good things about Castle, so I may give it a peek too. I figure, if I’m saving $60/month, I can afford 9 or 10 season passes of HD content and I’ll actually be watching these shows for entertainment and relaxation rather than using them for some pathetic attempt at “simulated company.”

The reason I titled this “Is anyone at Shaw Cablesystems listening?” isn’t because I think they need to see that my actions are indicative of where we’re all headed…though maybe they are. No, I’m wondering if anyone at Shaw (my former cable TV provider) is monitoring the internet to find stories like this. Is anyone there checking in on the conversations about them online to see how good, or bad, a job they’re doing? Does anyone at Shaw even care?