Too much choice?

[#1]

In the other thread about parents and the xbox, Mav made a point about restaurants once blaming miccy meals for people no longer eating out while restaurants are still busy.

This reminded me of the freeview situation. Every day we flick through the freeview TV guide and there are LOADS of channels and content compared to the early 90s when we had just 4 channels and yet every day the same comments are muttered by one of us "there's nothing on TV". Today we had loads of things to do out there compared to decades ago - bowling, multiplex cinemas, shopping centres, etc yet we've all been guilty of saying theres nothing to do!

So is it a case that too much choice leads to lower appreciation / value or does the quality of the offerings just generally decrease? (I'm not talking about xmas TV here either lol).

[#2]

The phrase 'spoilt for choice' comes to mind.

When you have one item with which to entertain yourself it kind of focuses the mind on that one item and its value.

A single toy can become many things in the imagination of a child.

Overload that imagination with options and boredom sets in quickly.

[#3]

Technology has allowed us to watch TV on our own schedules for decades, if you're sitting there mindlessly flicking between channels you're just doing it wrong and has [-Censored-] all to do with there being too much choice as far as I'm concerned...

[#4]

The main reason I flick channels, on the rare occasion I watch TV nowadays, is the increasingly poor quality of TV on the primary channels such as BBC and ITV.  It's easier to use Youtube and quickly find interesting stuff.

[#5]

Also shows you have too much time on your hands, you need to be controlling the tv in terms of what you watch and not the other way around.

Put some music on, read a book, anything but wasting time channel hopping.

[#6]

I, like a some of you here will have Amazon's Prime, but do I use it, no. Well that's not strictly true, I do watch (and only watch) The Grand Tour. As for channel flicking, I do agree there is too much choice, but its only a choice of rubbish, drivel about the life of some broken down has been, or more likely, recycled programmes from earlier years. So the need to channel hop in the hope of finding something worthwhile to watch is the norm these days.

[#7]

The same quality of the older films and TV (along with the older rubbish) is still very much in evidence, but you have to look for it. There is more and more worthwhile content, spread over multiple channels, but with less and less actual money to to make new quality programs. 

I am presently going through a resurgence of interest in older films, films I was too young to appreciate when they were newly made - on Freeview channel 81. Some of them had a storyline, a decent script - which seems to be quite lacking in some modern films. 

[#8]

All4 is worth checking out.

True most of the films or series are foreign and have sub titles which suits us fine as many modern films and series in English have such poor sound or music louder than the speech that it's impossible to follow what's going on.