Why people stay with cable or satellite

Every now and then, I get reminded that my experience and ways of looking at things is way different than others. This week, a big reminder happened.

I was talking with a coworker. She's a streamer --- sort of. Well, yeah. But she's not exclusively a streamer. She streams some content, but also has satellite TV.

She lives in an area that is serviced by Windstream, Comcast/Xfinity, and AT&T. Windstream isn't available where I live, but Comcast and AT&T are.

I mentioned that I had a conversation recently with a technician from Windstream, and she asked about their pricing. I didn't know, and told her that. I mentioned the speeds and prices of Comcast and AT&T, and she mentioned how much she was paying for Dish network. It was a lot.

We talked about getting local channels via antenna, and some live streaming services, and the costs involved. It was simply curiosity on her part. We've actually had these discussions before, and she said each time that she would save a lot of money by dropping Dish and streaming content instead. But, she hasn't. I never pressed her for way. I'll give information, and will help in any way I can, but I'm not going to presume to tell her "You need to do this" or "You need to do that."

She did finally mention why she hadn't and probably wouldn't make a change. There is a family member that really likes Dish and is used to that. She's putting that family member's wants above the financials. It's not like Dish network is causing them to go hungry or anything. She can certainly afford it, but she would to pay less money if she could.

She can, but she won't, because family member would be unhappy losing Dish. And, to her, she'd rather just sick with Dish for now.

I understand that. She's a nicer person than I am, because I would make the change. Heck, I did make the change. But, she's not me, and I'm not her. She's making the best decision she feels she needs to make. I did that too, though my decision was a different one.

She still enjoys her Streaming Life, limited as it is. I believe she'd enjoy it more if she went full streaming, but she's doing what she feels she needs to do. And that's the right thing to do.