Media usage Poll: e vs. paper Books & OtA TV (runs Linux??)
 

EDIT: new content below (ooops, I meant to put it in here:redface:)
Oh well... didn't need to be on ZRT anyway:cry:

OtA TV: Digital Converter Box, but recent TVs have it built-in!
 

EDITed: Was 1day PacktPub free book, now expired
(but other non-Linux eBooks still free daily there)

Since this was originally about Books, hence: the Poll.
I prefer 'free' Library 'real'-paper books.

Since Books&TV are both a form of Media, I included this:

I recently discovered Over The Air (OtA) 'free' TV:cool:.
Story: I had just a few DISH channels on the 20+yo TV with only coax analog input, where I stayed, until 11/20 when DISH wouldn't pay CBS fees, blocking my fav shows.
So, I bot a $20 Digital Converter Box. It was Amazing:
it gets a ton more OtA channels, and it had USB for recording (&time-shift)

I wonder whether these DigConvBoxes are run by Linux[?] Slackware?:D
I Goo'ed a bit: lots of alibaba; a couple Linux like: LinuxTV.org
https://mxlinux.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39325

Now, I'm temp. at a place with a more recent flat-screen (non-CRT) TV
which has HDMI and 'antenna' input; DCBox not needed:cool: News to OLD me;)
I wonder IF that 'modern' TV has a 'computer' in it[?]

Any links appreciated. Stories too. Or maybe just a poll vote. Thanks!

Appended: Thanks #3:hattip: This Goo finds stuff: DVB linux distro
And WOW: keyword heaven: this Goo: DVB slackware :study:

Settop boxes usually run Linux, but they are mostly ARM based.

Modern digital TVs are computers. They have DVB (I think) tuners in them, have HDMI, VGA, & other forms of input so that you can use them as a computer monitor. (Try connecting a Raspberry Pi SOC to one. :) )

We are able to watch 'Freeview' TV, (OtA) using anologue signals, & I think there is a digital service too.

Moderator response
 

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <General> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

i only read paper books.
thankfully our public libraries have a wide selection and tools to order books that aren't currently on shelf.

about TV - i'm having difficulties with this term. i watch a lot of video, movies, series. i download it all from the 'net. but actual TV? that's dead, for me.

PS:
i also listen to a lot of internet radio, both speech and music. on my pc and on my phone.

I prefer paper books. I have some PDFs, but only where the original would be very expensive or very bulky, and where I don't need to use them often. I'm currently re-reading Alberto Manguel's A History of Reading, where he says "My hands, in choosing a book to take to bed or to the reading-desk, for the train or for a gift, consider the form as much as the content." I know just what he means: I like proper hardbacks with sewn binding that don't have to be held open. And ebooks are not always successful: read some Amazon reviews of Kindles, complaining about garbled format and illegibility.

British public libraries can be slow in getting things, so I rely on buying and on the London Library: a subscription library with over a million volumes.

I watch TV for about 5 or 6 hours a week, Freeview only.

i've read many hardbacks, but none of them actually didn't need to be held open. that would be miraculous.

I only read paper books and watch free-to-air TV.

It was reported recently that children remember what they have read on paper much better than what they have read onscreen.

If I had the eyes I had at 20, I would be paper books only. Unfortunately, that's not the case. At this stage in my life, I use an ebook reader from Kobo and pretty much restrict myself to public domain books from sites like Project Gutenberg. You can't beat the flexibility of a good e-ink reader for adjusting type size and layout options and the print quality is far easier on the eyes than a computer screen or tablet. However, reading pdfs on an e-ink display pretty much sucks so I restrict myself to the epub format and read pdfs on my android tablet.