There is one tremendous benefit to cable, and that’s the “it’s on” factor. I have hundreds of movies on blu-ray and thousands available to stream.

It’s not exactly rare for me to watch any of them, but it’s uncommon. I have to be in a certain mood to be willing to sit down and watch a 2 hour movie, and those moods are not common.

you have to search through the plethora of genres and options to the point where it gets too overwhelming.

Some people have dubbed this “tyranny of choice.” When we have too many options available to us, it becomes increasingly impossible to make a decision.

Sometimes I am in the mood but can’t decide what to watch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in front of my media shelf, unable to choose a movie. But if I happen to catch a movie I already own playing on TV? I’ll often sit down and watch it, even if I wasn’t in the mood to stick the disc in.

That’s the benefit of cable television, as I see it. It clears up the tyranny of choice.

The biggest downsides are the cost and the commercials. If I could afford cable TV, I might subscribe… if it weren’t for the commercials. Streaming has absolutely ruined me on commercials. I have zero tolerance for them.