TV is a great way to unwind after a long day of doing whatever work you do. Of course, when you get home from working, you’re probably still too wired to want to just lay around like a couch potato. With TV, you have to go by when the network tells you your favorite shows are going to come on. This is the 21st century, and these days, it’s all about when you want to watch something. That’s why the Internet and directstartv have the best sources for shows.
The following list includes a bunch of ways you can watch your TV, even if you don’t want a TV. Why does anybody pay for cable, when they still have to endure ads? On top of that, you have to work within somebody else’s schedule. All things considered, it’s downright nuts. So let’s take a look at a few websites that allow you to watch TV when you want to, as opposed to when “the Man” tells you it’s okay.
1. YouTube
If you’ve never heard of Youtube, you have a real problem on your hands. Fortunately, it’s a problem you can solve by traveling to this video utopia. It has been theorized that if Youtube doesn’t have a video of it, it probably doesn’t exist. The sheer volume of videos is enough to keep you occupied indefinitely, chasing every stray whim and curiosity you can muster.
How many websites will show you adorable movies of guinea pigs, horrible videos of auto accidents, and awesome videos of how to choke out a tough fighter in under ten seconds? While there are undoubtedly others out there, Youtube is by far the best known.
Graboid Video is a site with over 150,000 full-length videos on it. While it’s free to try out, you will have to pay if you want to use it indefinitely. Granted, that’s a fairly small downside, but some Internet purists will at least want fair warning before going to a “capitalist” site.
3. Dailymotion
You could almost call Dailymotion the Leia to Youtube’s Luke. While these two sites aren’t actually related, they are about the same age and size. They’re also both successful, though Dailymotion doesn’t get nearly the press coverage — or nearly as many lawsuits.
If you want to find a great video to watch, this is a great site to check out because of the abundance of content Youtube would have if it had less lawsuits.
4. BlinkX
BlinkX takes the art of online TV watching in a whole different direction. Whereas most of the sites on this list will simply let you enjoy the movies as they race by your drowsy gaze, this site will make you work a little bit. BlinkX is a search engine and requires you to actually look for something in particular. The bad news is this isn’t too passive.
There is good news, however. While most search engines are terrible with video and most video sites are counter-intuitive in their searching, BlinkX combines the best of both. With its purported 12 million hours of video, it’s likely you can find even obscure things you want to see again — or just bop around and see what you can find among the pile.
ChannelChooser is a simple, cleanly constructed site. If you want to plop down to enjoy a show with relative uniformity to its content, this is your horse. It’s based on Windows Media Player, so the design should be familiar to you, and you pretty much just have to let it roll onward.
If you like to fall asleep with something playing in the background, ChannelChooser will let you do just that. Please note that many of its channels aren’t in Eastern European languages.
6. FreeTube
If you’re looking for a video site with some great shows that won’t make you subscribe or download anything, this is your horse. While some users have reported difficulty making the interface work, it just takes some getting used to. The quality of shows and the simplicity of the site itself combine to make Freetube one of the better sites on this already-elite list.
7. Guba
Guba has its good and bad sides, like every site on this list. The good news is you can hunt out content from Usenet groups through Guba. As well, Guba is a very fun word to say — go ahead and rhythmically chant it; no one will judge you. However, the bad news is that while the free section is fairly robust, some of the best offerings are in the section you’ll have to pay for.
While paying for things online might offend your sensibilities, Guba is a solid site for hunting down some good TV. You can also download the videos you find here, which makes the entire offering a lot more pleasant if your Internet speed is less than stellar.
8. BlipTV
BlipTV is YouTube’s more disciplined doppelganger. While the content is still user-created, Blip’s niche is in more coherent, user generated shows. The average video on a site like YouTube is under 2 minutes and focuses on easy downloading and mass appeal. However, Blip’s content tends to be longer, scripted, rehearsed and more focused.
If you have the desire to get your name and abilities out there by creating your own show, Blip is the place to do it. You might even find some networking opportunities among other Blippers.
In Conclusion
You don’t need a TV to watch TV. In fact, there may even come a time when they stop calling shows TV and coin a new name for them. “Netios” comes up as one possible contender, in spite of how ridiculous it sounds when you say it out loud.
