Some months ago over at Brokelyn, I wrote about my experience divorcing cable and my subsequent love affair with Roku. I’m actually not a big TV watcher, but I really do think Roku is pretty much the greatest. It meets all my television needs (except I can’t figure out how to get The Daily Show on it—but no one is perfect). So, it was with pleasure that I read this recent Wired article on Roku’s history and cable’s downfall. Cable, you are obsolete!

Let’s pause here to look at the beautiful little Roku.

Cute right?

I have three fond memories of clunky old cable boxes. One was the time I was a teenager and the cable guy said he’d only give me the remote if I beat him at the Chinese checkers my mom always had out on the living room table. I lost. But he gave me the remote anyway. The second is when we got had a cable tuner that had a dial that made little clicking sounds. (I just Googled “cable dial eighties” but couldn’t find a picture. It did, however, bring up this 1989 LA Times article about how network TV was becoming obsolete. Innnnteresting). I asked my mom if I could use Sharpie to mark where on the dial I could find Diff’rent Strokes. She said “No.” True story. The third memory was a couple of years ago when, post breakup, I asked an ex to bring what had formerly been OUR cable box (ours except guess who paid for it) and he left it in the backseat of his car for three months. I got a bill for something like $300. “I didn’t realize there was a time frame for returning it,” he said. Oy. You know what, none of these are actually very fond memories. Maybe this is why I hate cable.

So, why am I writing this post. I didn’t mean to sit here and rhapsodize about my Roku. (Did I mention I take it with me when I travel? Love it!). Oh, right, I was writing because I just saw/read Shelly Palmer’s post/video on The Huffington Post about how Netflix is partnering with yet more gaming consoles so that even MORE people will be able to watch things instantly. No commercials. Yay! Which is why it’s sort of ironic that Shelly Palmer’s video is kind of like a commercial for Shelly Palmer’s book. But hey, I don’t have a problem with that. Last time I saw a commercial for a book on actual old cable was for this little tome called Dianetics…

Word to the wise: if you buy my book and snap a picture of it with an obsolete object and email it to me, I’ll send you a limited edition obsolete key chain. Will Shelly Palmer send you a key chain? Will L. Ron Hubbard send you a key chain? And if you write a nice review on Amazon, I’ll blog about how wonderful you are. But only if you really are wonderful.