Wherefore attitudes about (not) watching television

I used to have cable television. I liked it! It, along with books, the beach, cooking, public market and my friends kept me entertained when I was single, alone, and not yet hooked up with Internet access at home.

Then I moved to the U.S. And I knew I wouldn't be able to get my cable shows. So we didn't get cable. Now all channels are in high definition format, so we use my 20-year-old TV set for the Wii, DVDs and VHS. As far as I know, no one thinks the worse of us for not having cable, and we don't think worse of people who have cable. They have tastes different from us, and most of our friends don't have children, as we do.

Links:
Stuff White People Like: Not Having a TV
Encyclopedia Dramatica: I don't watch TV

I find it interesting that a few people who watch television, upon learning someone doesn't watch [network shows, cable shows, news] infer that there's some holier-than-thou or snobbish attitude. Maybe someone just can't manage the expense of cable? How is that holier? Maybe someone has children to raise and a job to tend to and doesn't have time to merit the expense? How is that smug? Is the second-guessing a defense mechanism because the questioner didn't ask: "do you watch television?" Or is it merited, such as when the respondent starts a militant lecture or weird rant as to why s/he doesn't watch (brainwashing, better things to do, verbal smackdowns of that ilk). The defensive snark's causative factors are usually undefined, perhaps internal.

I'd be lying if I said I don't watch television, because I do rent DVDs and they go into the DVD player, hooked up to the television set. We watch maybe 18 hours a year of recycled television specials and cancelled series. Movies we see probably 40 hours a year, and maybe one-third to one-half of those hours are on the computer.

For watercooler talk, why not ask someone "hey, what websites do you follow?" or "what books do you read?" or "where have your cooking adventures taken you?" or "did you see such-and-such exhibit?" or "did you follow last night's [insert sport of choice] game?" Maybe someone caught the game live or on radio or through streaming media via the Web.