Last weekend, Facebook had to shut down artificial intelligence bots after they created their own language without human input. You’d think that would reign as the biggest tech story of the week by a long shot, but the Wall Street Journal usurped it today by reporting that you can still watch major TV channels for free in 2017.
Grab a chair and pour yourself a glass of water before reading any further. It turns out TV antennas, often nicknamed “rabbit ears,” still exist, and they grant viewers free access to local stations. Invented by Marvin Middlemark in 1953, these rabbit ears cost about $20—the same price as two months of standard streaming on Netflix, and far less than a hefty cable subscription package.
Major networks have always broadcast signals over the airwaves, and they’ve always been free with the purchase of an antenna—a fact that eluded 29 percent of Americans in a June survey by the National Association of Broadcasters. Federal legislation forced broadcasters to stop sending these analog signals in 2009 and shift to high-definition digital transmissions. People subsequently bought new TVs or converter boxes to pick up the free signals, and rabbit ears fell by the wayside.
Now that millennials enamored with archaic technology have rediscovered this brilliant life hack, they can watch Dancing with the Stars and the local news whenever they want, free of charge. Even the Super Bowl!
Truth be told, maybe they shouldn’t admit their ignorance on this subject, especially since they’ve already sullied their reputation by spending too much money on avocado toast. But hey, at least now they have a new way to occupy themselves in between listening to their 8-track tapes and writing novels on their typewriters.