The day after thanksgiving, my TiVo died. Because it doubles as my cable box, this meant that for the week it took to get a replacement, my TV was dead as well. This would be a tragic circumstance for most Americans. But for a TV critic, it was a blow to my livelihood. I was like a cotton farmer after a weevil infestation. I was cut off from the main pipeline of American media life. Or I would have been, a couple of years ago. Now, however, my situation offered a learning experience in TV-free TV. I had no cable, but I had DSL and a houseful of gizmos with screens: desktop, laptop, cell phone. Could I make do with them?
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