Saturday, December 22, 2007

Life without Astro and Streamyx

I recently decided not to renew my ASTRO account and left it suspended for a while. We have gotten by with ASTRO for almost 2 months now. 2 months earlier I got my Streamyx terminated - not on purpose. One fine day Streamyx decided to go down - I call the usual 1-800--xxxx number and got the usual report number. After one week, no progress. Called again - they never heard of my report number or my complain - never mind, got another report number. After 2 weeks no progress. I was promised a technical would show-up, but he never did. Called again - no such report again, went through the process..... etc. To cut the long story short - I received a payment reminder and my line would be terminated if I did not pay. Pay for what?? Anyway, no difference - no Streamyx non of my fault! Anyway, that's besides the point.

The interesting thing is that - we got by! No major problems (so far), some grumbling from the kids though. For internet access - we shuttled to the nearest Starbucks or the nearby Petronas station what offered free wi-fi.

The good thing was that - we had more family time. Our kids are reading more. Even our youngest one is pestering us with "reading time" almost evening.

This got me thinking, I am not sure if I want to get that subscription up again. Life seems pretty good without these electronic feed. If I need connectivity really urgent, I have my 3G phone.

Heard recent Buddhist talk in KL recently. A member of the audience asked how to manage his children... family problems, etc... The monk replied, "kill the TV". I guess there is some wisdom in that thought and this killing I suppose if not "panatipata"....

If you the kids are restless not enough family time..... trying turning off the TV - really turning it off.

Good luck!

2 comments:

Praveen said...

Amazing revelation! I'm considering terminating my Streamyx too. The positive impact from your experience should spur others to reconsider their priorities.

Jonathan Chen said...

Considering your experience with your ISP, you should excercise your privilege as a representative of the market and move to a different provider! That's what competition is for.

As to the distraction that the 'Net, TV and other modern conveniences provide in today's life: moderation is the key. I would suggest that the same complaint have been made by parents through the ages as each new fangle contraption came along.