16 / matters magazine / spring 2018 I n a simpler time, large antennas lined our rooftops. We all watched the same fistful of television networks. Talk around the wa- ter cooler centered around what we all had seen the night before. It’s likely your home had just one phone line. Perhaps it had a re- ally long extension cord, allowing you to take your conversation to another room. Today this im- agery is the stuff of internet memes, reminding us how much technology has changed. As we migrated to cable boxes, a new crop of channels sprouted up to challenge traditional net- works. The price, of course, was a cable bill. Phones got more sophisticated too, with new features adding The Triple Play Goes Away How to cut the cord and save BY FRANK VERDEROSA to our monthly expense. Today, most of us pay for a bundle package that includes phone service, TV and internet. We might also have Netflix or Amazon Prime to stream even more shows and movies. Add to that cell phones, often multiple lines per family, and we’re spending hundreds a month. There is recourse: You can cut the cord. Some- thing of a holy grail for many people, cutting the cord is confusing for those who aren’t tech-savvy. And it’s compounded by cable-company jargon that often scares us into sticking with what we’ve got. Whether or not it’s right for you depends on how much television you consume. According to South Orange resident Jake Ezzo, “I didn’t see any utility in cable TV anymore.” Instead, he opted for Net- flix and YouTube on his computer. “No television set here since 2013, and no home phone either,” he adds. That’s a solid commitment to cord cutting. Some common cable bill complaints: paying for tons of channels we never watch, a phone line that only rings with spam calls, and fees plus taxes for gear that we’ll never own. Local resident Adam Freed experienced frustration when he tried to make a deal with his provider. “Our monthly bill was over $200,” he says. “Our contract was up, and they wouldn’t ne- gotiate. They were only going to increase.” Freed re- searched his options and settled on a Playstation Vue package, with Fios for internet and a local TV plan.