Cable TV question

[Jeffhs]

I presently have Time Warner Cable, but not for much longer. The reason is the cable company will be requiring everyone to use a cable box in about four months, and I don't want a box on my television under any circumstances. Why are they doing this, and what will stop me from using my TV the way I always have--with the cable connected directly to the set? I am very disgusted with Time Warner because of this, and also because I was told by a TW customer service representative that I will not be able to use an antenna anymore, either--eventually.

I don't follow any of this, especially the monkey business about eventually not being able to use a television aerial to get my area's local TV stations. Whether I use an aerial on my television or not to receive TV signals is not the cable company's decision to make, although I was told, again by a Time Warner representative, that antennas will not work after a certain date, which the person did not specify. If this is true (that TV antennas will not work after a certain date), then will I be forced to have cable, with a box (!) from now on?

Good grief. The customer representative also told me that every other cable TV provider in the United States is now fully digital, and Time Warner Cable is the last cable company to switch. I all but blew up when I heard this, as--I'll say it again--I DO NOT WANT A CABLE BOX ON MY TELEVISION! (Please forgive me for using all capital letters, but I am very upset over this, and I will not take it anymore; the news that I won't be able to use an antenna after a date the cable company hasn't yet specified makes me just that much more angry as well.)

I am about an inch away from having my cable service disconnected because of these ridiculous polices Time Warner has adopted, no doubt because they are in the process of merging with Comcast--which has already required that all subscribers must use a cable box to receive anything. What are people who cannot afford cable supposed to do when this actually happens with TW?

I don't know what else I can do at this stage, except set up my computer to get TV reception over the Internet. I have ordered a Roku streaming video box and, once it arrives here, I intend to use it along side of (and eventually instead of) my cable. The day TW Cable requires everyone to use a cable box will be the day I cancel the cable and watch TV exclusively via streaming video. As I said, I am mad as a wet hen over this ridiculous requirement that everyone must eventually use a cable box, and the cable company's statement that antennas will eventually cease to work as well. The cable company says this will be, if it is not already, an FCC rule. Is this true, or just an unsubtantiated rumor that's being spread solely to make people like myself angry? I like my television, as I do not get out much and cannot read well anymore due to an accident I was in about ten years ago (I get my news from TV for that reason; I also must note that the only human voices I hear all day long and all night long most days come from the TV shows I watch.)

The cable company can tell me I need a cable box (or eventually will), but good grief, whether or not I use an antenna to get my TV reception is not their decision to make--in other words, it is none of their business. Where did this idea that antennas will not work anymore ever get started, for crying out loud? The cable company representative did not answer my question regarding that issue anywhere near clearly enough to satisfy me.

Sheeeeeeeesh!