I’ve said it a hundred times before, but I don’t watch much TV, in particular if you take football and baseball out of the equation. Up until very recently, one of the few indulgences I had was watching television woodworking shows. Unfortunately, I’ve just found out that The Woodwright’s Shop is no longer being shown in my area. While there are a few other woodworking television shows still being shown, it just so happens that I’m usually not home when they are on. For all intents and purposes, woodworking television no longer exists in my house, and it’s disappointing.
I’m not sold on internet woodworking. I write a woodworking blog, I read many woodworking blogs, I watch woodworking videos, and I even watch The New Yankee Workshop and The Woodwright’s Shop, all on a computer. It just isn’t the same thing. There is a disconnect that occurs when using a computer. I can’t necessarily describe what that disconnect is, but it does exist. Sitting at a computer desk and watching a screen is not the same as watching a television program with my family, or even the same as reading a book in the same room. My daughter, and even my wife would watch Norm Abram with me; she would ask questions, or tell me what she liked and didn’t like. If I happen to be reading a woodworking magazine or book, my wife will usually check out what I am reading. My daughter always enjoyed looking at the project books I have, and she particularly likes the Eric Sloane books. I can only speak for myself, but you don’t see too many families gathered around a computer screen enjoying each others company.
I know that the internet has done a lot of amazing things for woodworking like allowing people to take woodworking classes who otherwise may never have that opportunity. But something about sitting at a desk watching a computer screen just bugs the hell out of me. It feels lazy, it feels wrong. In this paperless world, I print out articles I want to read because I don’t like having to sit at a computer to read them, in fact I have several ring binders filled with them. I find it funny and ironic that many woodworkers took up the hobby to work with their hands, get away from the grind, get away from the computer screen, and maybe slow down an ever quickening technological and fast paced world. Yet the world of woodworking media is now dominated by the internet, and I don’t know if that’s for the better.
Internet woodworking is here to stay; I know that. And internet woodworking certainly has its place. I’ve been able to share my thoughts and radical ideas with people around the world because of the internet. I’ve been able to learn woodworking techniques by watching skilled woodworkers, both amateur and professional, who were thoughtful enough to post their videos. In fact, you might argue that the hobby of woodworking would not be flourishing without the internet. I would probably agree. But I like woodworking television, and I like woodworking books, and there are those out there that would say that those forms of woodworking media are dead or dying. I don’t agree. For all the internet has to offer, it can’t replace a book, or a few minutes watching Roy Underhill while sitting on a couch with your kid. So if the day ever comes when you no longer can buy a woodworking book, or watch a woodworking television program, I believe that woodworking will die along with it.
The Slightly Confused Woodworker 
Is Woodworking Media one of those obscure George Harrison composi
itions?
Yeah, but I don’t think it was ever recorded.
uh, stream it to your tv then. All you need is a cable or a laptop.
I’ve thought about it. I’ve DVR’d shows in the past. For whatever reason, it’s not the same as watching TNYW on Saturday morning at 9. I know it sounds crazy, and maybe it is. I’m pretty much tired of having to do everything day and night on a computer.
Thanks.
Bill
I don’t think there has ever been a real woodworking TV show in Denmark.
There was one general DIY show that was taken of the air after a couple of yeas.
The closest thing now is something called “Bonderøven” = The Hillbilly.
It is a fine show, but it is more like a guy trying to homestead, and not only woodworking. A good show though.
I have never been good at watching TV with the family. I always end up falling asleep after 5 minutes almost regardless of what the TV is showing.
But I can relate to your thoughts about printed media vs electronic media. There is something completely different in sitting in front of a computer compared to feeling the weight of a book while you are sitting in a sofa or maybe at the dinner table.
The smell of the book or magazine is not something you get from a computer.
It would fel wrong to bring a computer to the workshop to use a cutting list from an article or to checek up on how something was made.
On the other hand it doesn’t feel aqward to bring a magazine to the workshop for the same reason.
I think that woodworking as a hobby can survive without a TV show, but I am more doubtful if it can survive without some sort of printed media.
Brgds
Jonas
I don’t necessarily think that woodworking TV is absolutely necessary. But what does worry me is the mindset of having the internet being the only resource for hobby woodworking, which I believe is going to be the case sooner rather than later.
I suppose that it is much less expensive to use the internet than it is to produce a television show, or to print a book or magazine. Yet, we are constantly being told that higher quality, more thoughtfulness is the key to the continuation of woodworking. I would like to think that it would also apply to printed/televised woodworking.
Those reasons are why I’ll continue to support Lost Art Press even if I don’t always need some of the things they offer. They at least practice what they preach.
Thanks
Bill
Damn, you can’t catch a break. Now no more The Woodwright’s Shop.
I do understand what you are talking about. When the new season starts, Saturday afternoon I require 30min of silence while Saint Roy is on. Questions and discussion after the credits only.
The loss of the printed word is what worries me the most. Like you, I try to support Lost Art Press in their efforts as well. I spend a lot of time on the internet searching for out of print books too. There is a little irony in that I think.
Its a culture of instant gratification and everything is available at anytime. I like the internet for a tool and it has given me access to information that I could never have obtained otherwise. But I know what it’s like to not have that access. That’s why I place such a high value on the printed word. I still worry that at some point, someone will flip a switch and no more internet.
Man I sound old.
It’s a brave new world and we have to find our way.
Greg
I hate to resort to cliches, but internet woodworking is something of a victim of its own success. I spend at least a good portion of my day at work looking at a computer screen, not to mention at home. I woodwork partly to get away from the computer, yet now it is by far the dominant form of woodworking media. There is certainly an irony here: a hobby based on an ancient tradition that is run by the most modern of technologies. Do the two work well together? It seems to be so. Where else can you watch a video, order a tool, and download a plan while sitting at a desk all on one machine? But to me something seems to be missing. I can’t necessarily put a finger on it, and maybe I’m just paranoid, but it is there, somewhere. I could be wrong; I hope I’m wrong, but there is a part of me that doesn’t trust the internet for every little thing.
Thanks
Bill
I feel your pain. We get few woodworking shows over here, and the home-grown ones tend to be fairly gash. My wife takes an interest in my hobby, and always enjoys the stuff I make. Most of the time though, I’m on my own out in the shed.
My son has taken an interest in making game props, which is to say, weapons and/or devices used in computer games. I am offering guidance where use of tools and equipment is concerned, but talk about the juxtaposition between old and ultra new…..
I’m not sure if you will be able to watch this where you are, but Rico is always worth a watch.
http://www.ovguide.com/tv/the_salvager.htm
The state of televised woodworking isn’t so great in my area at the moment. Unfortunately it’s out of my hands.
My wife doesn’t take much interest in my woodworking. I can live with that except for the times when she treats it as an annoyance.
I’ll have to check out the link when I get home. Thanks
Bill