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How times have changed.
I now have a digital tv service that offers hundreds of channels, and can watch dvds on my 30GBP multi-region dvd player anytime I want. I can also download a huge range of video content - including content created by users and hosted on MetaCafe etc - direct from the net on my pc.
So I was wondering about how this will develop and whether or not tv channels will still exist as they do now.
Personally speaking I would rather just download episodes of tv shows that I like, watch the adverts in them, at a time of my choosing rather than have to tune into some tv station and wait x months after its been shown in another country.
So I was wondering whether we'll see tv/film makers placing their shows directly on the net, bypassing the traditional tv stations (granted - broadband isn't quite fast enough yet but its getting there). Obviously if this was to happen we'd need to buy internet-ready tvs - or an add on box (yeah! Yet another remote control!).
So I would sit in front of the tv (or pc, mobile etc) and navigate to a website - and select a show to start watching. The show would load from the start - and I'd watch adverts as usual (or embedded adverts - [webmasterworld.com...] ).
In the morning I'd watch the most uptoday news bulletin - or simply tune into a live morning tv show (assuming I watch something from the same time zone). Then in the evening I'd watch a program that some folk in the office had been taking about.
Do you think this is likely to happen? If so do you think that the creators would put their content directly on their own site, on several portal sites (e.g. YouTube, MetaCafe etc perhaps), a distributors website, or still list it on TV Stations websites? Or a mixture of the above?
And how would user created media affect things? With the increase in pc use, broadband uptake/speeds and development of the mobile phone as a decent and very portable camcorder (N93 etc) I'm also wondering if we're going to see individuals and small amateur groups creating tv-like content that give traditional shows (and producers) a run for their money? What impact do you think this could have?
So - will tv stations continue to exist - showing lots of programs created by others - or will the net render them obsolete?
[edited by: TravelSite at 3:03 pm (utc) on Nov. 22, 2006]
what you are describing needs at least 20 meg broadband to work even halfway well on streaming ..and some very big pipes behind the inputs ..
til we all get that ..broadcast or sat cast ..hertzien TV has a long life yet ..
BTW ..multi region DVD players are illegal where I am ..and DVD's prerecorded cost $28.00 equivalent for example for the simple edition of Ice age 2 ..:((
I would like to add that TV is thoughtless, internet isn't. You turn on the TV and watch your station. You don't do too much deciding, or thinking for that matter. On the internet there is a whole thought process going on, people don't like that. To view user created content, or download episodes of your TV series is a process requirying thought. With TV, you just plop down, turn it on, and flip throught the chanels. I believe the internet will have to create a way for people to navigate streaming video chanels without thinking in order to be a true threat to tradition TV broadcasting.
Maybe in the far distant future, mainstreem TV will be broadcasted over the internet, so that people tune into their MTV.tv, CNN.tv and view their programs (not just articles and links). Then a program that will connect a control remote where you set your TV stations and have the ability to flip thought stations would be needed. All in all I do not think user created content and illegal downloading of TV series will harm traditional media in the way they would have us believe.
When the TV has arrived, some said that the radio will die
But TV and Radio are different, however the internet means you can get rid of the TV and do everything your TV AND radio does, (and more!).
do you think that the creators would put their content directly on their own site
Yes, this will happen as independent TV production companies realise they no longer need to lapdance for TV networks because the distribution tools are already there at their fingertips.
Likewise unsigned bands will increasingly tell record labels where to go.
Do you still think technologically challenged people are going to replace their TV/radio with a computer? I don't.
Both my parents and my grandparents get really scared when I do things like turn Close Caption on or change some setting, since they are affraid I will change the settings and forget to put them back to where they were; they don't know how to do that.
If and when computers become more idiot-proof, then I would agree. If it does happen (which I doubt) it will take a long time to get things so that your computer can be a Plug and Play device.
TV will be here for a long, long time. New channels appear on my satelite dish nearly every month. With Tivo/PVR technology, TV can only get better. The channels will become more and more specialized with time.
With the millions of people in North America who now own (or about to buy) large screen, high definition televisions the demand for more content will only ensure that television is here to stay. There is no comparison between my 19" computer monitor and my 55" HD tv. I love computers as much as the next guy, but it does not come close to the tv viewing experience.
When people are just figuring out how to turn on their computers every single day, TV has no worries for at least the next 10 years. Think about the last time you said "browser" and someone sitting at their computer asked "what's that?". There are millions more who think the big blue E is "the Internet".
TV is a safe bet since it won't shutdown with a blue screen after a forced update is installed overnight.
I think that one day we could be sitting in from of our large tvs and browsing the net directly using it (internet component built into it) - going onto some tv-portal site that lists lots of tv stations from across the world to watch, while also listing lots of shows/films (both professional and user created) that we can be watched on their own at a click of a button.
At least thats what I'd like to see happen.
The televised live game plays in the center viewport. On the upper left and right corners of the screen are football helmets, (the appropriate ones for the teams playing). You click a helmet and pulldown menus allow you to retrieve stats neatly organized with six degrees of separation to any way you want to analyze a game, a date, a player, his past teams, games, teammates, etc.
Other controls on screen let you investigate league standings, replay by quarter, possesion, down, minute or second.
Oh, yeah --- and an optional onscreen programmable robot that lets you pull a beverage from the bluetooth connected 'fridge, or pop some popcorn in the integrated microwave popper.
Now, how to technologically advance the bathroom break issue...
That is what I am doing now. I have access to 500 to 600 stations.
<i want a buttery soft leather chair like the Lawman .... me jealous>
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
I don't really think that this says much though - watching a 30 second YouTube click probably shouldn't be considered in the same light as watching a full episode on Dragons Den or Extras on the BBC site.
I watch short YouTube / MetaCafe clips all the time when I'm board - doesn't effect my tv watching. However with the BBC putting some shows online, I often miss them knowing that I can view them online at a later date.
