June 30, 2007
Making TV Cool Again
Maybe the appeal and future of television is not all about bigger screens and higher definition. Think back when Bill Gates famously misjudged the Internet. He thought it was too slow and didn't believe it would be commercially viable. "There's no money to be made there. Why is that an interesting business?', he said in an April 1994 board meeting and later rewrote history and a chapter of his book "The Road Ahead".
Tom Steinert-Threlkeld for MultiChannel News writes a very interesting article, raising the same issue. Could Big Media be misjudging the tremendous appeal of television online and on mobile devices? Thinking the screens aren't big enough and the quality of the video's not up to par with HD? Excerpts.
"Television is now sitting in the backseat, when it comes to getting the attention and keeping it of a whole generation of viewers.
When young people are asked to choose what the most important devices in their lives were. Hands down winner: cell phone. Tossup for second place: Computer and iPod. Tivo – and the TV – was something the parents seem to need.
Last September, Forrester Research came to a similar conclusion. Television is the most important device for consumers over the age of 40. If you’re planning for the future, the cell phone was the most important device for consumers between the ages of 18 and 26. Second: the personal computer.
TV companies wave away concern over this change by discussions of “quality of service” and the benefits of high-definition television.
The content on computer and cell phone is low-quality; and the quality of the pictures are low-grade. The new platforms are simply not competitive with conventional multichannel video services, goes the argument.
But that misses the point, noted an executive for one European maker of cable operations support software. The computer and the cell phone rank higher because they are not joint property of the family, for practical purposes. They are personal. They are portals into youngsters’ own private worlds. No one has to see what videos you’re watching, how many IMs you’re sending (or to whom or what you’re saying), or whether you’re getting your homework done or not.
Beyond being more personal and private, the devices serve more purposes. To the youngsters on the IBM video, the computer is a more enjoyable device because it does more. You can have access to the entire Internet. In their eyes, that means TV, too. They don’t make distinctions about streaming or downloading. They just know they can watch TV on their computer. The TV, by contrast, is a single-purpose, standalone and standapart machine. What’s the fun in that?
This generation is used to computers crashing, so quality of service is a relative term. And HD? Does it really make that much of a difference on computer or cell phone screens? Most probably, not.
Making TV cool again will mean making TV about more than just kicking back for the finest picture money can buy."
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