Media Wars 06/11/2005 Every Brit knows that television was invented by John Logie Baird. Ask an American who invented it, however, and you will be told that it was either Vladimir Kosma Zworykin or Philo Taylor Farnsworth. A bit of research will reveal that the answer is too involved and complicated to give credit to one person. Plenty of people were trying to invent the darn thing in the twenties and thirties and these are merely the three guys who managed to produce something that worked. Vaguely.What the Brits can claim without dispute, however, is the world's first public high-definition/electronic television service. This was broadcast from Crystal Palace in London from 1936. Two factors prevented it from being the real birth of the television age, however: the high cost of sets meant that only a tiny percentage of the population were able to own one and then Mr Hitler ruined everything by starting his war. Television broadcasting was shelved until the fifties.In 1954, when I was six years old, my family returned from Cape Town to England on vacation for a few weeks (oh yes, it also ensured that my younger sister was born in Britain like the rest of us). That visit included my first sight of a working television set, something that we had heard of and hungered for out in the colonies. The lady next door had a set.I can remember very little of the experience. Every week we were allowed to watch an episode of a serial running at the time, The Man in the Iron Mask, but please don't ask me about the story; all that remains is a shadowy impression in black and white. I do recall that my older sister and I found it scary yet were avid to see each episode. Just to see anything on the magical new invention was enough for us.What we did not know at the time was that other media did not look on television as magical at all. Both radio and the movies saw in it the seeds of their demise. How could radio compete with moving pictures in the home? And why would the public go out to see movies when television could deliver the same experience in your living room?The glory days for both media were over but they survived by adapting and finding new ways to present themselves. Television was king from then on, however. We still live in the era of television but, since you are reading this, you already have access to the pretender to the throne, the computer and its accretion, the internet.Many believe that we will see television, computers and the internet merge into one medium. They call this "The Home Entertainment Center" and Microsoft designs operating systems specifically for it. Everything in one box, is the catchphrase.But is this really the shape of things to come? I wonder. You see, I have experienced attempts to force TV and the computer together and they don't work very well. Either you try to surf the internet through the TV's clunky interface and end up getting very frustrated, or you turn your computer into (guess what) a TV. I think we're missing something here, something that means television and the computer will always be separate. It's called interactivity.Television has interactivity now, you tell me, but I think not. Yes, you can choose what to watch in all sorts of ways; yes, you can mix and match programs in many different combinations. But can you be in the program? Can you be a leading player in what is happening on screen? Of course you can't, this is TV after all.But that's what interactivity is all about, an involvement of viewer in the action. And computers supply this. Even without the internet, they enable us to create worlds of our own, where we can dictate what happens without reference to a script. It becomes a dialog between man and machine, a joint effort to create a new reality. Add the internet and the possibilities multiply out of sight as other players join you and your computer in a new world. Television reflects reality; computers make a new one, something we call a "virtual world".Internet chat has taken the place of the conversation over the yard fence between neighbors. Now your neighbors can be on the other side of the world and there is no need to see your real neighbors, let alone talk to them. Blogging creates a new world where everyone is a reporter, a contributor to an all-embracing discussion where nothing is sacrosanct. Gaming puts us in situations and places where the rules are totally different from reality's. We are creating an entirely new way of life.Television is essentially concerned with entertainment. It's something we turn on when we couldn't be bothered to think for ourselves. Of course, you may use your computer for entertainment too, but that is only scratching at the surface of its potential. It's an empowerment machine and the person it empowers is you. That is something that television can never be.So why try to arrange an unholy marriage between the two? Would it not make more sense to let them develop apart? Both have their uses and both attract their devotees. But note that it is rare for one person to be into both media. Those who love television we call couch potatoes, those who love computers we name geeks. And never the twain shall meet, it seems. We might as well face the fact that there are two kinds of people in the world and let them use the technology as they will.Oh, I nearly forgot. There is one more type of human, a rare beast indeed: the reality junkie. He's the one who will listen for a while as you rant on about your computer or the program you watched last night and then, when you run out of steam, will offer the suggestion that you "get a life..."
Clive
Kevin Personally, I believe the creation of the "Home Entertainment Center" to be inevitable. And since I'm typing this on a four year old computer just down the hall from my 15 year old TV, I eagerly look forward to it. Date Added: 06/11/2005
Gone Away Oh, they'll keep trying for it, Kevin. I just don't see it as the next great advance, that's all. Date Added: 07/11/2005
Mad The TV stations are looking at broadcasting over the net, so maybe TV will become just another internet service? Date Added: 07/11/2005
Gone Away I think that falls into the "turning your computer into a TV" category, Mad. Which seems a waste of a computer, to me... ;) Date Added: 07/11/2005
John (Syntagma) I've been posting the same sort of thing on my Microsoft blogs, Clive, but I have to admit, the sheer expansion of bandwidth, lower memory costs, and multi-core processors, will allow Media Centers to do all these things with ease by next year. Last night, I watched a DVD movie on my computer. I listen to music CDs too. Can't be bothered with standalone CD players. Inevitably, the widescreen plasma screen will dominate the home space, and the iPod-like box will carry the same stuff wherever we go. This isn't a dream it's here now. Like it? Well, I'm such a slim consumer of entertainment, I couldn't really care less. But it's going to happen. Date Added: 07/11/2005
Ken This piece brought to mind a story by E. M. Forster called "The Machine Stops" in which a character named Vashti takes a rare trip from her technologically controlled, fully automated apartment of the future and flies to see her son. As the 'plane she's in flies above the Himalayas at dawn, she draws the blind over the cabin window because the view "doesn't give her any ideas" that she wouldn't enjoy more on her wide-screen video at home. The wonders of technology? Date Added: 07/11/2005
Gone Away I, too, am a "slim" consumer of entertainment, John; perhaps that's why I feel that the computer has no need of the TV. And I have watched DVD movies on the computer and play the occasional CD. Yet this is only getting the computer to function as other machines, rather than producing a true union. Wouldn't you rather have watched that movie from the comfort of your armchair in the living room? Computers do demand that we sit upright before them in proper respect for their abilities... ;) Date Added: 07/11/2005
Gone Away We have to face it, Ken: technology allows us to have the visual experience of places we wouldn't dream of visiting in real life. We are shielded from danger and yet can see what only the wildest daredevil has seen before. And this is bound to change our attitudes, perhaps to the extent where we'd agree with Vashti. Whether that's a good thing or not is open to debate, of course. Date Added: 07/11/2005
Twelvebirds I can't see why anyone would watch a movie on a computer. You need a comfy recliner and a bowl of popcorn. Reality people look at me with my computer addiction and friendships with people I know only through the internet and they say "you need to meet real people". I look at people who stay tuned to every "reality" show and spend all their time discussing what has happened and what might happen next and say "you need a real life". Reality people look at computer people the way computer people look at Reality TV people. I am not sure what that means, but it seems to make sense and is bound to be an analogy question on the next set of SATs. Date Added: 08/11/2005
Gone Away LOL It seems you agree with me, Twelve. ;) Date Added: 08/11/2005
Stargazer Personally, I don't like the idea of the 'Home Entertainment Center'. I consider the computer completely separate from the television. And yes, you need a "comfy recliner", or sofa, and some sort of snack food to enjoy a good movie. I spend a lot of time on the internet, and at times will shut down just so I can get away from it...lol. I pop a DVD in the player (located in a different room), and forget about email, websites, etc.
To me primetime television, at least in the U.S., has really declined, which is why I mostly view DVDs. However, I do enjoy documentaries, and will curl up on the sofa with my tasty snack to watch a show on forensics.
I think there is something to be said about going out to a movie theater. It's expensive, but people need to get out. Hearing the gasps of others during a good horror flick, or laughter during a comedy, makes the movie more enjoyable. Well, it does for me anyway. Date Added: 08/11/2005
John I have to agree with you Clive, but if there is to be an invention for this, it's more than likely it will be a Scotsman who does it! :) Be encouraged! GBYAY Date Added: 08/11/2005
Gone Away I agree with you about movies, Stargazer - it is a more complete experience than watching a DVD at home. And modern movie theaters are much more customer-oriented than they used to be now that they have multiple screens and smaller theaters. But they had to do that to meet the challenge of TV... Date Added: 08/11/2005
Gone Away Gotta give the Scots their due, John - they invented just about everything (even when they called themselves Americans!). :) Date Added: 08/11/2005
Marti The experience of watching a movie in a theatre with a crowd is different because of the crowd. Hearing other people’s reactions (laughter, sobs and sighs) changes (I would say enhances) the experience. Not sure interactive TV that allowed viewer input would be such a good thing. I’ve read of some experimental movies that allowed the audience to select various outcomes, (majority rule) and those who voted in the minority were disappointed with the outcome. Can you imagine what a mess interactive TV along those lines would be? LOL In my opinion, a “story” (book, film, TV show) should be the vision of the author, not a giant consensus. I could see game shows as interactive, but the large number of those wishing to participate might overwhelm current technology. Interesting conversation as allows - thank you! Date Added: 08/11/2005
Marti Oops, I meant "as always" LOL Date Added: 08/11/2005
Gone Away And interesting response, Marti! I agree that there is a limit to how much interactivity we want in TV anyway - anything rather than the rule of the majority... Date Added: 08/11/2005
Janus I love my computer, and except for a few shows that I have decided to watch beforehand I despise tv. Even the shows I do watch I record first so I can fast forward through the annoying commericals. I really am a book person though, so if I am not using the computer I am reading. I have nothing against reality people...but being real is expensive. What real life activity can I do where I am social but not spending my jing. drinking (costs jing), dining out (costs jing)..etc...etc. (I Can't believe I missed paged two when I read the blog this morning!) Date Added: 10/11/2005
Mad There's a page two? Date Added: 10/11/2005
Gone Away I watched you going through all those entries, Janus and am amazed at your dedication to duty! To have missed this one was a minor matter when compared with your overall achievement... :) Date Added: 10/11/2005
Gone Away Janus numbers them from the top of the pile, Mad (being book people, that's what we do). :D Date Added: 10/11/2005
Athena About the reality junkie: those are the people who assured me that I would outgrow my obsession with television and computer games. (Back then, they were 'video games' and I had to go to the arcade with a pocket full of quarters.) After years of spending quarters, 'missing out on life' while watching the 'boob tube', and the beginnings of carpal tunnel syndrome, I cannot yet say I've learned to regret it. Date Added: 02/12/2005
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