Monday, January 08, 2007
57,000 channels and nothing is on
The 500-channel universe was a big deal a decade ago, but today things got even more fragmented for viewers.
Sony has announced that its new BRAVIA sets (HDTV) will allow viewers to surf online videos without any need for a computer. OK, it's a small deal now and the naysayers will spill a lot of ink about how the threat is "years away" but broadcast/cable networks have much to fear when channel surfing includes YouTube and the like.
A few years ago I proposed an "anything else" button for remote controls. Instead of grazing through 57 (or 557) channels and cycling through again, the anything-else feature would remember where the tuner had been that day and, like a no-repeat oldies station, begin displaying webpages after the roster of TV channels was exhausted -- in order to produce fresh, untried options for short-attention-span viewing. The problem with my idea was that TV sets then didn't "do" the Internet without some fancy help.
Sony has changed that now. I didn't patent or copyright my "anything else" button idea (it appears in print somewhere, so maybe my biographer can find it even if my lawyer no longer cares), but I think it's a solid idea. And how long do you think it will take other set manufacturers to calculate the tiny cost and huge differentiating benefit of tapping into the WiFi network in viewers' homes?
Instead of broadcast versus cable/satellite versus VOD, it'll be one hairy free-for-all. Maybe someone will be clever enough to allow viewers to assign "channel numbers" to the various Internet feeds. If your tuner stops at 999, why not let channel 1000 be the F.U. guy from the Letterman show who appears on YouTube from time to time. The F.U. guy might resonate with the viewing zeitgeist, as we all get to talk back to our television sets in a way that Nicholas Johnson never dreamed.
Hey, what's on channel 1269 tonight?
Sony has announced that its new BRAVIA sets (HDTV) will allow viewers to surf online videos without any need for a computer. OK, it's a small deal now and the naysayers will spill a lot of ink about how the threat is "years away" but broadcast/cable networks have much to fear when channel surfing includes YouTube and the like.
A few years ago I proposed an "anything else" button for remote controls. Instead of grazing through 57 (or 557) channels and cycling through again, the anything-else feature would remember where the tuner had been that day and, like a no-repeat oldies station, begin displaying webpages after the roster of TV channels was exhausted -- in order to produce fresh, untried options for short-attention-span viewing. The problem with my idea was that TV sets then didn't "do" the Internet without some fancy help.
Sony has changed that now. I didn't patent or copyright my "anything else" button idea (it appears in print somewhere, so maybe my biographer can find it even if my lawyer no longer cares), but I think it's a solid idea. And how long do you think it will take other set manufacturers to calculate the tiny cost and huge differentiating benefit of tapping into the WiFi network in viewers' homes?
Instead of broadcast versus cable/satellite versus VOD, it'll be one hairy free-for-all. Maybe someone will be clever enough to allow viewers to assign "channel numbers" to the various Internet feeds. If your tuner stops at 999, why not let channel 1000 be the F.U. guy from the Letterman show who appears on YouTube from time to time. The F.U. guy might resonate with the viewing zeitgeist, as we all get to talk back to our television sets in a way that Nicholas Johnson never dreamed.
Hey, what's on channel 1269 tonight?
Labels: Sony YouTube TV broadcast
