Earlier this month, Tom Yager wrote an article discussing the future of internet-based TV channels. At first, I was excited to hear about it as I thought about the advantages and then started to twist my mind around the concept of running cable thru the web in a pure digital format, which would also make all TV channels available online for viewing from any web-connected PC. Iteractivity then started to spurt from the back of my mind. How rich could we make the cable interface? The possibilities are endless.
As I read the article, however, I started to notice that I may have been vearing off into the distance. Maybe I lost myself in my own delusions of rich, interactive cable web grandeur; but it sounds like Tom's article was more about Web TV than anything truly new and revolutionary. I'm not sure how many people actually saw or used Web TV, but it sucked. Perhaps my thoughts on this are based on the fact that I'm tech savvy and yearn for speed and processing power - my mouse gestures let me glide thru one action after another to transition between, open, close, back, forward, refresh, top, bottom... phewww.... It's a workout, but I can be so productive in this environment. For me, using Web TV was like participating in a triathalon missing an arm and a leg - you might make it to where you want to be, but who's really gonna be waiting for you when you get there?
I'm hoping I'm just missing something. Perhaps keeping my eyes/ears open for the next month or so will give Tom time to expand on that.