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Bill's Bookshelf: 500 channels and nothing's on; L.J. Davis's negative book on cable and interactive TV (12-3-98) (SunWorld)
SunWorld columnist Bill Rosenblat reviews L.J. Davis's book The Billionaire Shell Game about the billionaires who run the cable industry. Rosenblat writes Davis makes the point "that interactive television is a joke, was a joke, and will continue to be a joke for the forseeable future." Needless to say, I think Davis is wrong. Let's continue....
Rosenblat goes on to further review the book: "Davis's attitude toward the several interactive TV trials he describes is one of naked contempt...." citing a "14 inches vs. 14 feet" dichotomy that a PC user typically sits 14 inches away from a PC monitor while a TV viewer typically sits 14 feet away from a TV set. Rosenblat writes Davis "claims there is no persuasive evidence that people even want to interact with their TVs."
Hmm. Davis is still wrong. Surfing TV channels is a good bit of interaction with the TV. Surfing the Internet on a TV is the same thing where TV viewers may passively view the information on the TV screen. Without an Internet-on-TV connection, calling an 800 number in response to a TV commercial is part of the interaction with the TV. In e-commerce, instead of calling an 800 number to order a product, the TV viewer can order a product via the Internet on the TV set. Instead of calling a telephone number to participate in a TV show's poll, the TV viewer can click on some links on the TV to instantaneously place her or his vote. Davis is wrong about interactive TV. Davis doesn't THINK TV. Davis is apparently thinking like a PC User and not more like a TV Viewer. A PC user leans toward the computer screen when using a computer while a TV viewer tends to lean back when watching the TV. Despite Davis's 14x14 dichotomy (some people do sit closer than 14 feet from their TV sets), TV-adjusted fonts and other screen adjustments, as well as web developers designing webpages for TV , will bring the TV screen's content "closer" to the viewer. The lean-back aspect of television will make interactive TV a success. You have to THINK TV when considering interactive TV. Interactive TV will simply be seen as a given. Interactive TV will be what is expected of TV. And that it is and will all be seen as "TV."
Rosenblat's review of Davis's book goes into the history of interactive TV in the 1970s with the successful-but-before-its-time Qube (that's old) and the more recent Full Service Network (FSN). Davis would point to those services to say that interactive TV will never ever work. However, those services may be considered isolated though expensive ventures that did not have it right or the time was not right for those services. (Just because you throw money at something does not mean it will work.) Also, I would say that with a focus on Internet-provided content and with email helping to push the popularity of the Internet, interactive TV will finally work with today's Internet-aware TV audience. And it helps that there are more cable, settop, internet, computer, and television companies playing in the game. Davis, the book writer, is wrong about the viability of interactive TV in today's world. "500 channels" will work and there will be something "on" whether they be regular TV channels or Internet "channels." And it will all be on the TV.
DON'T CONFUSE TV VIEWERS WITH PC USERS:
- Can Cable Set-top Boxes live up to the Hype? (12-3-98) (CNET)
CNET reports that Jupiter Communications analyst Seamus McAteer is skeptical of cable set-tops. CNET quotes McAteer as stating, "There is a pent-up demand for broadband Internet access among PC owners, but TV viewers who don't have a PC are really not that interested. And do you really want to string a line from your PC to your set-top, which are usually in different rooms? Probably not."
However, I would say it's unfair to compare PC Users with Set-top TV Viewers. You can't compare apples and oranges. Don't confuse the two. Set-top TV viewers will want content and would be less concerned about the specifics of broadband high-speed access. PC Users, and analysts who may be thinking in computer terms, would be concerned about broadband high-speed access and whether the cable line has to be pulled from the living room, family room, or TV room to another room to hook up the PC. Set-top TV viewers will simply be concerned with content and whether the TV show, movie, or interactive service is coming through the cable line to her or his settop-connected TV set. THINK TV and not whether the typical TV viewer will be concerned with the specific capabilities of the cable line.
CNET also reports that "[Cable interactive settop service] with all the bells and whistles could be very patchy for a few years yet." Since it is the cable operators who will have to initially buy the boxes for lease to customers and who will have to pay for local cable infrastructure upgrades, the cable operators will dictate the type and level of service to be provided. (U.S. retail sales of cable settop boxes begin in July 2000, while U.S. cable companies will still be leasing boxes until 2005.) For fans of telephone-based settop boxes, the patchy introduction of cable interactive TV services is one of the reasons why telephone-based settop boxes will still be around. You can see that various settop companies are designing their telephone-based settop boxes to not only have the telephone modem but also announced options for telephone DSL, ethernet, cable modems, etc.
- Interactive TV Top.Box.News
From the
Interactive TV Top.Box.News at Ruel.Net
Ruel's Selected News Items & Comments:
L.J. DAVIS BOOK ON CABLE TV & INTERACTIVE TV
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