To the future and beyond!!!!!!

When I was little I can remember thinking that we would never be able to have a computer in our house. Now, everyone is concerned with whether or not to watch t.v on the computer or to watch it directly on the television. The internet has allowed people to utilize several websites such as ABC.com, Hulu or even CBS.com, so that they can watch their favorite t.v shows online. Alot of people now are preferring to watch their shows online because of the short commercials and clear images that are shown. I know that I watch t.v online because of the convenience that it brings. Knowing that I can watch it anytime is really nice. Having shorter commercials is even better! This newer movement is getting more and more popular. According to the NY Times website and their article regarding web-t.v, Hulu is drawing more than 40 million viewers a month!! That's ALOT of people!! When you think about it who is going to pay for a cable subscription if they can watch everything online for free? Well Comcast cable company is limiting the number of shows that are allowed online. They don't want to lose their customers to the internet. I can see their point, but I don't see that happening at all or at least for a very long time. Comcast has even gone so far as to allow subscribers to stream a buffet of shows but will lock out the people that don't pay for cable (NYTimes.com). Comcast is evil I must say!! Maybe they should lower their costs and people wouldn't have to turn to the internet.

USA Today's website said that some companies like Sony, Samsung and Panasonic are even launching t.v's that have web content built into the t.v so that it is easier to stream videos from the internet to your t.v without the use of all the cables. Good idea!! Now we are thinking!! Although.....they are much more expensive. The average t.v with internet ready capabilities is going to cost you a pretty penny. Sony is charging $1,100 for a 40 inch screen. But..good news...not everyone is going to rip you off, Vizio says it is not going to charge extra. (USAToday.com). How nice of them :)

Today people can even watch t.v through the internet on their Playstations or Xbox 360's. Here is a website from Playstation that will explain and show you more, please read! Alot more people are going to be looking into these options (i.e playstation and the internet) to avoid overpaying for cable. According to the NY Times article on Changing Channels, "The average household cable bill in the United States hit $64 a month in 2009, up from $47.50 in 2004."
The picture above is an example of a PC media center. I have one of these in my house, as well as a playstation 3 and a Wii. With a media center you can play any type of media, such as dvds, HD movies, stream other audio and/or video from the internet or somewhere else in your house.Here is a link to YouTube to learn more about streaming vidoes over the internet.

The internet changes current network models by challenging networks so that they dont have control over the time that we are watching it now, as well as they do not have control over the content and it can be peer to peer broadcast. They also don't have control over the user made content. If an independent producer had a show he could vary well distribute it through YouTube. In regards to internet t.v channels that are online and on t.v it would be the weather channel. Shows that you can watch both online and on the t.v would be examples such as Cartoon Network, ABC, Comedy Central, Discovery and CBS. Here is an example from Cartoon Network/YouTube.




We have all heard of the 5 C's of the Post-Network Era, Choice, Control, Convenience, Customization and Community. Choice is just what it sounds like, having the choice to choose what you want to watch. Control is people have control over what they want to watch. convenience and customization evolved from choice and control, they evolved by adjusting to multi-channel expectations from networks. Viewers could then customize there options, their choices and opportunities were endless. Community refers to the interests of people in a certain geographical location. Communities are sharing interests and favorites. All of these things change when we think about where we are getting our signal from to be able to watch the shows. When it comes from an internet signal our choices are limited because not every show is available online. Our control is therefore limited as well because we have absolutely not control over what networks out on the internet. And when it comes to convenience and customization, I don't think these two change all that much, they are just limited. For example through a t.v signal we can customize our shows and our lists of favorites, but through an internet signal it's hard to do because there are less shows and less availability. Community is the big one that is changed in my opinion because there is no longer a group of shared interest, everyone is an individual. Networks can't disburse things geographically, or as least not as easily.

Broadband t.v relates to Chris Anderson's The Long Tail because when we think about the internet and the ability we now have to have limited shelf space, networks can have limited number of available shows that they can put out there. You can put as much content as you want out there. When we think about Creative Commons, people can put there own work out there without violating copyright, they can choose on their own how they want their work used and distributed.

In ten years, t.v shows will be as easily available online as they are on the t.v now. The t.v will still exist I'm sure but there will be greater availability of shows. There will also be endless devices that will have t.v automatically on them, with no extra charges. Your options are going to be endless on where and how you watch network t.v.
Here is a link to explore more.







Resources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04hulu.html?_r=1
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-11-13-1Awebtv13_CV_N.htm
http://us.playstation.com/psn/index.htm
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/fosters/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZWwuKBpa8w
http://www.hulu.com/
http://abc.go.com/
http://www.cbs.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/garden/11tv.html?scp=14&sq=web%20television&st=cse
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6169442.stm


Image 1 courtesy of:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-11-13-1Awebtv13_CV_N.htm

Image 2 courtesy of:
http://www.youtube.com/youtubeonyourtv

Video 1 courtesy of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZWwuKBpa8w