As TV moves to the digital world will it be displaced by the Internet, the ruler of the digital realm? I don’t think so. Here’s why.
As the boob-tube moves digital it will become more feature rich with things like HDTV and the how-did-we-live-without-it DVR. And TV will more off the wall and into your hand. The digital migration means the devices we use for TV and the Internet will converge. For example, you can watch TV and surf the Web on your iPhone.
But as the technologies merge, the purpose of TV will remain the same – to entertain us. However, the Web is a place where we interact. Entertainment and interaction are two different activities. Entertainment is passive and interaction is active. So as TV and the Internet cohabit in the land of digital, they will have their own individual and different paths.
Everyone thought television would send radio the way of the dodo, but it didn’t. TV will continue to find better ways to deliver it’s primary product – entertainment. But the possibilities for the interactive Internet are almost limitless and even amazing…if we don’t screw it up.
Here’s an interesting video on the history of television with a prediction on where TV is going.
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