Interactive Television

The concept of Interactive Television is pretty interesting, but I'm not sure that it works. Well, let me rephrase that - we know that it works, but is it viable?

informITV paints a glorified picture of what Interactive Television can do/ will do. They write that the ultimate incarnation of Interactive Television is "a world of converged communications and interactive media services to connect, egnage, inspire, inform and entertain users. Digital networks are enabling new forms of integrated interactive media, combing the capabilities of the internet with the visual experience of the television to transform the provision and experience of information, communications and entertainment services." Which basically means that they view ITV as a sort of TV 2.0 - where the interconnectivity of the internet is available through the television. Which brings me to the question of - why bother interfacing these two things? Why not just go straight to the internet?

ITV doesn't really do anything for me - I much prefer the immediacy of being able to watch things on my computer in my own time. I guess this links into the attraction of the video-on-demand type of broadcasters. And while I've put some thought into subscribing to Foxtel IQ - which allows the viewer to record shows, like TiVo, I've always come to the conclusion that for less money I could just increase my internet quota and download everything I want to watch. The only real benefit to watching something on TV, as far as I can see, is the increase in screen size.

I think that ITV is really only marketable to generations who aren't as naturally inclined to turn to the internet for all of their entertainment needs. I guess things like BBC's "red button" are good incentives for viewers, as they offer extra content to those who pay a little extra money for the service. But compared to the multitude of extra content that is practically free online, it seems a bit like wasting money to me.

And I think that television companies know this - why else would they be airing "tweet-enhanced" shows? Because people are used to the interconnectedness of the internet, of being able to watch something and at the same time look up interesting background information about it. And while television is trying to compensate for this by introducing tweet-shows (which to me sound excruciating) they can't compete with the ease-of-access that the PC has. Using a TV control is just too clumsy and requires too much work!

One way to merge the interactivity that we are used to with the functionality of a TV is through touch screens - or rather, having some sort of wireless tablet that connects with your television which you could use to navigate and control the interactive TV-net.

Whatever the case, I think that the "microsoft man" who predicted that TV only has about 2-3 years to get it's act together was being a bit generous. As more and more people become more accustomed to the internet there will be less and less incentive to watch TV, no matter how many gimmicks are thrown on top of shows.