A medium that this and several generations have been used to since birth is the television. TV’s technical elements had been developed as early as the 1880’s, but it wouldn’t be until the 1920’s and 30’s when broadcasting was finally ‘tinkered & toyed with.’ However, it’s development would be stalled during World War II, as electric manufacturers focused their time and resources on the war effort. It’s curious to note that most people believed TV wouldn’t be stomached to watch for more than 20 minutes at a time…But after the war, improved and advanced technology had proven that estimate to be INCREDIBLY incorrect. To the unexpected shock of the FCC, TV grew at such a rapid pace that there soon was a shortage of channels to serve all cities! From there, it’s very apparent how much TV has expanded: from cable boxes, vast additions of new stations, new content and media, to now the current establishments of digital television.
Despite all the channels, stations, and content available on TV, there is common concern that the conventional network TV model is actually dying—How can this possibly be, especially with the technological advances and selections available?! Well, it’s actually quite plausible since the same features and offerings TV has, the Internet can also provide: It is for this reason that the Internet, in my opinion, shall be the media to replace TV should it ultimately die out. It actually makes quite a bit of sense to say that the Internet already is directly contributing to TV’s demise: There is a growing trend of people watching their favorite shows online rather than on TV, and the single most driving factor for this trend is convenience. Audiences no longer have to be confined to a TV to catch their shows as the Internet has enabled them to view it anywhere, from personal computers, laptops, even on their very own cell phones. Furthermore, viewers no longer have to endure agonizing waits; with the internet, not only can people watch their shows where ever they want, but they can watch them WHENEVER they want. Instead of waiting days, weeks, etc for the next episode to air, viewers can go online and watch countless episodes of them; in some cases, they can even watch brand new episodes before they even premiere on TV!! With such demanded convenience easily met, is it really any wonder why the TV model is withering away…?
I agree that it should be no question why the conventional TV model is dying because most people want to watch what they want when they want. It is very true that most people are watching movies and their shows online. Many people do not even watch actual DVDs anymore they just search on the internet for full movies. Nice blog Mike, you have some interesting ideas.
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