Keep television on TV

Written by Wiley Combs

Wednesday, 25 February 2009 17:52

Review

With NetFlix’s recent addition of television shows to its streaming repertoire, it appears that the age of the television may have reached its peak. Web sites like www.hulu.com allow users to “watch their favorites, anytime, for free,” signaling a new era in connectivity between media producers and users. Computers may soon displace the “boob-tube” with broadband and wireless access, with considerable capabilities to expand the reach and type of content offered by erstwhile television producers.

Unfortunately, the “new wave” of television looks largely like the last. With negotiations in the works on the behalf of cable networks intending to charge for streaming online shows, it looks like the honeymoon may be over for computer users who enjoy streaming their favorite television shows.

A recent article by TG Daily describes the potential of streaming television to provide more consistent content to viewers.

“Rather than having a physical service connected only to the box in your living room, Web-based TV follows you wherever you go, building upon the basic cloud concept of computer use, ensuring the ‘here am I, and there’s my content’ motto always holds true—so long as there’s a good Internet connection.”

The author of the piece goes on to lament, “streaming television programming, and the luxuries we’ve been accustomed to for free might soon be a thing of the past,” but remains optimistic about this “cloud” of computing services which “we’ll likely all be up to our necks in.”

Well, physicists are comfortable with the notion that “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” but media users should be outraged at the persistent monetizing framework that companies are attempting to apply to the Internet.

The benefit of the internet, that it can provide all forms of media content—text, audio, video—and remain interactive, does not fit into the traditional psychology of cable television companies. Comcast, Viacom Inc. and Time Warner have displayed a mentality which contradicts with everything the Internet has come to symbolize: a free forum for communicating thoughts, ideas, and, yes, media content.

Just as the price-fixing music industry continues to bemoan their “lost profits” to Internet piracy, television companies who are looking for new ways to loot price-savvy internet users may soon find themselves in a heap of digital trouble. Delivering content online for free is the best way to combat piracy, because it renders it unnecessary.

Attempting to expand profits out from the cable box may soon register a reaction from an Internet culture that television companies clearly do not understand.

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