It's a big night for TV. You got premieres left and right and there are a lot of good shows facing off. 'CSI' and 'Grey's Anatomy' both should have interesting plot twists tonight, given the rumors that major characters will be written off. But how do you decide what to tune into? Well, if you already set the Tivo to record 'The Office,' rest assured you don't have to miss out on one of the other two. You can catch it online tomorrow while you're at work ... oh, um, on your lunch break of course! You can see last night's ABC shows or CBS shows the day after they air for free.
So here are my questions of the day: is this the wave of the television future –T.V.ideo? Shows on demand, on your computer, whenever you want them? Do you see this as a potential medium for other media? For example, could the DVD box sets of TV shows start getting released on your computer instead of going out to purchase them? Will we get to the point where new-release movies are available for (legitimate) download at the same time they hit the theaters?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1. Mrs. T-Mo is a big Grey's Anatomy fan and was watching the premiere episode last night on TiVo, but it cut the last five minutes off. Good to know I can direct her here so she can catch the last of it (Better to know that I don't have to sit and watch it with her).
Posted at 1:28PM on Sep 28th 2007 by T-Mo
2. I think shows on demand will keep growing but will never completely replace TV for a couple of reasons: 1) watching TV is such a sedentary activity, whereas finding and watching episodes on the computer requires SOME effort, and 2) for the majority of people, the audio/video set-ups for their TV's still trump their computer set-ups. I'd rather watch a show on a 42" wide-screen TV with surround sound than in a box in the corner of a 17" monitor with tinny speakers. On-demand will take off whenever someone figures out a way to successfully integrate the computer into the TV, instead of the other way around.
As for movies being available for download, I don't see this working either. Going to the movies is an EVENT. It's a reason to get out of the house and get together with others. I don't see people foregoing that to sit at home and watch new movies on a computer screen.
Posted at 1:38PM on Sep 28th 2007 by T-Mo
3. Glad I could help with Mrs. T-Mo's missing out on some of her show (and help you not have to watch it all again).
I agree with most of your comments. I suspect computers will have to be integrated into TV for that to ever completely take off. And yes, I do think going to the movies is an event. Especially if you have kids. Back in the childless couple days, we could go to whatever movie we wanted on a whim. Now it takes actual planning and debate... 'do you think this movie will actually be WORTH spending $10 each for tickets, $15 for snacks AND also $35 for babysitting...'
However, because of just that, I have to wonder if the sitting at home and watching new movies on a computer screen might actually have a chance of catching on. I've certainly bypassed seeing new movies because the cost of seeing it when it comes to the theater outweighs the benefits. Especially when it will be released on DVD and conveniently sent to my house by Netflix and I can watch it on my schedule with my own free snack foods if I just wait a few short months.
Of course there are occasions when the big-screen treatment makes a movie more worthwhile (I'm sure anyone who saw 'Transformers' on Imax vs laptop monitor had a much different experience) but my thought is if they get released both ways at the same time and people can choose, the order-online method might take off.
Posted at 4:54PM on Oct 1st 2007 by itshotsummer