When you walk into the living room to watch Mad Men, the TV should know it and adjust the in-screen Twitter feed accordingly. It should hear you laughing at Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and provide suggestions to other shows people laughed at who laughed at the same joke.
That sounds awful. The issue at hand when compared to video games is that television and film are not interactive- people have tried time and time again to make them so, but I honestly think that is a mistake. I don't want to read instant Twitter reactions to Don Draper's latest verbal beat-down of Peggy, I want to watch it. There is nothing wrong with television and film being a one-way experience.
It could come from Apple, but my money is on a startup.
I doubt it, simply because television is an extremely expensive medium. The existing players make it more expensive than it should be, but creating TV shows will always cost a lot. That's why the moves by the likes of Netflix into original programming are particularly fascinating.
You're absolutely right that the passive TV peg shouldn't be forced into the active entertainment hole.
However, when I'm watching a sporting event, I find myself looking down at my phone or tablet and looking for reactions from my favorite sports writers - and then I miss a play and I get frustrated. I can't be the only one having this experience.
Also, GetGlue is proving that people want to make their entertainment social - they want to scream what they're watching to all of their friends.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be passive, but it should be doing a lot more than what it is. When something on the screen illicits a reaction from me - be it a need to hear someone's opinion on it, or a laugh or a desire to make a purchase - the TV should be immediately providing an outlet to that reaction without getting in the way of the experience.
That sounds awful. The issue at hand when compared to video games is that television and film are not interactive- people have tried time and time again to make them so, but I honestly think that is a mistake. I don't want to read instant Twitter reactions to Don Draper's latest verbal beat-down of Peggy, I want to watch it. There is nothing wrong with television and film being a one-way experience.
It could come from Apple, but my money is on a startup.
I doubt it, simply because television is an extremely expensive medium. The existing players make it more expensive than it should be, but creating TV shows will always cost a lot. That's why the moves by the likes of Netflix into original programming are particularly fascinating.