Television or Internet?

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Recently, I was having a discussion with a friend about the nature, function, and value of television and computers, and specifically the Internet, in our daily lives. Both he and I agreed that we'd rather have a computer and a working Internet connection rather than simply a television set. We also wondered if television, as a medium, have got a future in the 21st century.

So, this got me the idea of starting this thread. I also think that BOM is an excellent place to ask this question for two reasons; this is an international board, while I doubt there's a member for each country, I'm fairly sure there's a least one for each continent. BOM also have members in a wide spectrum of ages, from teenager to elderly. So, my question is; What medium would you rather have? Television or Computers and why? And, do you think TV have a future?

Myself, as I've said, I vote for a Computer, why? Well, Television is linear and the content is mostly unchanging, you cannot watch a particular show at the time of your choosing nor can you change the content being broadcasted. Television is mostly a passive activity you do not really interact with the medium, other than changing the channel. More and more, popular shows are being distributed online anyway, through legal ways or not. And I find it to be more convenient to watch them at a computer. Where I can watch it whenever it pleases me and that I can stop and "rewind" it.

You also have a sense of community online which you cannot have on TV. Not only through discussion boards, chatting, blogs or whatever. But many original work are mainly seen on the web and in many cases there is a direct way of discussing them. I'm referring to indie film, radio shows, written fiction, etc. Many people, with the help of the web, can now express themselves to a wider audience, while people couldn't in the past, before Internet (or BBS for the older BOM-er ). The share number of podcasts and Blogs available today shows people are willing to express their ideas and view and the Internet has given them an easy way to do so. Now, of course people formed community before, and expressed themselves I'm not denying that. However I do believe computers and the online community has greatly facilitated this.

The Internet is also way more diverse in its content. You can play games, read news or fiction, watch shows, get information, communicate with others, access personal informations (Banks, Schools, Work comes to mind), shop, etc. While TV is only shows.

TV, especially news channel, are mostly regional and where it comes to international affair it may be biased or a at least culturally "biased". I mean a particular event may be interpreted differently in different countries. Many times, when an event intrigues me or when I want a broader interpretation I look into news website of different countries. More often than not, I found that the same event has got a radically diverging coverage based upon the country of origin of the article. That helps me in better understanding it and forging my own opinion. Again, a process that I cannot do with television.

At the time being I doubt TV will cease to exists it still a lucrative enterprise and people are just used to it. My father for instance just doesn't understand the the wonderfulness of Internet. TV is still his primary mean of entertainment / news. Which is also most probably the case of many people. TV is also a lot simpler than the web, you turn it on and the content is there, a simplicity that doesn't necessarelly exists online, yet.

So what do you think?

PS: I'm not entirely sure where this thread belongs, based on its nature, being a topic concerning technology, I thought Techno-Magic was the right place.

 

Your brain is less active when you watch TV than when you sleep. I think it does stuff to people's subconscious, and it programs you to think a certain way. They don't call them 'programmes' for nothing.

Mostly there's only rubbish on anyway. Here in Holland, that is. Occasionally I watch the BBC, Discovery, maybe CNN. And Comedy Central at work.

Music channels are the worst: They flash butts, and wiggling girls in bikinis, which can be more arousing than porn. The so-called 'art' in other video clips doesn't do much for your sanity either. By the time you've decided you're watching total nonsense, and manage to zap away, you've wasted another hour of your life.

Guess what I voted for...

 

Internet.

But TV is going to merged whit the pc. The tv is going to be the second display attached to your pc. The tv will be intergrated into the home networks. The same for consoles. It will all we linked togehter. Modern tv have usb, ethernet you name it.

Multiple screens in the house. A family large main one in the living room whith several in other places in the house. all attached to a network whit internet connection. A small media center pc combined whit a heavy game pc, a laptop or a NAS. A wii console in the living room, a Xbox in the kids room,...

So this poll will become obsolete.

 

Internet of course. I haven't had a tv for five years or so.

 

The internet offers a consolidation of information and social media into a single interactive, electronic medium.

I certainly cannot say that the internet has not in turn sparked new modes of human interaction. In particular it is an outlet for personal opinion that would not be shared in more inconvenient mediums, as well as a place to find an audience for artistic endeavors.

The internet is the ultimate convenience, and to that point it has come to be used by many to the exclusion of what it emulates. However, there are still libraries, encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, and research journals, as well as book clubs, movie clubs, support groups, pornographic magazines and videos, catalogues, telephones, snail mail, and real, breathing people.

If we exclude television programming/images being broadcast or downloadable on the internet, television offers something that is not achievable by another medium: it offers an affordable accompaniment to a fictional or real (think news, sports, or documentaries) narrative that can be visually observed, even in near real-time if called for by the nature of the content.

Of course, that argument becomes irrelevant when one considers that the internet now provides a framework for delivering what is essentially "television content." The two will only continute to be more closely integrated going forward.

The audio-visual content that television provides will not go away, even if people like us spend far more of our time reading text on a computer screen than partaking of it--don't make the mistake of projecting one's own lifestyle choices on the population as a whole. Television content and the internet do not have to be competitive alternatives either--I think a case could be made that they often enhance each other, television providing the grounds for discussion on the internet, which in turn generates interest in or appreciation for said tv content.

 

I think you're going to get a rather biased response asking this question on an internet forum.

 

I can't believe I didn't thought of that... Oh well, it was +-2 AM when I posted it.

Of course, I still spend the majority of University time in libraries. I do wish however for a digital collection of all human written material ever. It's an utopia I know, but still it doesn't hurt to think.

 

Don't mind if I do! (Arrrrrr matey - yer intellectual property or yer life! And a bottle o' rum.)
Piracy, and legal downloads too, make the internet cater better to your TV watching demands than TV can.

 

Since they piracy factor was brough in, you can watch TV legally over your broadband connection using IPTV, if available from your service provider. So you can only have a broadband internet connection, but have both TV and internet at the same time. IPTV has a good availability here, at least from selected service providers. Do not confuse IPTV with Internet TV, which is something completely different.

 

I only have got cable and I rarely find anything interesting on TV. Most of the day I'm at school or I am otherwise occupied by studies, so when I actually have time to watch TV it's either late in the evening or very early in the morning. I find nothing remotely worthwhile. At these hours most of the shows are bad American shows (badly) translated in French anyway. While there is still a lot of original local content most of the time the audience target is either older or younger than me. Which means that most of the time I simply close the set and do something else.

 

While computers (internet) are definitely my vote (try RPing through a TV set ) I'm also quite happy that I have a TV in my flat. I live alone most of the year and sometimes when I get back home from school, dead tired, it's nice to flick the TV on and catch a cartoon, or a movie or some show I like. There are even times I just turn the TV on, with volume off and study or game, or cook dinner. It makes the apartment seem less empty.

While I rarely watch TV, I can usually dig out something watchable when I do, (usually a movie, some science/history show, cartoon or a TV show) to help pass the time.

Still, I'm in front of a PC screen whenever possible.

 

I voted for Internet...but once IPTV becomes the norm, I have a feeling that it won't matter anymore.

 

I get a choice in what I look at on the net. The TV is totally taken over by my fella watching star trek and top gear or my son watching cbeebies!

 

I picked TV; simply because as technology changes the ability to watch what we want, when we want is becoming easier and easier as technology advances. Right now most modern day cable or satellite provider has pay-per view, TV on demand, and two or three location related TV programs so you can watch a show you might have missed on the West Coast if you live on the east coast, etc...

As for the internet medium; I believe that will eventually take over in the future as higher speeds internet become the norm and less expensive. But until that day comes, TV will rain sumpreme.

 

Many sensible networks put up their shows on their websites to be watched at your leisure. I know I have watched a lot of the Daily Show on comedycentral's website and the Swedish public television has a huge archive where you can watch pretty much all of their programs for several weeks after they are aired.

 

I voted for television. I have two options to watch something

1. My 50" plasma television with 5 speaker surround sound and a couch that has been molded to my heinie.

or

2. My 21" LCD monitor with 3 speakers and a ten year old office chair that has had most of the stuffing beat out of it.

I find that if I download an .avi from the internet I will often use software to convert it into a DVD, burn it, and then watch it on the televsion.

 

I've never understood the fuss people make about 50" plasma screens, or super-expensive hifi systems. They pay exorbitant amounts for marginally better viewing/listening experiences. Many of the people who have set up these ridiculously expensive systems in their houses, are already in their fifties. When your eyesight and hearing deteriorates, you won't see/hear the difference anyway.
I admire my grandma's practicality: When my aunt offered to switch her old widescreen TV with my gran's normal shaped one, she took one look at the screen, and rejected it. "Put the old one back now, please." The surface area would've been about the same, but she doesn't like the widescreen, because it stretches most of her normal programs. And she doesn't care that the screen is sharper, because she can't see the difference anyway. She's very down to earth.
As for me, I can see my 19" TFT screen, and my 30" TV from my couchbed, and I have no desire to install any more expensive junk in the room.
Is it a case of people not knowing what to spend their money on? My advice: Just save the money.

 

Dude, you need to watch the Fellowship of the Ring on your 30" TV, then come to my house to watch The Two Towers on my 52" LCD with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, then go back to your place and watch Return of the King...after about 5 minutes, you'll be thinking "this sucks!" and you'll want a HDTV.

As for my vision and hearing deteriorating...I'm 24, I've got a long time before my vision and hearing go down the drain. I paid $1,900 USD back in June 2008 for my TV, and if my sight were to go tomorrow, I'd say that was money well spent!