Toob: TV: The Final Frontier
Another magazine about TV? Hardly. Smart TV Magazine is about you: helping you fulfill your potential. Smart TV is the first magazine that does not focus on TV as an entertainment device; instead, we see television as a tool (when used properly) that is capable of enriching our lives.
From the invention of the TV tube, society has believed that the glowing screen in our living rooms has the potential to inform and educate us. Today, very few of us feel that TV has lived up to its potential. Quite to the contrary, many have referred to TV as the "boob tube." Market forces that have had little to do with achieving human potential have driven the television industry. It has done an outstanding job of teaching us what things to buy, but has failed at teaching us how to become all that we can be. That's all about to change as a result of two undeniable developments.
First, people have less time. On the career and professional side of our lives, time is a precious resource. The popularity of books like The One Minute Manager, Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and In Search of Excellence all stress the importance of managing our time to achieve more satisfaction. In our personal lives, parents have less time to spend with their kids so the time they do spend together is very precious. The booming service sector of our economy is another testament to our dwindling time reserves. Businesses like Boston Market prepares dinner for us, the house-cleaning industry is exploding, as are many any other services that give us more time. With all this attention centered on time, what do you think has happened to the time that we spend with the television?
The way that we use TV will soon begin to change because we demand more out of the way we invest our time. We know that our kids are spending more time with TV, in part because both parents are working. Parents are so tired from their busy day (including the intense quality time that they spend with their kids) that by the end of the day, all they can do is veg out in front of the boob tube. It has amazed me for years that no one has focused on better ways to manage couch time! TV is the final frontier of time management (unless we figure out how to sleep less).
The second development that is changing the way that we use TV is communications technology. Consumer electronics and computers used to be two separate economic sectors, but as we all have heard, these two industries are experiencing a convergence and will soon become one. Our computer experience and our TV experience are becoming more and more similar. Compared to a few years ago, the things that we can now do in front of a TV are very different. The VCR has liberated us from the limitations of the TV schedule. We've changed our couch mindset from, "What's on TV that we can watch?" to "Let's go to the video store and get something worth watching." We are no longer victims of the TV listings because we don't have to keep an appointment with a TV show. But the VCR is old technology -- introduced nearly 20 years ago. Now, all of a sudden, there are a number of new technologies arriving at once: DSS, DVD, net-top devices and on-screen guides. These technologies are having a profound impact upon what people can and will do in front of their TV sets.
The result of better time-management techniques and converging technologies will be valuable tools for couch-time managers. People will reap greater benefits from their TV time because they'll have more choices and interactive experiences that will lead to greater knowledge. I am not suggesting that we will never or should never "veg out" in front of a TV. Sometimes total relaxation and an escape into a traditional TV program for purely entertainment purposes are essential. However, more and more, we'll be able to reap greater benefits from our time by applying ourselves a bit more. When we expand our selection choices from broadcast TV's 10 channels (in an average small city) to over 40 by subscribing to cable, we are forcing ourselves to deal with more possibilities. When we take the next step to satellite TV, we could be faced with making selections from over 100 channels. It does require more effort but, odds are, we'll find something that is suitable to our individual needs. When we invest our time watching TV shows that are a more specific match to our desires, we derive more value out of the time that we spend watching TV. Specificity means greater value.
Interactivity is a scary thought for some people because it implies effort. More effort is the last thing they have in mind when they plop down on the couch. In that frame of mind, we'd like to make no more than one choice (channel selection) per hour. If we are lucky enough to catch a good movie, we may get by for two hours. Most of the time we make a choice or take an action two times an hour because TV shows tend to be 30 minutes long. Certainly there are times when we are capable and motivated to make more than two choices per hour. Some people channel surf during commercial breaks bringing the choices per hour up over 20. A few people, including my son, will channel surf while they are deciding which show to watch. This can push the actions per hour well over 100. To me, that's interactivity that rivals playing a video game. TV is already interactive. Interactive programs have recently become more available to us in the living room. Unlike a traditional TV show, media like a video game, an interactive CD (CD-ROM or DVD) or a Web site all require us to think a little more. In the near future all homes will have one or more of these forms of interactive media. So in addition to specificity, interactivity will transform the time that we spend in front of the TV.
One compromise that these new media choices require from us is in the "richness" of the experience. The richest media experience is probably the movie theater with its enormous screen and incredibly clear pictures and sound, presented in an optimized setting. The home theater category of consumer electronics is growing rapidly because of consumers' desire to emulate the rich movie theater experience. However, the living-room TV experience is not quite as rich as the movie theater experience because the picture and sound quality are lower. Until recently, interactive CDs were even less rich because they were not capable of holding much motion. DVD (Digital Video Disc) is changing all that. Web sites are the least rich of all the TV choices. The text-based Web has been image-deprived, although audio is now becoming abundant. There is even some limited video on the Internet, but it does not hold a candle to TV. However, if the content is compelling enough to you, the medium itself becomes less important. Just think of how tolerant we are of poor quality home movies because we are deeply involved in the content. Smart TV is not just about rich content, it is about rich choices that better enable us to manage our TV time.
If we can better manage our TV time by selecting programs and interactive content that are meaningful, we are bound to live more fulfilling lives. Please join us in our pursuit of Smart TV's mission to enrich and democratize television.
Matthew York is Smart TV's publisher/editor.
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