Who’s laughing now?
Share This April 11th, 2007 Tom van Aardt
I’m sitting in front of the television. Waiting. My program is about to start. Any minute now. I have my laptop, and surf the web while I wait. And then the irony hits me like a badly placed commercial break.
Please appreciate the significance of this statement: I’m sitting in front of the television. I haven’t watched TV since Cheers. OK, OK, perhaps since Frasier.
But now I have broadband, with access to online content. I hate - loathe - old fashioned terrestrial or even satellite TV. Linear programming is swell for my great grandma. She also dips her crustless white bread in her weak tea.
If I lost you at ‘weak tea and white bread’, don’t read on.
I do watch DVDs, and I watch even more video podcasts and YouTube.
A lot.
Non-linear, on-demand video on my iPod and laptop is my main source of information, for everything from current events to tech industry analysis. User generated content is fine, but I still prefer my content delivered by the trusted sources - BBC, Reuters, CNET and others.
Which brings me back to my all-too-ironic introduction. Here I am, sitting in front of the TV. Breathless anticipation as the final ads roll before the start of the current affairs programme.
It starts, and I’ll have to sit through at least three other stories (help!) before they’ll get to the package that interested me. I read a blog discussing tonight’s line-up, and I couldn’t wait to see mainstream media’s take on the subject.
They’re discussing YouTube. The irony is painful. I’m sitting in front of the TV, plodding through a linear program waiting for a report on non-linear programming.
Perhaps ‘old media’ still has some attractions. Who am I to argue? I’m sitting in front of the darn television!
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