By Ray Richmond
Don't get me wrong. iPods are cool. I mean, I don't have one, but I hear they're terrific. Every song you've ever heard can now be with you at all times and be called upon at will. It's the ultimate in instant and complete audio gratification. You can tell by the zombie-like expression it tends to induce on its users.
And now here comes the iPod with a newfangled visual component. Not that we haven't already had Watchman-style TVs around for decades already. But with the new gadget, you'll be able to download last night's edition of "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost" for $1.99 off of Apple iTunes, because we all know how much we've been clamoring for video on demand on a 2.5-inch screen.
We can't be away from our music for even a second, and now we can't be separated from our TV sets. It isn't enough that people are yakking incessantly on their cell phones while simultaneously trying to go about their daily lives; they're also taking in snippets from CNN and ESPN and Comedy Central and the latest cool music video on a wireless screen that's smaller than a Post-it note.
Welcome to the 21st century, ladies and gentlemen, where your eyes and ears must always be occupied with something other than what's actually happening around you. Please start this particular revolution without me, if you don't mind.
Here's the deal with the whole micro-mini screen TV thing: It's doomed to fail, I believe. It's a gimmick and not a whole lot more. The iPod audio edition has become a must-have product because it allows audiophiles music collection portability. By contrast, we don't want or need the same convenience in our TV given that watching shows on a 2-inch screen isn't quite commensurate with viewing them on a 42-inch LCD monitor with SurroundSound.
Network affiliates need not worry that this new technology is going to siphon viewers off. They're already being pulled away by everything else, of course, from Internet use to DVDs (blissfully free of commercial breaks) to all of the other usual suspects. But this one's not going to fly, unless consumers have a pathological attachment to their TV content that has somehow escaped my notice.
Would I plunk down two bucks for last night's "Lost" if I missed it? Maybe. But it isn't just the $2. It's also the $300 for the device itself. And besides being another significant expense, it also represents a new distraction -- from the road while we're driving, from the clerk at the checkout counter, from our lives in general.
It feels like the day is fast approaching when they'll simply implant a chip in your forehead and you'll be able to watch and listen to whatever you want just by thinking about it. It will be something like schizophrenia, except that the voices in your head will come complete with pictures.
Conventional wisdom tells us that if the technology is there, it will be exploited whether viable or not. This seems to be what's going on with downloadable TV that fits in the palm of your hand. It's not something we need or even asked for, simply another revenue stream for those who can tap it being modestly embraced by those who demand the latest gadget-driven experience.
As for me, my cell doesn't even take still photos. All I ask from my phone is that it make calls. When they create one that'll do the laundry, however, I'm there.
Filed Under: TECHNOLOGY
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