Live TV is coming to an end, and it can't happen fast enough. Broadcast television is changing to digital in February but to me that is largely irrelevant. With youtube, Tivo, Netflix on Xbox, Itunes and dvds there is simply less reason every day to watch live television.
Over the last ten years I have become increasingly intolerant towards commercials. I have no problem with businesses making money and in general advertising is a good way to do it. Google has become one of the largest businesses in the world based on simple advertising and it almost never bothers me.
The problem is the unwillingness of the television providers to adapt and the general lack of quality of commercials.
I often watch TV in the background while doing other things. When that happens I rarely bother to fast forward past commercials because I hardly notice they are on, except when the volume doubles during those commercials in which case i almost immediately dive towards the remote to fast forward rather than being assaulted by the yelling.
Beyond that though is the ability to time shift. I could watch TV with commercials again, though I wouldn't be happy, so long as i could watch it when i want. twenty years ago you could afford to miss episodes of your favorite TV show, but while the networks have fought change the producers of their programs have taken advantage by moving away from episodic television to far more complex story lines, but few of us can afford to plan our lives around Monday night.
Finally there is the long tail. Even more important to me than time shifting is being able to find the content I want. My interest are specific and not all that common so I am able to watch shows on technology or comic books or history all with far more depth than the show you're likely to see on the typical cable channel because someone on the internet can create content for a few thousand people and be profitable while the average cable channel needs hundreds of thousands just to break even.
So let us move past live television and into the age of the internet.
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