Why TV Will Be More Lean-Forward In The Future
I am now convinced that, over time, TV as we know it today will be more lean-forward, i.e. watched on a computer versus a television screen (lean-back).
My 8 year old son and my 4 year old daughter–without any assistance from me–have discovered they can watch TV programs online. They watch kid-stuff, like shows on Nick Jr and the stuff on 4Kids Entertainment that populates two of the local channels here on Saturday mornings. They eat this stuff up. They don’t care that it’s on a computer, it’s just a screen to them.
I myself watch things on sites like Hulu, Fancast, and the network sites far more often than I watch things on a regular TV. Heck, I watch videos on my mobile phone about as often as I’ll see something on TV.
While I grew up having to plan to be at the TV to watch a certain program, between videos we have at home and the Internet, my kids are growing up with the ability to watch pretty much what they want when they want. As they get older, they’re not going to accept anything less than that.
The only way I could see TV continuing to be lean-back is if the content choice and viewing flexibility on the computer screen is there and easier to use on the big-screen TV. What do you think?
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Comment by Irfon-Kim Ahmad
It’s going the other way for me, actually. I watch more computer-sourced content (videos that I downloaded online, etc.) on the TV now than I used to. I control more non-visual media (my mp3 collection, etc.) via the TV than I used to. I also do more of my basic computing (checking e-mail, browsing the web) on the TV than I used to. And I do almost all of my video gaming on the TV, compared to doing all of it on the computer until relatively recently. In general, I spend a lot more time in front of the television and a lot less time in front of my computer than ever before. The majority of this can be chalked up to the Playstation 3, but I suspect that more devices will fill that role for other people.
What I think about the way this is going is that increasingly people will be able to choose to experience their content wherever they like. Where they’ll choose will largely depend on the situation. In a household like mine, the television is a great choice for a lot of content because the couch is more comfortable, the television is larger, the sound is good (although my computer’s sound is possibly better when it’s “docked”), etc. In households with a lot more people than mine, or with children, or where people want a lot of privacy, etc., then they might go the other way, choosing a personal device rather than the television for those reasons.
Also, I don’t know how much longer these distinctions will exist anyway. I’ve almost never watched television shows on my computer. When I didn’t watch them on my TV via the PS3, I watched them handheld on my PSP. Is that lean-back or lean-forward? Sometimes when I want a nice large view and plan to spend a lot of time and want the comfy couch, or when I want to use a different sound system to demo audio in a more “home theater” setting rather than a more “studio” setting, I plug my laptop into the television and lean back with a keyboard on my lap and the mouse next to me. That’s sort of both, under your definitions, isn’t it? I mean, I’m leaning back, but I’m using my computer, but it’s on the TV.
Comment by spg
one of the most common qquestion i am asked lately is how to attach a computer to a TV. i see a lot of people wanting to make to computer ‘lean back’ in the living room. we may find that it we have a lean forward and than back model. with people watching TV as internet feeds but than pushing back onto the big TV screen in the living room.
Comment by spg
just want to add. i know a few people who live in apartment with free wifi who have not signed up for cable they watch video solely on there computer. but this has a much to do with ‘free’ in terms both of money and subscriptions as a real decision. these people may prefer to have a cable subscription; but not as much as they prefer not to pay. if free muni- WiFi were to ever take off and could support video lean-forward would become much more popular.
Comment by Goca
Computer have much more adds and its cool to use it,u can do anything what u want.TV is bored….
Comment by Jill
No doubt, the internet is now a growing delivery source of TV style entertainment and eventually it’ll be everyone’s distribution arm of choice. But the question for me is this: will kids like your 4 & 8 year old who grew up with computers on their laps want lean-back entertainment like traditional TV or will they want something a little more interactive?