The PhoneBoy Blog

Why TV Will Be More Lean-Forward In The Future

02 Oct 2008

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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