[LINK] I want my iTV

[Craig Sanders]

On Fri, Nov 08, 2002 at 02:29:36PM +1100, Tony Barry wrote:
> For all its publicised benefits, why is iTV still having such a hard 
> time making it in Australia?
>  <http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?189710 >Read Full Story

  : [...] it seems amazing that Australians with their reputation as
  : early adopters and users of technology are not clamouring for iTV.
  :
  : Why arent they? And why is it that iTV companies in Australia are
  : foundering rather than flourishing?

because iTV isn't very interesting or useful?  because nobody cares
about it?


what benefits does interactive tv actually have, anyway?

to have your viewing habits monitored, including tracking whether you
switch channels during the ad breaks or not?  with direct links from
your profile to spammers' databases so that they can target you
directly.  watch a travel show and get spammed by travel agents, watch
one of the home improvement shows and get spammed by hardware stores
etc.  fail to change the channel during a 1-900 ad and get spammed by
porn retailers.  or watch one-too-many sci-fi shows and get spammed
about tickets for <shudder> a star-trek convention.  

then realise that once you get onto a spam or marketing list you will
probably never get off, in fact your details will be traded from one
spammer to another.



a program guide would be useful.  but you can get that on the net, or on
teletext already.

video on demand will never happen.  at least, not in any useful way. the
storage and bandwidth requirements of serving up any movie at any time
are just too great.  at best you'll get a selection of movies you can
start watching at, say, 15 or 30 minute intervals....very similar to
what you can get already on cable.

the games and quizzes and voting and email mentioned in the article are
better done on the internet anyway.

in fact, interactive tv is best done on the net anyway.  if there is
going to be a convergence of TV and the net, it doesn't make any sense
to have net capabilities on TV, whereas it does make sense to have TV as
just another service available on the internet.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>

Fabricati Diem, PVNC.
 -- motto of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch