Thanks to web sites such as hulu.com, tv.com, and the animation enthusiast's Joost, television has become accessable on PCs and laptops. Phone providers Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon have jumped on the demand-for-TV bandwagon by offering mobile TV services, and major network websites have some episodes of popular shows online. Isn't it wonderful that we have so many viewing options? There really is no excuse anymore for missing a single episode of Jerry Springer or WWE. We are so fortunate. Also, we can continue to shell out for the latest technology which allows us to tune in to our choice of mindless prattle, I mean distinctive entertainment, anywhere we are, anytime of day. A small monthly tithe to the wireless gods is all that stands between you and the opportunity to enrich your phone company. Goodness knows that life as we know it would end without being able to watch even more TV than we already do, and the quality of what one is able to watch on one's iPhone is worth any price. (If you have come to the conclusion that I do not own a cell phone and therefore won't be watching TV on my cell phone, you win.)
The Nielsen Company published results of research last year which showed that media consumption is increasing, and media multi-tasking is part of that trend. Jim O’Hara, President of Media Product Leadership for The Nielsen Company said, “The entire media universe is expanding so consumers are choosing to add elements to their media experience, rather than to replace them." One interesting development in our expanding media universe is that there are now more TVs per American household than people. You can read more of Nielsen's Three Screen Report here.
My acknowledged bias and I took a look around hulu. You can browse by TV and by movies. I don't really have a favorite TV show, but I noticed there is a 40th Anniversary Collection of Sesame Street clips you can watch. That sounded like fun.
The movie collection wasn't very appealing, but they did have some full length features I might enjoy, like "Inherit the Wind" with Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott or "Like Water for Chocolate." (You apparently have to create a hulu account in order to view an R rated movie.) I like that they have a documentary search feature. I was interested in Africa Unite: A Celebration of Bob Marley's 60th Birthday, but the buffering problem was terrible. There were other documentaries I would try, such as Les Paul: Chasing Sound, and Manufacturing Consent about Noam Chomsky.
Many people enjoy posting their own video productions on USTREAM. The Shiba Inu puppy streaming video is adorable. For about 3 minutes. Then I got bored. It's great seeing friends and family in the videos they post to YouTube or Facebook. Maybe some day I'll get around to making one. They say genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Not that I expect to be another Speilberg; far from it. But it's probably better that I keep my first attempts, at least, well away from the public library.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment