Just in case anybody really loved the Jaffe interview, or if you'd like to see it in print, go here to see it transcribed for the Madison Avenue Journal.
Also, my latest full piece, The Decomposition of the Television Set, is now available here. The theory is that the convergence of the internet and the television set will not end television, but will unlock abilities that we couldn't have imagined only 5 or 10 years ago.
A couple excerpts:
"Luckily, we will no longer be shackled to a 30-second increment. Our ability to grow will be firmly tied to our ability to innovate and engage. Without the crutch of forced viewing, we will be enabled to create and connect in ways video has never been allowed to before, with interactivity not even imagined in the Jetsons."
"These changes aren't evolutionary shifts. They are revolutionary. And, as with revolutions, two things can happen. You win big, or you lose big. There generally is no revolutionary middle class."
Hope you guys enjoy!
A recent Pew research report indicates that the TV is a low priority, it's considered "not essential", by younger people...and the older you get, the more "essential" it becomes.
I wonder if young folks are turning more to interactive, private or public communication tools.
They may like video games, text messaging, blogging, chatrooming, YouTubing more than the passive absorbing of crummy programs and too many loud commercials.
I cannot bear to watch TV for more than a few shows. I am so adjusted to expressing myself through computer music, blogs, email, and blog comments. I cannot just sit and soak up all that silly crap on TV.
But I like books and music CDs more than almost anything else in life.
Posted by: V-+a%S(p#E*rsT=`hE..]gra_Te[ | December 21, 2006 at 04:49 PM
I watch almost no TV anymore. Very, very little... but I blog like a motherfucker 24/7... TV is largely irrelevant to me now.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | December 21, 2006 at 04:59 PM
Nice work, Paul. What is it with you guys ... good thinking, prodigious output and clever and economical writing? Don't you sleep?
Posted by: Gavin Heaton | December 21, 2006 at 10:16 PM
Sleep is over rated Gavin. That's why Paul takes drugs to stay awake all day every day. Me? I'm an insomniac with too much time on my hands.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | December 22, 2006 at 07:24 AM
Tim Jackson is starting to sound like me.
Posted by: vaspers the grate | December 22, 2006 at 08:13 AM
Vaspers, I can think of worse things people have said about me. Pretty good company, I think.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | December 22, 2006 at 10:03 AM
VtG- I think you're right, Tim is starting to sound like you! Ha!
As far as television, it is mostly mindless boring crap, and the last great refuge of the passive consumer, but all that changes when networks and their affiliates slip closer to irrelevance, when our television sets are powered by computers, and anyone can produce their own shows and develop their own networks. Interesting times indeed.
Tim- Bloggers Anonymous?
Gavin- Sleep is severly overrated. :)
Posted by: Paul McEnany | December 22, 2006 at 10:37 AM
BA kicked me out for trying to blog at the meetings. WTF? I thought it was a place to Blog Anonomously... go figure.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | December 22, 2006 at 12:44 PM
You got kicked out? That's bullshit! Where can I send my letter of protest?
Posted by: Paul McEnany | December 23, 2006 at 12:12 AM