My life without TV
Adam Turner finds a Cisco report that people spend more time online than watching TV a case-of-the-bleedingly-obvious. The real question is why anyone still bothers with free to air TV.
Yes, a study by Cisco proves what we already knew - Internet killed the television star. The study found Australians with broadband spend an average of 22 hours per week on the web, 14 hours in front of the TV and only three hours playing computer games. Admittedly the survey did not draw a distinction between home and work internet use, but I'm sure for many of us that line is blurred anyway. If you're writing a blog post for a computer magazine while IMing two friends to discuss tomorrow night's dinner and emailing colleagues with Pulp Fiction quotes - do you chalk that up as work, rest or play? Even big employers are starting to appreciate that young people won't work for them if they can't have that kind of freedom.
The most amazing thing about these figures is that people only spend 22 hours per week on the web. That's only three hours a day. I'd think if you're an information worker then you're spending all day using the internet in one form or another. I would easily spend 10 hours of each week day using some kind of computing device, mostly for work but interspersed with play (that's the beauty of working for yourself). If I'm using a computing device I'm constantly using email, IM and a browser so you'd have to say I'm constantly using the internet.
Since I got my iPhone I've starting taking longer toilet breaks, but only because I start reading someone's blog while I'm on the bog and I forget why I was there.
Even when I do decide to wind down, the internet is my primary entertainment channel. I read Dilbert, browse through some online newspapers, check out a few blogs and listen to a few podcasts or streaming radio. In the middle of that I might chat to a few friends around the world in a mix of voice, video and chat.
When the television does eventually get switched on, it's often to watch something I've downloaded from the internet anyway. I'd say I watch three or four hours of broadcast television a week, only Australian shows I can't get in advance on BitTorrent, and it's all time-shifted so I never see any ads. I don't have pay TV because I figure the money I spend on broadband achieves the same result. Even when I'm watching TV I've still got a notebook on my lap (except Lost, which requires your full attention in case someone finally explains what the hell that black fog monster is and you miss it).
The bad news for the old world television media moguls is that it's only going to get worse. My four year-old son doesn't understand the concept of live television and he gets annoyed when you can't pause the television at Nana's house. He loves Dora the Explorer, but he would rather play the games on the Nick Jr website than watch the show.
Once he discovers the PlayStation, World of Warcraft and social networking he'll never watch the idiot box again. I'm going to teach him to stand outside the Channel Nine building whispering "I see dead people" in a creepy voice. Traditional television is dead, it just doesn't know it yet.
Now I understand the supernova scene.
Other Blog Entries written by Adam Turner:
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
Comments: 3
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Nat.W¿LL¿
Jul 4, 2008 5:47 PM
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TV- A device that when turned off, stimulates conversation. |
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Slatts
Jul 12, 2008 6:53 PM
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Slatts
Jul 12, 2008 6:55 PM
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TV?... Sorta like a computer without a keyboard?... Yeh but.. what would you do with it? |