Are You A FOODIE?

Tech Hero

If you have ever connected your computer’s video output to your television’s video input, you know what a disappointment it can be. What appears crisp and clear on your computer monitor is significantly degraded on your TV. That’s because computer monitors have much higher “screen resolution” capabilities than most televisions, and websites are built with that higher resolution in mind. But high definition television (HDTV) sets are changing all that, and modern HDTV’s are now shipping with one small feature that will transform the broadcast industry.

What It Is
Your new HDTV most likely has an ethernet jack on it somewhere. This jack allows you to connect to the internet, and this means you can now use the internet to watch movies streaming down from a website like hulu.com without getting a headache from screen blur. But that’s just the beginning. Visio® and other companies ship their HDTV’s with an embedded webcam. Now you can video conference in your living room using your HDTV…and as the “Made for TV” ads say, “But wait! There’s more!”

Why It’s Cool
Like all technology, new capabilities don’t exist in a vacuum. They piggyback onto other capabilities that when combined with each other seem to generate a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The presence of an Ethernet jack on an HDTV opens up the markets for websites with broadcast rights for television shows, or even non-television “television”…shows made exclusively for internet viewing. True, these sights have always existed. But now people will visit them in much higher numbers because they don’t have to sit in front of their computer to enjoy it.

This is going to change the landscape as much as cable and satellite television media delivery technology ever did. Currently such delivery technology is also the primary means through with the content itself is sold to you and I. For instance you purchase cable or satellite access, and then those same access providers (such as Comcast® or DishNetwork®) sell you the content to be delivered through that access…for instance Showtime movie packages. In this regard, the access provider is also acting as the content provider. Now comes the twist. With an internet-ready HDTV and the presence of websites that deliver the content I want, the possibility exists that one day I will never need to sign up for any packaged deal again. I can get what I want simply by surfing to the website I want. I am now free from the access provider’s content delivery contract.

As with any technological advancement there are those that will be adversely affected, and in this case one of the earliest casualties will likely be the satellite television industry and possibly DSL providers. Because satellite is notoriously underpowered to provide internet access, and because DSL is a “thin band” cousin of broadband, the bandwidth demands of the next generation of TV viewers will likely shift business strongly into the arms of COX, Qwest, Comcast, and other broadband providers…even as these providers lose business from their packaged content subscriptions.

Fortunately these same changes will open up new business venture opportunities and entire new industries. I, for one, cannot wait to see what’s on TV for the next 20 years!