Here is the best explanation I have heard:
McCracken says most homes are consolidating around a two-hub model. A
PC (or Mac) with some multimedia features anchors the home office,
while a TV with some computerized gear–think TiVo, not desktop
computer–owns the living room. Tech marketers talk about the "2-foot interface"
of the PC versus the "10-foot interface" of the TV. When you use a
computer, you want to lean forward and engage with the thing, typing
and clicking and multitasking. When you watch Lost, you want
to sit back and put your feet up on the couch. My tech-savvy friends
who can afford anything they want set up a huge HDTV with TiVo, cable,
and DVD players–then sit in front of it with a laptop on their knees.
They use Google and AIM while watching TV, but they keep their 2-foot
and 10-foot gadgets separate.
Lean forward, lean back. They are two pretty different angles. Imagine if that distinction were to drive the development of entertainment media over the next century. Here is the full argument. By the way, when I lie in bed I find I have completely different thoughts depending on whether I am on my side or on my back. And I hate to read when I am leaning on my elbows.
Is it possible that there’s an eggs-in-a-basket thing going on here?
Consumer electronics are very reliable but they do break down occasionally.
I’ve had the computer go out or the tv/cable go on the fritz and, unsurprisingly, the deprivation of one usually leads to more substitution of the other.
I can imagine that for someone who doesn’t like reading, losing the all-in-one entertainer appliance would be devestating to their home entertainment needs.
Counter example:
FrontRow
Apple has a nice, simple 10 foot interface program for handling your digital entertainment needs that comes with every Mac and uses the Apple Remote. I predict that with a slight decline in the Mac Mini’s price, and decent PVR software Apple starts making serious forays into the living room
the more interesting issue (to me) is whether different body positions lead to different thinking. it seems plausible (evolutionarily, it might have made sense to have different parts of the brain more active if (e.g.) we’re upright and scanning the savanah for prey or lying down (in a tree?) and trying to rest while remaining sufficiently aware of possible predators).
Tyler – So glad to hear someone else voice those peculiar thoughts about body position/thought content. I find it more significant whether right side or left – right seems to bring out difficult-to-shut-down rational tracks (not good for finding sleep), and the left more vague visual impressions. Best dream content (remembered) on back. Blood flow? Pressure on head? I’d love to know.
I think the author of the Slate piece is off the mark here.
I have my computer connected to my TV for a couple of years now. I ve also set up a remote control (and a wireless)that control the pc from my couch.
Thanks to that arrangement, I download series and movies which I watch at my own space and time.
Also, there’s a grassroots movement for TV rebroadcast over the net. This movement mainly cater to all kinds of expats. Right now the speeds don’t support excellent TV quality, but they re getting there. Take a look at soapcast.org.
I watched the Worlc cup from ESPN’s 360 software on my TV and I am following international soccer the same way.
I think that once computer speeds reach a certain threshold, you will see that convergence. But at that time, you will have reached a point where all the entertainment industry will have to seriously think about piracy.
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