Though he last two entries have been primarily political, I originally intended my hunch-muttering to weave more pop culture into our thread here. Today I hope to get to that.
I thought about writing about Heath Ledger's passing since it really did affect a lot of people, including me, he was a beloved actor. However, I think I'll wait till the final results are in about the cause of death.
Instead, I want to talk today about TV going digital. Let me point out that we very well may be at the cusp of the major revolution in television broadcast. Now wait, even for those of you who are anti-TV. I am talking about the demise of TV as we know it.
Our parents watched as TV was brought forth into the world replacing radio as the major media experience. We all can look back and see the evolution from silent films, to color, to cable, to HD TV. For those of you who don't know (apparently those who don't are in the majority so don't feel out of it), Starting Feb. 18, 2009, full-power television stations in the U.S. will turn off their old-technology analog signals and broadcast only in a digital format.-- as per kansascity.com/news/consumer news
For those of you who already know about this skip down a paragraph.
So, it turns out that an FCC/congress team-up has passed into law that all TV will be beamed out to everybody on lasers rather than radio waves. Ok, probably not lasers, probably through wires or some new fangled thing not unlike digital cable companies use already. But lasers are next. Congress got together with the FCC to bump TV off the overcrowded air waves. Turns out fireman and 911 people are getting reruns of the Simpsons on their radio. For more go to http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=78530.
Here is the thing: on one hand, the suits are trying to mitigate for expected consumer outrage at turning on their TVs and getting nothing but static (can you imagine the hours of fiddling with wires and antennas all over the country); on the other hand, we have what could be a half of year of no new shows due to the wonderful writer's strike. I don't know about anyone else, but for me, this strike situation is reminiscent of the great baseball strike of '94. That year baseball died as the national sport. It was especially painful for me and my family as we were huge Expose fans-- they were set to win that year--cursed strike. But in any case, televised baseball lost out that year. American sports fans discovered the NBA. The point is, strikes don't work well in the entertainment world. UPS goes on strike and you don't get your dang packages. TV goes on strike, and you pick up a book or put in a movie.
Put together going to digital, with the writer's strike, with a new generation turning to their laptops for more youtube sort of entertainment, and you get what is going to be the death of TV as we know it. It's really the whole reason for the writer's strike in the first place. If I were them, I would fight tooth and nail. Their last contract was written back in 1988 when there was no such thing as DVDs, cell phones, or internet. Time to update, especially since what we are talking about here is less commercial money since broadcast television is going digital a year from now. I believe that regular shows on television are going the way of cassette tapes. Gone are the days when you have to wait until primetime to tune in to "your regularly scheduled program." As it is you can basically stream any of your favorite episodes through the television network's web site.
TVs, CDs, and probably even DVDs are going to be a big joke to our kids. Like we laugh about big cell phones and clunky records and tapes, our kids will laugh about having a physical hard copy of anything. Hold on to your hard copies though, they will be worth money some day...maybe.
The bottom line is that the next generation of serial programing entertainment will come to the masses through streaming internet. What does that mean for people who don't watch TV? Well it will be easier not to group around the household idol, but, be on guard, the idolatry is taking on new and more accessible form as internet can be streamed at work, home...anywhere if you have a new cell phone. It won't be as easy as unplugging the TV.
Of course this is coming from a guy writing his thoughts on a web log. For those of us who are already engaged into the so called new media, it is important to discuss and develop more intentionality, liturgical structure, and limits to the way we enter into this vast economy of information, entertainment, and communication. They are all weaving together into a tighter and tighter network that can consume hours and hours of time as American life becomes the stuff of futuristic sci-fi.
Time to go outside [closing laptop...
(Image credit Flickr user anthonyimages)
2 comments:
Hey Bro,
Looks like I'm you first commenter here and I'm honored. Good thoughts here. I think the thing that resonated with me the most in this post was your observation near the end that with the advent of the new media, escaping from the "household idol" now becomes even harder. Whereas before, one could turn off the TV (or computer or stereo) and get outside, now the TV (or the internet or the iPod) goes outside with you. So you can sit in the park or forest preserve and watch American Idol and check your e-mail, while ignoring the sights and sounds all around you. Yipee! There is no escape. Our lives are lived evermore in hyper-reality.
Also interesting to me in this regard is the way in which this lends itself to the further fragmenting and individualization of our lives and relationships. Back in the day, before mass media, people used to sit around and talk or get together and play music or what-have-you. Social life and entertainment were largely relational and interactive. Then came mass media and people would listen or watch together, still sharing the same physical space but all passively absorbed into the same program. There was still semblance of the old shared social space but without the social/relational dynamic. Now, with the new media, we are moving even further away from a shared social/relational space and dynamic.
Thoreau went out into the woods to get away from other people and even while there he still wanted to commune with the natural world around him. Now we just go into the next room, pull out our iPod, put our headphones on, and slip into our own little solipsistic cocoon of virtual existence.
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