TV on the web on TV

So there's a new device that lets you watch any program from the web anytime on your TV. Only problem is, as NY Times tech columnist David Pogue points out, it doesn't work. From his review, it sounds similar to when your basic cable was suddenly enriched by a stray HBO signal. I remember my roommate and I hauling our TV upstairs to watch Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in "48 Hours" when that happened to us. The upstairs was getting a better signal, so we hoisted that 200 pound monster (this was the 80s, long before the luxury of lightweight flatscreens) and struggled up the stairs. For a day.

Anyway, Pogue's review of Orb TV sounds like the results we got back then. Only worse, because much is promised and less is delivered. Sometimes the picture freezes, sometimes it's fuzzy, and much of what is promised simply isn't there. Part of the reason is because the device tries to work around restrictions mandated by the networks and Hulu.

That's where Pogue mentions the key challenge: "TV sets are becoming computers, computers are becoming TV’s, the line is blurring, and the blocking of gadgets is looking more and more arbitrary . . . sit the TV executives and advertisers down and find a way to make Web shows pay for themselves, no matter what device they’re playing on."

Read Pogue's entire article here; it's fascinating. But its penultimate solution points out to me the similarities to the recording industry when the digital age hit there. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. The industry is changing, and trying to prohibit change from happening is at best a stalling tactic, and at worst, stupid and irritating to consumers. Change happens. Get onboard or get run over.