Why TV Lost

March 4, 2009 at 12:05 am PT

About 20 years ago people noticed computers and TV were on a collision course and started to speculate about what they’d produce when they converged. We now know the answer: computers. It’s clear now that even by using the word “convergence” we were giving TV too much credit. This won’t be convergence so much as replacement. People may still watch things they call “TV shows,” but they’ll watch them mostly on computers.

What decided the contest for computers? Four forces, three of which one could have predicted, and one that would have been harder to.

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Tagged with: computers, convergence, Paul graham, paulgraham.com, television, TV, TV shows

comments so far. Add yours.

  • morgan warstler

    Paul’s point so small it is hardly worth making. Ultimately he’s left only talking about TV, like it is a broadcast network (NBC). He loses all of this:

    - Big TV content wins.
    - Big TV delivery (cable) wins.
    - Big TV advertising wins.

    http://www.morganwarstler.com/.....doesnt-get

  • http://www.thenetworkgarden.com Mark Sigal

    Personally, I think that Paul’s piece is dead on.

    It doesn’t necessarily mean that all big media companies are stupid or dinosaurs, just that their core anchors are disintegrating.

    That said, as the above commenter notes, distribution and advertising in the big media model are pretty potent (I worry more about the content defensibility).

    The counter to that is that someone will get the episodic web programming model right, and as services like justin.tv suggest, there is a realm of internet-powered live broadcasting that could establish new media beachheads, ala CNN/MTV/ESPN for the Broadband Era, something I blogged about in:

    Flip Video News Network (a RIGHT HERE NOW service)
    http://thenetworkgarden.com/we.....twork.html

    Check it out if interested.

    Mark

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