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iTV Standard v1.1 Released

Posted by michael on from the convergence dept.

mbstone writes "The iTV Standards Initiative this week announced the release of version 1.1 of its proposed iTV Production Standards, an open XML-schema-based scheme for interactive TV. In other words your set-top box or PC TV card would use the proposed standard to let you click on something displayed on your TV screen, for example, to answer a poll or buy the product featured in a commercial."

5 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. It will fail. by Spazntwich · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Notice how easy it is to just change the channel when commercials come on? Now notice how few people actually change the channel when commercials come on.

    People watch TV to be totally passive. They don't WANT to interact with the news channel. They just want to sit there and absorb information.

  2. Bring on the Lawyers! by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So how long until ITV (The TV channel) in the UK decides to let their lawyers loose?

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  3. Of all the "comming in 2 years" vapor by sammyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Interactive Television is the granddaddy of vapor. It has been in the works in one form or another since long before the internet. Before computers probably. It just is never going to happen.

  4. Re:Who'll be running this thing? by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >> Do people dress/think/act more similarly in large cities than in smaller ones?

    I'd say its just the opposite. You go out to the small rural towns and everyone knows each other, looks and acts the same, and for the most part still shun ousiders to a degree.

    In an urban setting you have more of a clash of all different cultures and whatnot, and a general aura of diversity that lets people feel more comfortable doing what they want.

    The 'freak' with the goofy clothes, piercings, crazy music or whathaveyou looks out of place in the tiny towns, but noone bats an eye to see him in New York.

    I think the smaller towns are more under the thumbs of the big media corps. I couldnt name the characters on "friends" or know who sings the mallcore ballad to the latest comic book turned into a feature film. But I bet everyone in this suburban neighbourhood I live in can.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  5. Where's the demand for this? by mbrubeck · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Why are they wasting time and money on this? Are customers lining up to tell them, "We want interactive TV"? Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any real desire being addressed. I feel like I'm suddenly back in 1993, when technologists could throw around buzzwords like "interactive" and convince businesses to push new technology on their customers for no good reason.

    Why doesn't the TV industry spend more effort figuring out what people actually like, instead of trying to convince us we want something that we really don't?