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TV For Nerds: Cable Science Network?
Ridgelift writes "Wired is covering The Cable Science Network. New York Times science writer Sandra Blakeslee puts it best: "I cover a lot of meetings and I can just see things unfolding, but we can't cover it all in print media, so it would be wonderful to have things like talks and plenary sessions accessible to the public. There are a lot of C-SPAN junkies, and I think there would be a similar interest (in science TV) from the American public." There's also a home page for the network here."
Seems like only two months ago we discussed the possibility.
Hopefully a channel like this can stick to what it was meant to show. Remember TLC? Didn't that used to stand for The Learning Channel? When did it become The Trading Spaces And Other Non Educational Crud Channel?
I can envision a Crossfire-type show about paranormal/pseudoscientific claims...
Maybe we can get James Randi and Uri Geller to cohost.
[/straight face]
24 hour coverage of DMCA, RIAA, MPAA and other tech rights issues - it would be cool to see news anchors talking about students being sued for holding down the shift key, keyboard manufacturers being sued for creating circumvention devices, and the rest of the fool's parade that is the entertainment industry these days. I think it would wake a lot of people up.
I mean, is this going to be like tech tv, which to me is more like a gadgets commercial. I find that appart from few shows, most science programs are sort of thin on content. I still love Nova somehow :) I just hope this is not going to be another of those channels whose documentaries are filled with goofy re-enactments bi third rate actors whose faces you rarely see ....
photoplankton
Isn't this going to be just like Discovery Science channel?
That's the only channel I watch when it comes to science, (maybe a little of the Discovery Wings). TLC and the other Science channels really don't show much.
BUT even the Discovery Science channel tends to show the same documentaries and episodes of shows. I think it needs some new material, but I still watch something new every other night at least.
One last thing..
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Several of us posted comments pointing out that there are at least three channels that do this now. They are all run by universities and show science lectures, in depth debates, etc. These other stations, though, do also run non-science content, but they are non-commercial so you get fairly true and balanced content.
I REALLY would like to see a channel that focuses on science for the intelligent. TLC used to be nice, then they went all foo foo, so they started the Discovery Science channel. They are now starting to run non science and non educational stuff, plus they are so beholden to ratings and the sponsors that they never run any lectures or shows that actually raise debate or cover controversial subjects.
I'll give this new channel a shot as soon as it comes on my sattellite lineup, but I don't have any high hopes. The first show I see like "The science behind Microsoft Windows XP", the channel comes out of my lineup. Keep the programming more like NASA TV, CSPAN, UCTV, FSTV, Research Channel, etc and you'll keep me as a viewer.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Might be worth a look if you get the channel. I have it on Dish Network. It appears that it may be broadcast live on the web as well (sadly, in Windows Media).
Madness takes its toll. Exact change please.
Have you guys considered getting a few hours air time per week? Might be good to have SlashTV or something...
Sorry, I don't see this happening.
... I'm not going to sign this.") to "Monster Garage" is tastefully presented and very captivating to watch.
Last I checked, there were about 4 or 5 different flavors of the discovery channel on my digital cable box. The big difference between CSPAN and Discovery is that CSPAN is mostly an open feed for anything that wants a voice in Washington, such as, recently, the Ultimate Warrior talking at length (rest assured, amazing signal-to-noise ratio) about rights and freedoms to a youth conference. I could be wrong, but there are not hundreds of professional scientists gathered in one area at a time to debate issues and topics on a 9-to-5 basis. A public set of channels simply wouldn't have any continuous content to feed off of, unlike CSPAN.
Discovery makes up for this with heavily-produced and well-funded edutainment. There is no CSPAN equivalent (24-hour cable networks aren't really "heavily produced"). The quality far outshines the quantity witnessed by CSPAN, though. Almost everything from TechTV's "Big Thinkers" featuring interviews with Michio Kaku and Lessig (reading a release form...~"'I waive all right to claims I make in this interview and the ability to collect royalites from TechTV and parent companies etc. etc.'
I like what we've got, thank you.
I got Dish Network two years ago and have been enjoying The Research Channel, UCTV, and UWTV. They've got university lectures nearly around the clock. Some of the lectures are toned down for a lay scientist (lots of annual faculty lectures), and others are broadcasts of actual university classes. CSN would be a welcome addition to these networks for me.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
Like a lot of others, I get the Internet via cable broadband and don't mind if a bit of my fees go to provide me with this channel as streaming video/audio. Material like this makes cable broadband worth getting.
The problem with Science on TV is they pretty much have to do it for the least common denominator, which is people who know a hell of a lot less about science than your average geek/nerd.
I don't have a T.V. and couldn't get PBS down here in Mexico anyway, so I downloaded the three part series that Nova did on String theory. While I found it mildly interesting, it was definitely dumbed down quite a bit. In fact, before I downloaded, I was thinking to myself, how could they possibly explain String theory to your average dolt. Well, they did, and because of that, I found maybe 10 minutes worth of new information in 3 hours of programming.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't and don't expect, a channel that's going to explain string theory in detail. I mean, how many people understand that level of math anyway? But I would have liked something a bit deeper.
But that is exactly my point. They can't do that because they won't get enough viewers. I've tried explaining some potential geometries of the universe to my mother, using diagrams and concepts as simple as I could figure. It went completely over her head. In fact, I think after about 30 seconds, she just stopped listening even though she looked like she was listening intently.
I thought I could explain it in a way that made sense to a lay person, but I just couldn't. And not just physics. In many topics in science, if you want to go to a depth where I'm going to learn a lot, you're not going to get a lot of viewers. Viewers = money, and folks, money is what runs TV networks. But hey, I'm curious to see what the programming is like, and I wish I could get it down here in Mexico.
Maybe subscribers could go online and vote for the programming they would like to see, or even submit program ideas. You could call it "TV for Nerds. Stuff that Matters."
I realize I'm a professor and very well educated, but so are you guys (after all, anyone using Linux is probably in the top 3 percentile for raw intelligence). That being said, I DON'T WATCH TV.
Hey, I am a research scientist too and I actually enjoy watching tv sometimes, especially when the programming contains useful information, whether it be about modern social relationships (E!), Hitler (THC), or coporate control of mass media (CNN).
Just because we are smart does not mean we are immune to entertainment. In fact, I have a hard time reading many scientific journals because I feel that they explicitly disregard the nature of my attentional system. The reason going to a lecture is so much better than reading is that it is a more natural and rich form of communication. The potential that film and video have for learning should not be ignored.
I agree. TechTV (channel #294 on Comcat Digital in San Francisco) is really an outstanding channel.
As you mentioned, "X-Play" (video game reviews), "Screen Savers" (kind of like the TV version of Slashdot), and "Unscrewed" (wacky tech stuff with sexual edge and a ridiculously hot co-host) are all great shows.
Other good shows are "Big Thinkers" (profiles on big people in tech), "Future Fighting Machines" (aircraft carriers, battlefield tech, etc.), and more. The occasional Robot Wars (generally minus the obnoxious audio) provides nice background video.
Overall, it's great and generally stimulating TV. That being said, this is different from the subject of this article, which is more of a CSPAN-esque channel, kind of like being at a tech conference without having to smell all the dirty nerds (you know who you are, just take a shower in the morning for crying out loud, you can still be smart for the rest of the day, and smell smart too).
I don't think you know how C-SPAN works. Congress had nothing to do with it. Brian Lamb decided that there should be a public affairs network, and he got it funded by the cable industry. Every cable/satellite system that carries it pays a certain amount per subscriber to C-SPAN every month. That's the ONLY funding they have.
BTW, it was a serious fight to get permission for them to broadcast the proceedings of the House, and it took 8 more years to convince the Senate to open up. And even then they insist that they have control of the cameras so C-SPAN can't show some senator picking his nose while somebody's speaking.