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Broadband Usage Up, TV Usage Down

Posted by michael on from the only-25-hours-in-a-day dept.

jZnat writes "BBC Tech News reports that the increased usage of broadband internet in Europe is cutting into the viewing of television. This is mainly due to the decreased price of broadband in Europe and the usefulness of the internet. Is it possible that the usefulness of TV has decreased with the internet so expansive these days?"

6 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. well as for me by utopianfiat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I for one use the computer much more often for my media needs than I watch television. News in less than a second is far superior to having to wade through advertisements that you can't skip.

    --
    +5, Truth
    1. Re:well as for me by Caseyscrib · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Print media is much better than television, because it forces readers to think about what they just read. It empowers readers to go at their own pace... they can go back and reread something to get a clearer picture. With television, it's just jammed down your throat, and you are not given an opportunity to think about what you just absorbed. It's force-feeding you. In Jon Stewart's book, he mentions TV comming out which destroyed America. People became to concerned about appearances, and candidates no longer had to compete on ideas, just pleasing the crowd. When TV came out and chaanged the election, he sarcastically says something like, "It's thing, because everyone was becomming dangerously overimaginative listening to radio." With television, you longer need to think.

      I'm glad the media is losing its foothold. They've had their power long enough, and failed to do their job. The internet has empowered users to bypass the reporter, and get a direct source from somebody who publishes their story online. Democracy at its finest.

  2. TV Torrented by pseinstein · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Combining this with that story that Bittorrent accounts for 35% of internet usage and the most active torrent pupose seems to be downloading tv episodes. Maybe people are still watching and just not on TV itself.

  3. At least for us swedes ;) by lordsilence · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What we do less since we started using internet (according to a survey, source (in swedish): http://www.idg.se/ArticlePages/200412/03/200412031 65340_PFA/20041203165340_PFA.dbp.asp ) :
    - 34 % watch less TV.
    - 32 % spends less time reading magazines.
    - 31 % doesn't talk as often in telephone
    - 23 % spends less time reading books.
    - 19 % listens less to radio.

  4. Sometimes passive entertainment wanted by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Interesting
    a) Interactivity, b) Control, c) Adaptability.

    The qualities you mention could be summarized as active vs. passive entertainment. While the 'active participation' is one of *the* strengths of the 'net, it can also be a downside. It challenges people intellectually, and while I enjoy that, it can also be tiresome.

    When you have infinate choices to make, you need to think about what to choose, continuously. If there's only 20 channels to zap between, just hitting "next" on your remote requires 0 mental effort. Add the low content-vs.-crap ratio of TV, compared with interesting feed-your-brain stuff found on the net. Recently, internet connection to my home was out of order for over a week, and that made it extra noticable how hard it is to find quality content on TV these days.

    But sometimes, people just *want* to be passive, and soak in the experience without providing any input. That's why we have cinema's, and why TV still serves a purpose. Choosing between the two, I think I could easily do without TV, but would be very reluctant to give up internet access.

    Recent Submissions:
    Ask Slashdot: Do you still need a TV? - Rejected

  5. The internet has become my TiVo by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I don't watch television, except the very rare occasion when I want to catch some sporting event.

    There is good stuff on television, about 0.2% of it. But people on the internet are aware of this tiny sliver of quality, and make it very easy to get. Then I can watch it whenever I want, and without commercials.

    The best stuff on television has these elaborate story arcs, making it almost necessary to watch the episodes in the correct order. There are three alternatives for doing this. One is to become a TV slave, dropping whatever you're doing every week at a specific time to catch the airing of the episode. Otherwise, you can wait for the DVD release, which might take years. Or, you can rely on the generosity of the people on the internet and download the episodes from them in the proper order. The last option is by far the most convenient. With BitTorrent and eMule, you just declare what you want, and the shows download much faster than any reasonable person is able to watch them. Can anything compare to this sort of convenience? Well, TV people had better figure something out. In my life, TV programming has become irrelevant, and I have a feeling that more and more people will feel the same way.

    Ironically, I feel like this year, I'm in much better touch with what's going on in TV-land. I'm catching up with Six Feet Under, the new Battlestar Galactica, Drawn Together and the Daily Show, all stuff I wasn't watching last year. Funny thing is, last year I had cable. This year, I got rid of it and just hooked up my living room television to my bedroom computer, and set up a pretty slick way to control my computer from my living room with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Now the TV gets watched a whole lot more. How long will it be before many people have this sort of setup? Not long...