Slashdot Mirror
Internet Usage Catches Up With Television In US
Hugh Pickens writes "Joshua Brustein writes that, according to a survey by Forrester Research, the amount of time people spend on the Internet has increased 121 percent over the last five years with Americans now spending as much time using the Internet as they are watching television. And while people younger than 30 years old have spent more time with the Internet than television for several years, Forrester's survey shows that this is the first year that people in older age groups are doing so as well. Forrester's survey also shows a significant increase in the number of people using the Internet to watch streaming video with 33 percent of adults surveyed this year saying they use the Internet to watch video, up from 18 percent in 2007. However the rise of the Internet is not necessarily leading to a drop in television consumption because the Internet, and particularly the mobile Internet, simply creates more opportunities for people to consume media, says analyst Jacqueline Anderson with younger viewers increasingly comfortable with the Internet as the place to watch their television. 'For the younger population, the TV is still important, but where they're getting that content from is changing,' says Anderson. 'For the generations that are coming up, that's where we're going to see the cut.'"
I am one of the people that does not even watch TV. With stuff like Hulu and even Netflix, there is no need. You can watch all of your shows online. Sometimes for free like with Hulu, and sometimes for a small fee like Netflix. Even networks themselves have been catching on and playing episodes of their own shows online. That is how I caught the first episode of Walking Dead is because AMC had it streaming on their website. Some of us have no need for a TV outside of video games. I can catch any news I want through websites that are known to have good sources, television shows through streaming services, and even movies through streaming services. Depending on the movie, I will sometimes just catch a deal on a dvd or blu-ray from whatever website is running the deal. Either way, for many of us, there is no reason to even stare at a TV unless a pc is hooked through to it, we are playing a game, or popping a movie in.
The world is how you make it
Thats because the internet is something that I can control. Broadcast TV is simply not for me.
I think 2010 has obviously been the break away year for Internet appliances like Bluray players with Youtube/Pandora/SocialFoobar built in. If the Internet is ever going to break, it might happen this holiday season with all the extra streaming.
Maybe it IS time to get rid of free, antenna-based TV (channels 2-51) and replace it with some kind of free wireless internet service. My only fear is that it won't really be free and end-up costing me ~$25/month.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
...to control Internet is now a top priority.
Somewhat surprising it took until now... with our jobs often centered around working on the internet (as is the case for quite a many people even outside IT)... then of course staying in touch via personal email, facebook, etc. I could understand that the elderly had further to go, but in reality managing those things is pretty consuming (even without online gaming, etc).
As mentioned by others, I consume 99% of my television via Netflix. Usually once a series has finished I'll watch the whole thing in a week or two. I never did like the lag time between shows.
1940's person has dinner with the radio playing Fibber McGee, Jack Benny or Fred Allen
1970's person has TV dinner, Pizza, etc., while watching Television
2000's person has dinner at their personal computer.
2010's person has dinner at their mobile laptop/device/tablet
FWIW, I stopped watching TV actively about 10 years ago (excepting World Cups) The internet is far more entertaining that TV.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Is of course how long television is going to be around.
From my perspective, television offers no real benefit over the internet for transferring video. The same can probably be said about VOIP vs. POTS (aside from reliability I guess).
There are of course two obstacles:
Mass adoption (not _everyone_ has high speed internet yet.. ).
And the big one.. the “big guys” don’t want it to happen.
I envision a day when everyone has one line (and I hope to the fire cactus that it’s fiber) coming to their home.. from which their phone, tv, internet, and whatever else come through. But I envision being dead before it happens .. or at least close.
Data: I think he means television, sir. ... That particular form of entertainment did not last much beyond the year Two Thousand Forty.
Technoli
Or is this just because we all keep getting older, the oldest are dying and the youngest are learning to use a computer?
It makes sense that Internet usage rivals TV watching since most of us are actually watching video (and often TV shows) via the Internet. But I find that I am watching more video overall ... DVR'd TV shows, Netflix on Roku, Hulu ... than I did a few years ago. All this competition has made it easier to find great stuff to watch. Last weekend, I read a book -- first time in I don't know how long ... and I used to be a book-a-week reader. TV has gotten better.
Julie
More people are using the Internet to watch TV, that's all.
I don't own a TV you insensitive clod!
http://www.acetonestudio.com
TV is irrelevant. It is a complete waste of time. I already know enough about soap and female deodorant products to last me a lifetime.
They blew it. This is a one way street. There It is really nice not having a cable bill!
I was wondering as I loaded this article "how many comments before I read 'I don't even watch TV anymore'". One. Exactly one.
I would love to see a poll (especially of Slashdotters) of how many Americans still use their dinner table for said activity. Or even if they actually have a dinner table. I suspect the rate of decline would match fairly well with the increases of US obesity.
it isn't a tough decision... 8.99 for netflix, or 60 bucks for 300 channels that might have 2 or 3 decent programs/movies on?
However, I do miss my local sports team playing, but... eh... its not work 50 bucks. Then again, I work for a big evil corp, so I get paid very little.
Most people I know watch tv and use the internet..at the same time. shocking!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I fairly recently got a bundle from my local internet/phone/cable provider only to find out that even with 80 channels there's still nothing worth watching. So now I guess I can say there's 4294.97 million
ip addresses and its all still crap.
I personally much prefer getting drawn into a compelling interactive story than having the story force fed to me, with no pause or rewind... esp if the story is interleaved with commercials. TV & Cinema just seem so antiquated.
I enjoy socially interacting with friends, family, and strangers online in games or forums, IRC, etc. more than I enjoy trying to get excited about someone else's sport-game, game-show, or stale "evening news" that I've already read online.
I stopped watching TV when I discovered the entertainment value of role-playing games, video games, playing sports, etc.
When it comes to entertainment ( Interactive > Passive ) to me.
I refuse to re-order my life around a TV Broadcast schedule. To those that recommend I use a DVR, to "catch" the shows I may be interested in are missing the point. I don't want to pay for an over-priced service that is full of commercials -- that's what ads are for folks, to help pay for the service!
Yes, I do know that ads exist online, they are largely unobtrusive (else I hit "back"), more valuable to advertisers (track-able views), and keep me from paying extra to have access to millions of sites (AKA Info Channels) than to access just a few hundred sites. With TV via cable & satellite subscription models I have to pay much more to be able to access more channels -- I'm only watching one at channel at a time... If satellite had a low base price that includes access to all available channels, like the Internet does, I might be interested.
Shows that are available on the Internet are available to me at the moment I decide to watch them. With a DVR, I have to know I want to watch something ahead of time, or pay an exorbitant fee just to receive a limited selection of 'TV on demand' (AKA Internet Delivered TV -- else it's not truly on-demand). Obligatory Car Analogy: I would rather drive a car than wait for a buss.
For me, a 30+ age category statistic, TV has been dead for many many years. Also Note: It's much cheaper to create your own "info channel" online than it is to start your own TV station.
lots of live sports are not on line
I watch some channels such as TCM or Retro but I've noticed a trend of them repeating movies (hey, "it's been some years since you've shown Looking For Love").
I've heard many local stations are not doing very well financially. They are able to cut corners using paid programming or reduce staff (i.e. ENG vans have only the cameraman. They used to have three people: talent, soundman, and cameraman). Though it seems every TV station allocation (FCC Part 73) is already allocated.
But I also ask could it be they, the Hollywood and Media moguls, are pricing themselves out of the market? Such as TVLand only shows Andy Griffith, Everyone Loves Raymond, Hot in Cleveland, repeat... There are many shows that are ***never*** shown such as "Highway Patrol" and "Ripcord." I saw some listings of photos of celebrities by a well-known photog (I'll keep that nameless for now to not stir up the pot) which his son is selling but asking $75 a print (not originals but reprints), geez lighten up. It is not like he will make enough to buy a house. It leaves high potential for counterfeiters to zip in and capture the market with "bandit" prints at only $5 or $10 each.
Continuing with my rant, there's lots of good stuff out there but "copyright owners" demand so much in royalties and licenses that only way for us commoners to see these works are from bandits that post in Youtube and Flickr. Then the "copyright owners" scream foul, run to congress demanding laws to shutdown "The Internet" or some other screwy legislation.
mfwright@batnet.com
"And while people younger than 30 years old have spent more time with the Internet than television for several years, Forrester's survey shows that this is the first year that people in older age groups are doing so as well."
Riiiight. Because those folks younger than 30 several years ago are still under 30 now. *rolls eyes*
TV is like radio. You allow others to decide what you see and hear so you don't have to decide anything. TV is for those times you are not engaged with life enough to play video games. Breaking it up into bite sized chunks and putting it on the net transforms it into something else.
BTW I think the "TV effect" explains how things like infomercials can continue to exist. You don't see stuff like that in other mediums. TV is special in some way...
I watch tv shows on the Internet.
Plough.(survey worker head explodes)
WhatMeWorry
I gave up my TV over 10 years ago and have since discovered that ...while TV and its relentless ad madness and vapid programming are soul-sucking ...with the Net you have the freedom to leap into the pit of hell from whatever part of
like an upside-down Kansas tornado,
the rim you choose, thereby retaining some measure of control of which rocks you
hit on your way to rock bottom.
Progress indeed.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
I'm thinking more and more that most of these leaks have less to with "national security" and more to with payback from McCrystal over his firing; he paid Manning to take the rap. For Manning's trouble, $50,000 is a nice number; that's what it would be worth to me.
Can my karma get any worse than bad? Let's find out!
SORRY, WRONG ARTICLE!
Can my karma get any worse than bad? Let's find out!
At least you have a token ring to use!
I only have a 1968 paper tap input device and 1/2 the pins don't work so I have to poke holes with my pen.
It's networked by an old fashion phone in suction cups modem system.
And I walk to work and back home up a hill both ways.
And do you know what? I like it!
Not in the US, but not that many weeks ago I had a door-to-door salesthing trying to sell me cable. My response was basically "Sorry, I have an internet connection." They had absolutely no response for that. Not even "If you buy cable package X, it generally costs less per month than the equivalent bandwidth would." Nuthin'.
Honestly, broadband internet is fairly ubiquitous and mostly cheap. And if I want to watch actual TV shows, I can watch them whenever I want. I get no ads before, after, or during. I get no station breaks or identification. I can pause, rewind, fast-forward, and take computer screenshots and audio and video clips as desired. I can store as many episodes locally as I care to buy disk space for, and plug in a NAS box or USB drive if I need more. I can watch twenty shows at once at any resolution I want, in overlapping or tiled windows. I can send clips, shots, or entire episodes to any or all of my friends in seconds using URLs, FTP, or torrent links. I can even quickly shove a bunch of episodes on a jump drive for people who don't want to fiddle around with the internet or waste bandwidth.
I can rename episode files to whatever I think sounds good, I can store them in whatever structure I feel happiest with. If I don't like the player app interface, I can go download a thousand others or even, in some cases, have one custom-built fairly quickly and cheaply.
I can watch shows at double speed to get through them faster, and half speed to catch things I might otherwise miss. I can alter the AV files as I see fit. And if I really feel like getting off my butt, I can stream all the ad-free shows, episodes, windows, and whatever to the big-screen TV and control it with everything from the TV remote to an iPhone.
Finally, given the limited amount of TV programs I consider watchable, and the limit on my monthly bandwidth, I can pretty much do all of the above for FREE.
Honestly, when these salesthings trudge up to my door, do they notice a sign out front of my house which says "dead format storage"?
Internet use has almost completely replaced television viewing for me. I used to spend 2 hours a night watching crap on telly, now I spend 2 hours a night posting crap on the internet. It's still crap but at least I'm participating. I never watch videos over the net though, I want to sit back, not sit up like you do at a PC.