Re: FN-FORUM Where is the net going?

date posted 25th January 2001 14:44

...despite being a little fearful of causing another flash row, here goes
nothing ;-)

I think that the strength of the web is in giving people access to the
information they need in filtered, formatted and personalised ways. It's
about making things possible that never were possible before the invention
of the internet, or making things possible, cheaply, that were previously in
the hands of big organisations only.

I haven't ever thought it was going to get like TV which is one of the
reasons I don't much rate flash... (*tremble*) ;-)

Because sitting at a PC means that you must be active, not passive (like
when watching TV), I see it as a medium for hunting down information and
being in control of the interface and the pace at which you move through
information and the direction in which you move through the internet space.

Watching ads and animations on a PC just isn't relaxing like it is when you
watch TV. In fact, it can positively impede your progress towards where you
want to go.

I was sitting playing with my Sky Digital remote this morning, looking at
the interactive channels and it really struck me just how inefficient it is
in comparison with surfing the web. Granted I have satellite and not cable,
and it would be a quicker experience via cable because the uplink bandwidth
is better.... but to be honest, hunting down information via a TV just made
me want to scream. Plus what can I do with it once I've found what I'm
looking for - virtually nothing. There's no cut and paste between TV and PC.

So my point is, I think they're very different mediums, used for very
different purposes and I don't think that will change much. In the same way
that I listen to the radio at different times and for different reasons than
I watch the TV. They're complimentary mediums, but they're definitely not
going to converge in my opinion.

ruth arnold
spacehoppa.com


> I was wondering on people's view of where the net is going?
>
> Do people think it will become like TV, but on demand, or a completely
> diffrent medium.
>
> Or will it become a unifying medium pulling TV, Radio and books together
in
> on mass medium?
>
> Morgan