I was sorting out the office today and throwing away a load of papers.
And I came across an article from 2001 – entitled Tomorrow's World. What will television schedules look like 10 years from now? Will we all be glued to our own niche channels? Will 'quality' programmes have disappeared for good? Will there still be watercooler TV?
Is this the future of television? Is this what a night in front of the box will look like in the year 2011? A gazillion channels to choose from, spawning a thousand more decisions every minute? Will there be not just one BBC channel covering the Olympics of 2012, but 48 - one for every sport going on at any given moment? Will giant computers hold every film and TV show you've ever heard of, retrievable in an instant down a phone line? Will a future prime minister submit to a cross between the 1940s radio fireside chat and Big Brother- esque, fly-on-the-wall coverage live from number 10? Will viewers decide what happens in our favourite soaps, altering the destiny of the Queen Vic and the Rovers Return with a click of the remote? And will our TVs merge with our computers, letting us communicate with our fellow viewers - even ordering that night's dinner online?
Even in 2001 David Liddiment a big broadcast player who recently sold All3Media for a few quid said all those years ago
When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, there was a wonderment about television - this box that brought all these extraordinary things into your home. Family life changed, and revolved around it. But the TV now is not a thing of wonder. It's become a default part of living, like the fridge: it's on and you don't watch it
And how right he was.
However, what is missing from the article - is the insight of open platforms, mobile, broadband, participation and engagement.
But you can see, if you read the whole thing the green shoots of jack's Beanstalk that now is part of our daily lives
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