INTERACTIVITY AND ENHANCED TV: QUOTE OF THE WEEK :
"There will be no convergence. There will be no 500 channel future. There will be no US $3 trillion mother of all industries. There will be no virtual sex. Thre will be no infobahn. None of it-at least not the way you;ve been reading about it.
(Wired, "Backlash: The infobahn is a big fat joke." March 1994)

I.  [an error occurred while processing this directive]  Background

• 400 million TVs worldwide
• Cable TV in 67 million homes in the US
• 160 million internet users 800 million web pages worldwide
• 7.3 billion emails sent every day in the US
• Digital TV has been up for 2 years and is in 5 million homes.

II. Early interactive development

A. Since the early 80s, software tools emerging to digitally edit and manage visual media, audio and text. Helped pave the way for CD ROMS. (Macromind Director etc.)
B. Proliferation of educational multimedia: encyclopedias, plus self-help, history, sports, health.
C. hypercard based story structures.
D. Narrative CDROMS have not been lucrative compated to interactive video game sales.
1. Better to think of the book publishing model.

• (Samples screened: early Manhole, Mumia Abu Jamal, Myst, Truths and Fictions, two Apple educational promos.)

III. EARLY INTERACTIVITY ON TV

A. Via Vertical Blanking Interval and Phone lines
B. WebTv, Wink TV, Tivo, Replay, etc.

IV. Future-- all digital

A. NHK Hi-vision--early analog HD TV now supplanted by FCC approved digital standard.
B. Interactive platforms still not standardized "Compose once, play everywhere."

V. ENHANCED TV

A. non-linear viewing and communications medium.
1. links: banners, icons, words
2. controls: remote, wireless keyboards, PDAs? (sample screened: CPB demo tape)

VI. Concerns

• Who controls the distribution of the media?
• Can we effectively eliminate the commercials a la Tivo and Replay?
• Will the viewer be able to turn off enhancements and interactivity and sit back with their shows?
• How can stations insert local data enhancements into national programs?
• What will viewers expect in production values?

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