THE INTERNET PERSPECTIVE

For my entire life, I have been mesmerized by television - literally. I have always had the keen ability to waste gargantuan amounts of time with flicks of my thumbs and index fingers on a remote control. Days have turned to nights, and nights have turned to days... all with my eyes fixed on a glass square fast-flashing pictures at me. But that ability has morphed in recent months, with some positive and negative consequences. I will not doubt that at the height of my dedication to my advertising education, I did find watching television enthralling, but more so for the commercials. It was an odd time. These days, however, I actually do not own a television. Stop, go back and read that last sentence again, in case you missed it. Yep, that's right, there is no TV in my apartment.

When I moved out to school just under a year ago, I moved into an apartment with a small 13" TV, and I promptly unplugged it and put it up on a shelf. Sure, it came down and got connected a couple of times, especially as the primaries got underway, but it wasn't on much. A few months later I moved into a nicer, larger apartment, but one without a tube. I think for most people it might've been a negative, or maybe even a deal-breaker, but for me, it was actually a net plus. So where to I get my information? 'How do you stay connected to the outside world?' you may ask. And why is it a positive thing not to have television? Shall I list the ways...

First of all, selection. Though one cannot disagree that the use of internet sources for video and information are inherently less convenient than flipping a switch or pressing a button and having everything instantly pumped at your face, I have an exponentially larger selection of outlets to choose from to provide me with not just information, but the pseudo-informative, slanted, biased, one-sided, critiques and loaded questions that get passed as news these days. I mean, every single major news network broadcasts online, as do most local networks. I can actually go online and see what's on back home, see the national "news", and then go watch what they're talking about in Wichita, or Seattle or something.

Second of all, convenience. I can watch the news, opinion, and criticism when I want to watch them. A busy as I am these days, it's nice to know that I can take whatever time I have during the day, be it in the morning, night, or anywhere in between, and catch up on what I think is important.

Third of all, let's not forget a nifty feature of most internet sources. low cost.

And that brings up the biggest draw of the internet for me, not just choice, or convenience, or cost (even thought the cost one is hard to beat)...

Most important to me is quality. Among all the choices, and with that convenience I can narrow down the information I receive to the highest quality sources available anywhere.


Of course, internet media is not a flawless source of information, but it has grown by leaps and bounds, even in the last year I have been intently plugged in (not to mention the last 5). But it still faces its own challenges, which can turn off a few people in the process. For example...

Advertising. Knowing what I know, it's an unescapable paradigm to have to deal with these growing pains. But what surprises me most, is that with the enormous amounts of talent in this country (perhaps this is a gross and disgusting assumption I am making, and I need to revisit this in a future post), as well as the enormous potential for the trendsetting parties to strike it rich, I am surprised that there have not been more substantial departures in the internet space to make information and video delivery more impressive. Currently, video embeds from most major sources are all tied to archaic advertising schemes, and stupid proprietary video viewers. I think it's inane. It's a classic example of trying to marry an old style of doing business to a new technology. But I think this also might be able to get its own post, if it hasn't already been discussed in depth elsewhere. It's just an ongoing aspect of my current internet-centered information gathering.

Bias. One thing doesn't change, regardless of what you choose to gather your information - it's is still generally true that you seek out those outlets and providers that tend to reinforce your own perspectives or values. One negative aspect of internet information is that it doesn't often declare any conflicts of interests or bias. The caveat there is that neither does anyone else these days - major networks or newspapers included. On the other hand, what I like to personally do from time to time, is venture into the territory I would normally never venture, something that is a tad easier to do online (via a simple Google or YouTube search, as opposed to sifting through 400 channels and waiting for someone to say something... I mean sure I could always just turn on Fox News and that would probably do it, but they generally are more comical than anything else... again, fodder for a later date). And generally, after 10 or 15 minutes, I can be confident in what I am supposed to be watching or listening to, and why.

Choice. Yeah, I know I mentioned this one up above as a positive. But the grandeur of the internet does have the negative that there is a ton of crap, and you truly have to sift through some of it to get to the good choices to which I alluded earlier. And it can get frustrating and discouraging when purposefully misleading information is disseminated to clog up the more travelled internet channels. But, nothing is perfect, and in the end, after a relatively little amount of time in comparison to the amount of potential benefits, it's worth it.


On the internet, it's not hard to find the things that remind you what's important, especially when they're not interrupted by confusing double-talk, supposed inpartiality, and endless interruptions for inconsequential references to fabric softener or the military-industrial complex. And these things, being available at your request, and at relatively low cost, all make my internet-based information and news gathering a considerably more valuable experience than when I used to sit in front of the TV.

Does this mean the end for TV? HA! Fat chance. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-TV. I believe televisions are actually terrific for certain applications. For example, there is no arguing that watching movies (aka DVDs) is not much of an enjoyable experience at a computer as compared to a larger television (especially with a good sound system). And it's not like there aren't models of TV distribution that aren't attempting to push the envelope of classical thinking. Apple's AppleTV is one example. Through your marvelous broadband internet connection will allow you to take advantage of some of the aspects of major media, and YouTube, mostly cost-free (unless you start downloading movies, of course). And it does give you access to some non-TV media sources such as NPR, and international news sources, that unless you had a good satellite TV package, you'd probably look up on the internet anyway. But you're still limited in a lot of ways, including start-up cost. But if you have cash to burn, buy one, and let me know if it's a suitable alternative.

Otherwise, I'm sticking to my computer to get my information, and to hear people say things - some true, some not, some funny, and some not - that generally can't even be said on television. And in the meantime, I feel not only more connected, but generally less like a sucker. Hmmmmm, interesting.

Here's to clarity.
Cheers!