Will The Internet Be Like TV?
As I get more surprised every day by the new ways ads interrupt me while I browse the internet, I think more about the fate that, a wonderful invention like TV, suffered when it became merely an outlet of control, interruption and entertainment.
There is nothing wrong with entertainment, but to be honest, we need to stop and ponder in detail about what is offered on TV that is for the betterment and enlightenment of humanity.
Take for example the news, most stories are about negative things that are happening in the world. Are there good news, no doubt.
Yet, what pays more is unfortunately the bad news. And even worse, people gradually get used to the intrigue about the violence that is taking place. Specially if it is happening somewhere else.
I think that the vulnerable point is always (the temptation to have more) power and money because that is how things start to fade from being something genuine that brings value, into a mere vending machine that produces more money and of course gives more power and control.
Then the question as to the reasons to improve something change from “how do we improve things in order to give more value and benefit?” to something like “how do we make more money and take advantage of the fact that people are buying?”.
There must be a tipping point where the border line between giving good value about something, for example information, becomes not so clear and all of a sudden the fact that a lot of people is consuming that information, becomes the golden opportunity to sell.
I’ve seen this happen in many ways already on the internet. One of them for me was certain blogs that many years I would read almost every day because of the important new information I was getting.
Here is an example: TechCrunch. A few years ago I loved reading every day that blog because I was able to be up to date about what was happening in the technology field. Is there good information there today, yes. But how many ad areas do you find? Many!
You have to play the labyrinth as you try to stay focused to (possibly) make it to the end of the article or what ever the content is presented to you.
Here is the funny thing: those ads follow you to many other sites for several days until you decide to clear your cookies, install a browser plugin or just as plain and simple as: stop visiting that site!
To know what happens behind the scenes in less than a second when you visit a site with ads, there is “A visualization of the adtech ecosystem” called: Behind The Banner
Are there tools that allow us to avoid ads? Of course! - Feedly, Readability, Adblock Plus, etc. But that’s not the point.
Like computer viruses and antiviruses, they are: symbiotic.
I stopped watching TV about 10 years ago. I don’t even have a subscription for any dish network. I don’t miss it. I enjoy more my time reading, writing or doing anything else.
A while ago I read something that continues to be one of my favorite definitions of TV:
The TV is an invention that allows someone whom you would not invite to your house, to project anything he wants in your own living room.
It is my best hope that the internet does not become what the TV has become!
What is your hope?
