Will mobile content kill television?
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Photo courtesy of: See El Photo.
Mobile entertainment has reached a new level: TiVo access from your smartphone.
RIM and TiVo announced recently their partnership to produce customized TiVo services to the BlackBerry wireless platform.
Can you imagine TiVo for your phone? Well, not yet.
For now, the service is only providing mobile access to your video content- meaning you can research which shows are coming up or schedule recordings on the go. The partnership eventually hopes to develop software applications that will revolutionize mobile access to video content. Meaning? Your BlackBerry and your TiVo will become close friends, essentially communicating to one another, and turning your BlackBerry into your wireless TiVo remote.
This is the first of many steps that will eventually bring us mobile video-on-demand straight to our phones. If we can already link the two to set up recordings and program shows, doesn’t that only mean that we are getting closer streaming TiVo recordings straight to the BlackBerry?
If all goes off without a hitch, I see this as an instant success- the wireless remote portion of it at least. The idea of being able to amend your TV line-up on-the-go is perfect for TiVo customers. Just found out that the season premiere of House is on tonight? Worried about forgetting? No problem. Simply pick up your BlackBerry and schedule away. There really isn’t any arguing that this is a useful tool for BlackBerry and Tivo users. However, I’m more curious about the future of their partnership is going. If in fact they do eventually deliver TiVo programs straight to your smartphone, will people watch them?
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I think lounging on the couch and watching your favorite recorded show on an actual television is far superior to being crouched over a computer screen, and now, even a mobile phone. No computer or mobile can compare to the viewing experience of your own living room. But perhaps we are straying more and more from this idea?
In a recent national survey of over 2,000 teenagers from Harris Interactive and CTIA, a majority (52 percent) of teens agree that the cell phone has become the new form of entertainment. And when asked what should be included in the future generation of cell phones? One of the main additions teens wanted to see was a video player.
So does this mean we will be seeing more people glued to their tiny cell phone screens, headphones in and oblivious to the outside world?
I have to ask the question again: What ever happened to watching television on…well…an actual television? Would you watch an entire recorded program on your cell phone? And worse, have I become (gasp) outdated? Let us know where you stand.
