Here is an interesting debate from Stanford University on the convergence of the Web and Television. There are two people representing both sides. They first point out that television is both a medium and a transmission system. TV is used to refer to the screen that you watch, as well as what you see on that screen. The Web on the other hand is a system for transmitting bits, and is different from the device that receives those bits, the computer. It is not enough to say that you can see TV content on your computer as that is already the case. They point out that “For the two to truly converge the content that can be received by both devices should be the same.”
They go on to say: “First, computers and televisions must be able to be content interchangeable. That is, computers must be able to view and use television content, and televisions must be able to view and receieve Internet content. Second, people must be sufficiently interested in being able to view the same content on both device to make implementation of this interoperability commercially viable.”
I like the pro arguments better. They point out that the more difficult question is whether a television will be able to display web content. This convergence means that the television in the living room will no longer be just a television, but it will be an "information" appliance. Both sides admit that the technology issue are the minor ones and can be solved. It depends on whether people will be able to mentally converge these media. I think it will happen.
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