I have written a bit about the convergence of television and the Web on this blog. There are many plans for this to occur in single box, either through a television or a computer. However, people are not waiting to a Nielsen study that came out in 2010. It found that “In the last quarter of 2009, simultaneous use of the Internet while watching TV reached three and a half hours a month, up 35% from the previous quarter. Nearly 60% of TV viewers now use the Internet once a month while also watching TV.”
Mac Slocum at O’Reilly notes the “disconnect between television's lean-back experience and the web's lean-forward positioning.” He believes “a big reason why web and TV haven't yet converged in a broadly adopted super device is because it's uncomfortable -- physically and mentally -- to rock between push and pull. It's a heck of a lot easier to prop a notebook on your lap while the TV plays in the background.”
This is spot on. TV and the Web actually complement each other. I confess to be one of these multi-taskers. This is especially true as I watched sports events. I tend to go to my computer for Twitter or other tasks during commercials. When I look at Twitter I see that others are doing the same thing. I do not watch videos on my computer while I do work on it. I watch them on my TV. I would not want them on the same device unless it had multiple windows but even then I would prefer two devices.
Are you doing this multi-tasking with your computer and TV also? Do you agree that putting them on a single device might be dysfunctional?
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