Coming to a television near you: Internet on TV

Yes. We know. Web searching on TV has been around for a while. But not exactly in a way users have wanted it. Some call it the last 10 feet, bridging the internet from the computer to your TV in the living room.

The question has always been, how to get the internet to your TV in an easy, friendly and unobtrusive way. There have been huge boxes made just for that purpose, along with long download times, and some computers have the connectivity already in place, if you have to proper cables and your TV has the proper connection. However these all proved too cumbersome for the average TV watcher and were received by the viewing audience in a less than enthusiastic manner.


You see, sitting in front of a computer is an interactive activity, usually sitting upright in an office chair, you click-clack-and cruise, and you find interesting things to read, view and interact with. Watching TV is a passive activity; you sit in a soft couch or chair, with small remote in hand, and barely have to move except for a few fingers on the remote to switch channels or pause the TiVo for a bathroom break. People dont want to have to think too much when watching TV; they certainly dont want to have to search around the internet for a show to watch, then wait for it to be downloaded. But, they DO want to have more control than the fair offered by programmers, to watch WHAT they want WHEN they want it. So, manufacturers have been searching for a solution. Enter Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung is working out that last 10-feet solution with new TVs that will have internet connections on more than a dozen TVs and Blu-ray players. You will be able to download your Netflick or Blockbuster movie directly to your TV, instead of trying to figure how to get it to your TV from your computer after youve downloaded it or waiting for it to arrive via snail-mail.
Read more of this story from the New York Times here, and we give credit to Shelly Palmer, of Media Bytes with Shelly Palmer for alerting us to this story.

Jennifer O'Rourke
Jennifer O'Rourke
Jennifer O’Rourke is an Emmy award-winning videographer & editor.

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