skip vision » media http://www.skipvision.com/blog Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:43:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 TV Widgets & the 2012 Olympics http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/27/tv-widgets-2012-olympics/ http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/27/tv-widgets-2012-olympics/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:15:34 +0000 David Potsiadlo http://skipvision.com/blog/?p=43 If you are anything like me, you probably experienced quite a few instances of sports bewilderment while watching the Beijing Olympics over the last few weeks.  Dozens of sports were showcased, many of which are entirely foreign to the average viewer.  As a result, I’d wager the following questions were pondered by millions:

  • “What’s the name of this sport, again?”
  • “How exactly do the rules/scoring work?”
  • “Is this a qualifying heat, or the final race?”
  • “Which team would the winner of this match go on to play?”
  • “Which star players on the court/field should I be keeping an eye on?”
  • “What other related events will this athlete be competing in?”

While a viewer could answer any of these questions by visiting websites like NBCOlympics.com or Wikipedia, this equates to lousy user experience.  Most viewers aren’t going to want to get off the couch.  Even those armed with a laptop have to take their eyes off the TV, pull up a browser, and wade through the website to find their obscure answer.  Ugh.

But there’s good news!  I would wager that by the 2012 Olympic games, viewers will be able to find answers to all of the questions above (and more) simply by using their TV’s remote control.  How?  By using TV widgets.

In the case of the Olympics, the ideal implementation of TV widgets would allow the viewer to use his/her remote to pull up instant information about the event they’re watching.  Depending on what the viewer wants to know, they would be able to navigate through some straightforward menus and find out anything they wanted to know (including answers to all questions above).

Of course, things aren’t at this level quite yet… but they’re coming.  As media futurist Gerd Leonhard recently wrote (Soon: Widgets on your TV), Samsung just announced their first series of TVs that will be connected to the internet.

On one hand, this means we’ll be able to access the internet through our TVs, which is well and good.  But taken a step further, I’m guessing widgets will be pumped out to give users info relavant to whatever show they’re watching (not just the Olympics!).  A drama or sitcom, for instance, might one day present the viewer with widgets that answer:

  • What show is this?  What is it about?
  • Who are the major characters?  what are the on-going plot-lines?
  • What happened in last week’s episode?
  • Can I watch this episode with some director’s commentary?

The possibilities are endless, indeed.  To bring this back to the Olympics, I’d say that the 2012 games are the first big opportunity for this technology to showcase its true potential.   At that time, we’ll be able to put the laptop down, stay on the sofa, and hang on to the remote.  For it may be the only tool we’ll need to find the answers we’re looking for.

In the meantime, check out Gerd Leonhard’s article on TV widgets:

]]> http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/27/tv-widgets-2012-olympics/feed/ 2 Get Yourself a Media Futurist! http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/24/get-yourself-a-media-futurist/ http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/24/get-yourself-a-media-futurist/#comments Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:55:38 +0000 David Potsiadlo http://skipvision.com/blog/?p=38 Remember when you were a kid and used to think about the future? If you were like me, visions of the future were full of hoverboards, flying cars, and shiny chrome everything. There was no doubt the future would be awesome, even if it seemed forever away.

Things seem quite different as an adult, especially one living in the early 21st century. The future no longer waits quietly over the horizon, but is instead standing at the doorstep. At times, peering ahead one or two decades seems somewhat unfathomable, as our lives change so much with each passing year. How to put it all into perspective?

The solution is simple: turn to a media futurist!

Particularly, I speak of media futurists Gerd Leonhard and Glen Hiemstra, the work of whom has left me recently fascinated. It isn’t that they talk about the things that will happen, but rather the things that are happening right now in the realm of media. That is, anything and everything pertaining to the web, music, video, technology, copyright, sharing and so forth.

Life in the information age will be quite fascinating, and it is great to have thinkers like Leonhard and Hiemstra working hard to help us make sense of it all. Curious to hear what they have to say? A great introduction to both Leonhard and Hiemstra can be found in the FutureTalks series of conversations. The pair share their ideas and thoughts on several different media-related topics, as listed below. I have included links to each conversation in both video or mp3 form.

Otherwise, the blogs of both Leonhard and Hiemstra are great places for regularly updated views and news. Do yourself a favor and check them out… you will not be disappointed!

The Future of Media (Hiemstra)
54 minutes | mp3 | video

The Future of Media (Leonhard)
53 minutes | mp3 | video

The Long Tail
11 minutes | mp3 | video

The Future of Communications
14 minutes | mp3 | video

The Future of Entertainment: Music and Media
12 minutes | mp3 | video

User Generated Content
13 minutes | mp3 | video

Commercial vs. Shared Culture
13 minutes | mp3 | video

The Future of Advertising
12 minutes | mp3 | video

Beyond Web 2.0
12 minutes | mp3 | video

Technology vs. Copyright
13 minutes | mp3 | video

Media Megatrends
12 minutes | mp3 | video

]]> http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/24/get-yourself-a-media-futurist/feed/ 3 Watching Online Video with your Nintendo Wii (Video) http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/14/online-video-with-nintendo-wii/ http://www.skipvision.com/blog/2008/08/14/online-video-with-nintendo-wii/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:10:13 +0000 David Potsiadlo http://skipvision.com/blog/?p=35 How to setup your Nintendo Wii to watch online video on your TV!  An overview and walkthrough, breaking down not only the steps required but also why this matters.

More coming soon.  For now, enjoy the video!

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