TOMORROW'S VIEWING
As television matures is becoming more-and-more of an "on order" programming service for individual subscribers, elements of the system now in use as "channels" will be available for other uses. and one has to wonder how they may best be made useful for the public good - if that term is to keep it's intended meaning.
One such possibility comes to mind at once. Seek ways to use the channels to beef up our national home defense plans. That, in itself. could take multiple paths dealing with flying, for instance, the protection of our natural resources and utilities, overseeing large gatherings of people, and a host of other dangers which face us with enemies such as we have today.
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It ,my well be that some business-minded entrepreneur will find a way to make such channels commercially viable. We would be wise to set aside some of them for, let's, a viable tsunami alert system in certain, high-risk areas.
The devastation we are viewing this very morning from eleven different nations in the Indian Ocean area should be enough to alert us to the potential dangers we face in other seas. It now appears hat the list of dead will exceed one hundred thousand as reports "continue to filter through crippled communications systems".
When will all of this channel changing come about? No one knows ,for sure, but you can watch for specialized channels in present use to go through the usual pattern of consolidation with stronger units buying up the less prosperous ones; the strong buying out weaker units. This a sure sign that they are on the wane. We have,in many areas, specialized ourselves right of of business. In an area where you can count on a million or so people having kindred preferences and "all anything" stations still makes sense but many areas are at risk.
TV has weathered some rather violent changes since the early days of sardine can-sized screens; cameras the size of a delivery van, and jittery cartoon characters which could appear and disappear by mechanical magic of some strange sort.This change is a cosmetic one for TV, not a live-threatening change. TV,in its rapid growth, left behind armies of fine technicians who are now more or less hanging on and wondered where the whole thing is going. We must not make the mistake of thinking TV has gone as far as it is going. It is still, very much, in progress toward a goal far beyond our expectations.
What idea do you have ready to launch when this change in TV's structure may make it possible?
A.L.M. December 29, 2004 [c480wds]
