| Author |
Message |
    
Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
170
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 09:36 am: |   |
It is amazing what you find when you read the news:
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?
Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.
The pending patent, published on March 30, says the feature would be implemented on a program-by-program basis. Devices that could carry the technology would be a television or a set-top-box.
Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers and suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee.
On Wednesday, company officials issued a statement that noted the technology also enables the opposite: allowing viewers to watch television without advertising. The intention was never to force viewers to watch ads against their will, the company said of the technology.
"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads," the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services."
The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products.
Philips wanted to provide the technology and seek the patent only as part of the broader developments within the industry, Philips spokesman Andre Manning said.
I would burn my TV (or maybe just the subscription).
Kevin |
Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
171
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 09:38 am: | |
I just thought of this as well, I wonder if the tech could be tweaked to force us to watch Presidential addresses/debates. The tv would definately burn.
Kevin |
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2337
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 09:52 am: | |
In the news today - NBC and affliates are to produce video for the internet -- catch -- a fee to the user.
With all the big bucks paid for ads, are media outlets getting too greedy?
When my contract runs out - in a few months - I'm going to end Dish network and go strickly back to the airwaves. I once lived with having only two channels, I think I can do it again.
I stopped going to movies - not just because of ticket prices and robbery at the concession stand but because of being forced to watch COMMERCIALS!!!
One nice thing about DVD is the ability to go to the menu and select PLAY without watching the trailers and ads. If a company wants to advertize in a movie, do it the old fashion way, have the actor drink a coke or whatever.
CNN pipeline - great idea but not at $2.95 a month
Espn -- same story.
GGGGrrrrrrrrrrr!!
If I have to watch commercials I won't be paying for the service.
http://www.perrycomer.com
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Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1578
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 12:56 pm: | |
Read a book instead. Life is a lot simpler (and maybe just a little less agravating) without television.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
172
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 05:26 pm: | |
Just wait, I bet in a few years they are going to start putting ads in books just like Magazines.
Kevin |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1583
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 10:38 pm: | |
I imagine it would take the form of product placement. An out-and-out ad would be too blatant.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2639
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 11:34 pm: | |
actually, in the backs of some books already, there are a few pages dedicated to other books for sale by the same publisher or author of the same or like genres, sort of if you liked this one, you may also like this other one or here is what we have to offer type stuff. It is a form of advertising, that is not so offensive, but it is already starting and may grow soon to encompass other things of similar nature. Admittedly it is not a "commercial" but it could become almost like them.
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
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Tom Elkins
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
425
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 04:55 am: | |
I remember when Readers Digest didn't have ads (yeah...I'm older than dirt). When the company decided to include them many of us predicted its imminent demise.
Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins |
Bill Nelson
Unity Member
Post Number:
1907
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 10:25 am: | |
The next hot market for ads is what they have dubbed "the Third Screen"
That's right, your cell phone. Think how many millions of eye balls fall on the little screens every day. Pop ups will be with us soon! |
Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
174
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:46 am: | |
Laser Billboards on the moon. That's where I draw the line. I can just picture the scene now:
Walking hand in hand, my wife and I are enjoying a weekend get away from the kids. The waves are crashing on the night beach. It is the very picture of romance, and look, according to the moon we can save 2 bucks on Huggies if we mention the moon.
Kevin |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3252
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 02:58 pm: | |
With TiVo, couldn't you just fast-forward through the commercials?
And if they forced you to play the commercial at normal speed, couldn't you just walk out of the room, like we do now?
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
MWWB |
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2341
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 03:16 pm: | |
With the DVR unit I have, I record whatever show I want to watch then fast-forward the commercials. Saves a lot of time -- a three hour basketball game is reduced to 45 minutes.
A one hour show is 45 minutes.
Speaking of commercials. We saw THE MATADOR last night and it was so strange, the movie would go to black screen like a commerical was about to start but it was only the way the director chose to do scene changes.
Imagine a book - with the new nano-paper - between chapters and scenes it plays a laxative commercial in color and sound!!
http://www.perrycomer.com
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Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1591
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 24, 2006 - 11:52 pm: | |
Being the drug of the masses, TV has little choice but to reduce itself to the lowest common denominator. Sitcoms are to literature what a prison tattoo is to art. For the most part, it is grafitti attempting to pass for a well-turned phrase. The images and sound bytes bypass the cerebrum. Thus, it appeals to the brain dead. Why we, as purveyors of print, are fascinated by the tube used to be a mystery to me. However, I think I've finally figured it out. It's like penis envy in that television is so much bigger than books. However, I'm from the old school. It's not what you've got, but how you use it. Books satisfy whereas television leaves you thirsting for more.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Sheila Schmidt
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
774
Registered: 05-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 07:17 am: | |
Speaking of penis envy, I had to explain to my children this morning what 'cock' was. The morning dew is just too tempting to resist for writing little sayings on the cars on our way to school (embarrassingly, I always kick it off), and while I was writing 'poo-poo head' on my husband's truck, my daughter (6) wrote 'cockhead' on the back of mine. In her defense, she had no idea what 'cock' was, and was attempting to write 'coo-coo head'. Interesting discussion followed, since she didn't even know what a penis was until a visual description took place. My son was the first to get it (10) and was appropriately mortified for the entire ride to school. And no, he didn't provide the visual, I just verbally used him as an example until he was about ready to crawl under the seat. Actually, it was pretty funny! hahahaha |
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2342
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 07:33 am: | |
can you say "Chick-lit"?
Not the chewing gum candy but a genre of ah-hem literature.
Pulp fiction etc. etc.
Television is candy for the mind - someone said it.
Boob-tube is apt.
Any wonder we have a society of non-thinkers? Everything is reduced to sound-bites, candy, visual images that flash so fast the brain has no time to process.
what I'm getting at is what Fred is saying. Mind's are on hold waiting for someone to pick-up but there is no one there. The average adult can't have a conversation longer than five minutes about any topic without bringing up what they saw on TV, the weather or some realative's illness. think about it, a five minute conversation without one of the afore mentioned topics -- oh I forgot NASCAR! Geez - seen me around in circles for four hours at 180 and I'll not be able to converse either.
Ever have a conversation with a teenager whose world is MTV and Empire Earth online gaming? "man, like you know, it really sucked that F**K, you know, well crap I forgot what the F**K I was going to like say you know? So whazup with that?"
http://www.perrycomer.com
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Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
176
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 09:24 am: | |
Any wonder we have a society of non-thinkers?
I don't think you can blame TV as whole for that, the same tv that brings you MTV, SpongeBob and a David Spade talk show also has the Learning Channel, Discover, the History Channel, and at least a dozen other channels that can educate as well as entertain. 90% of what we watch in our house is an educational channel. Of course I do know people that 90% of what they watch are cartoons. I suspect the reason the average adult can't carry on a conversation is because the average adult don't know how to talk worth a spit. Seriously, most humans know their world, whether it is golfing, space, NASCAR, books, camping, the evils of government or TV and to try to have a conversation with them about something outside their world they have to resort to sound-bites. I know I'm that way. But if it wasn't the TV it would be the Radio, the internet, or newspaper.
Kevin |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1596
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 04:34 pm: | |
Is your wallet fat? Do you live in Beverly Hills? When was the last time you took your wife to a movie premiere in a limousine? Yes, you're a writer, but you don't write for the television networks. Consequently, you are not a guild member nor do you receive residuals or any of the other perks that television writers get.
It doesn't seem fair, does it? But that's the way it is. And you know darn well it is never going to change unless you do something to make it change. The first step is to get off that couch and turn the television off. I could care less if you are watching the Discovery channel, you still aren't setting a good example. You want to know about history? Read a book! And tell your children to do likewise. A single book goes into more detail than you could get from a dozen episodes on TV. There is nothing more pathetic than a man who doesn't know which side his bread is buttered on.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3257
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 04:56 pm: | |
"Speaking of penis envy, I had to explain to my children this morning what 'cock' was."
A rooster...
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
MWWB |
Kevin R. Paglia
Wandering Member
Post Number:
177
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 06:04 pm: | |
"Is your wallet fat? Do you live in Beverly Hills? When was the last time you took your wife to a movie premiere in a limousine? Yes, you're a writer, but you don't write for the television networks. Consequently, you are not a guild member nor do you receive residuals or any of the other perks that television writers get.
It doesn't seem fair, does it? But that's the way it is. And you know darn well it is never going to change unless you do something to make it change."
Frankly, who cares? I don't get residuals from any publisher of any book I would read either so your arguement is faulty. Don't watch tv because they don't pay you? What publisher pays you to read their books? I don't get residuals from listening to the radio either, I guess I should burn that too.
"There is nothing more pathetic than a man who doesn't know which side his bread is buttered on."
Based on this comment Fred I know what kind of man you are so let's not talk anymore.
Kevin |
Sheila Schmidt
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
775
Registered: 05-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 09:04 pm: | |
Driving through the elementary school drop-off line with 'roosterhead' written on the back of my truck wouldn't have bothered me. (actually, I might just use that on the guy's truck tomorrow...heh). However, it occurred to even me that the anal-retentive lard asses they've got out there blowing whistles and frantically waving you on (like you have to have someone telling you which way to go in a one-way lane you've driven through for 5 years, or *God forbid* you actually slow down to a stop before shoving your kids out of the car, resulting in having the whistle blown at you for taking too much time) might not appreciate the droll humor in having 'cockhead' in big letters scrawled on a tailgate in plain view for all impressionable minds to see. However, now that I've gone through that diatribe, the thought has crossed my mind it might be just what the doctor ordered... oh my.
hahaha |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1597
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 11:57 pm: | |
"Frankly, who cares?"
Yes, I suspected that might be the problem.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1598
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 01:01 am: | |
"Fred I know what kind of man you are"
Yes, I'm overly pushy. I've got more than my share of bad qualities. However, I do have one redeeming trait in that I care very much what happens to you and the other people who frequent this board.
It bothers me that in the overall scheme of things we are regarded as a tick on the udder of the fat, three stomached publishing industry cash cow. What little chump change we make is grudgingly given.
Too often we say that we don't care. Why? Because it hurts to care. For some, TV or alcohol makes the pain go away temporarily. Yet it always comes back. It will keep coming back until we do something about it.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Joyce Scarbrough
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
859
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 07:04 am: | |
I understand your disdain for TV, Fred, and I agree with you for the most part. If I had to choose between no books or no TV, books would win with no contest, but I don't have to choose. I watch only the news and a total of 3 television shows a week, and I still manage to read and write every single day.
As bad as most of TV is, it hasn't had any negative effects on my kids either, and they do watch it. They also read voraciously, and they're all intellectually gifted. My 16-year-old daughter listens to Wagner, the Beatles, They Might Be Giants, and she also listens to NPR. She watches The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. She carries a tote bag of books with her at all times, and the one about John Laurens is usually in her hands. However, she does love role-playing games like Final Fantasy and Silent Hill, but I don't sweat it because she's such an amazing child. My other two kids are just as exceptional in their own ways.
My point is that intelligent people needn't fear TV's influence. Nothing influences me unless I let it.
Toyce
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Second edition now available from Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Coming soon . . .
Different Roads
For first loves that get lost, hearts that call to each other, and the roads that lead us to the ones for whom we are meant.
Read the first chapter at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Pour yourself a glass of bubbly and check out Champagne Books http://www.champagnebooks.com |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1601
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 01:47 pm: | |
Television may not be the Great Satan, but it is addicting. I live in an inner city neighborhood where families who sometimes can't afford to pay the rent spend upwards of $50 per month for cable television with all the bells and whistles. In neighborhoods like mine, it has become both a babysitter and a status symbol - very much to the detriment of education.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3261
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 02:56 pm: | |
I don't even have time to watch TV anymore.
Granted, I don't really have time to write either.........
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
MWWB |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1623
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 01:45 pm: | |
It's a question of whether you regard yourself as a producer or a consumer. Few truly productive people have time for television, while an increasing number of of those who do nothing but consume have time for little else. Some good news for the avid television addicts among us: it will soon be possible to watch television on your cellphone while driving.
http://www.fdungan.com/bushwhacked.htm |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
4262
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 09:58 am: | |
I've reached the age where just about every technological invention seems like the Great Satan to me. Consider our computers. What shape is the monitor? Did they make it like a TV screen on purpose? And good grief, without my even knowing it my windows updates evidently updated my computer's capability for displaying videos, TV shows, and movie trailers. Until I blocked whatever program allowed home cam shots, I was getting instant viedo messages from some naked guy in Beirut or Kabul. So our computers are just another from of TV distraction too at times.
Laurel Johnson
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Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3276
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 12:59 pm: | |
"Did they make it like a TV screen on purpose?"
Yes, because the way in which the internal projection mechanism works was the same on both, at least back in the days when they would fire electronic particles at the screen...
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
MWWB |
Bill Nelson
Unity Member
Post Number:
1941
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 01:59 pm: | |
"...was getting instant video messages from some naked guy in Beirut or Kabul."
Laurel,
That was Steve Lodge in California. You know how those people are!
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