I am thankful for my computer for many reasons: it allows to me to work at home, it helps me stay connected to family and friends, and in 2006 it helped preserve a piece of my sanity. For a few months this year we didn’t have cable, which meant my 2-year-old daughter was without her beloved “Wonder Pets,” “Wow! Wow! Wubbzy,” and her best friends, “The Backyardigans.”
At first she was a bit shell shocked that her daily routine was being altered (she gets to watch 30 minutes of TV in the morning and 30 minutes at night). But, I figured she would get over it and find some other project to pass the time. Unfortunately, I was wrong. She kicked and she screamed (okay, I’m exaggerating) she simply couldn’t understand why her friends had forsaken her. Then in a moment of motherly brilliance (that’s what I considered it anyway) I called upon my own dear friend: my computer.
Who needs a TV remote when you can point and click with a mouse… and viola: television by the gigabyte awaits you on the Internet. Thanks to the nickjr.com my daughter was able to watch uninterrupted episodes of her favorite shows on the Web. It’s considered television’s new frontier—programming migrating online—fabulous!
While our family didn’t get hip to notion until this year the trend actually began in late 2005 with ABC selling episodes of some of its shows through iTunes. By fall of 2006, the broadcast networks were making hundreds of hours available for free download. Some networks even went so far as to supplement their sites with original content: previews, highlights and other “Web exclusives.”
If you are a fan of Sci Fi then you know that they created “webisodes” of “Battlestar Galactica” as a “get-acquainted aid” prior to the start of the series’ new season. In a previous blog I detailed ABC’s introduction of a mid-afternoon “World News” edition tailored for the Web.
And that’s not all—2006 also marked the coming-of-age for interactive TV, or as some media analysts have been calling it: the YouTube Age. The video-sharing service instantly established itself as an archive of popular culture can’t-miss-moments. From stupid pet tricks to stupid human tricks, YouTube became the place to see memorable moments of 2006. What’s more, anything notable airing on TV was likely to be found uploaded to YouTube soon after it aired.
So thank you computer for giving my daughter a place to watch her furry friends and allowing me to maintain my sanity.
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