Blog #1

Raphael Moyeno
CCS 313

In her article, "TV's Next Season", Lynn Spigel makes the point that scholars are studying television in new ways due to the modernization of the consumer's viewing medium. She goes on to explain that television is now studied under "umbrella terms like new media studies and visual culture studies" (84) because television and the Internet are so bound together now. With sites like YouTube now available, anybody can create and upload videos that people all around the world can watch. In 10-15 years, I don't think there will even be a need for television sets in people's houses. Anything you can watch on TV today can also be found somewhere online, legally or not, and soon enough, the Internet is going to absorb television into it and they will become one and the same.

The Internet essentially offers everything the television does and more. My housemates and I decided not to bother getting cable because we'd be spending money on something that we can watch for free on our laptops. The Internet has truly revolutionized the way that we, the consumers, get our entertainment. YouTube is especially popular because it's like cable, but with far more options available at the consumer's disposal. By going on websites like YouTube and using apps like Netflix and HBO Go, anybody can watch anything they want whenever they want. There is no set schedule for shows on the Internet like there is with cable. There is really nothing that cable has that the Internet doesn't have as well.

Television has evolved throughout it's existence and will continue to evolve through different mediums. In the future, I see cable channels creating their own apps for laptops and mobile phones, like HBO did, in order to remain as relevant in people's lives as they can. Television now is the primitive version of the Internet, but in a few years, the Internet could very well be the primitive version of whatever technological advancement comes next. In conclusion, as our medium for viewing television advances, the way that we study it should advance as well. Nobody can predict exactly how much our technology will improve in the future, but I think it's safe to say that the Internet will soon completely overtake the television as a means of entertainment for us consumers.