To those who had only dreamed and imagined the transmission of visual images it would be kinda’ hard to believe, but television has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1927 by Philo Farnsworth, an American inventor. Ever since that time, television has been largely responsible for the way society and cultures around us have been shaped. Particularly, in it’s influence of commerce and the creation of the highly lucrative film industry, an industry that, in history, has been key to the political and economic stability or instability of nations all over the globe. Through television, the age of industry skyrocketed, reaching millions of target audiences while being able to influence their opinions and thoughts. The hope of unity in one heart, or the desire to derive profit in another or the hate of an entire race in another, has spread across airwaves to infect millions of it’s viewers and in doing so, broke or shaped nations in a matter of mere minutes. That is how far television has come, and undoubtedly how powerful it has become.
The days of this age-old giant, however, are numbered. The face of Television today is slowly and steadily changing as opinions, technology and innovation begin to work against it. It is, however, a battle all too familiar to it as it has, over the century, fought and won skirmishes with other threats in scores. xfinitymobile.com/activate This time, unfortunately, Goliath has his task cut out for him. Just as is fitting the story of David and Goliath, the internet arrived on the scene in humble stature. Never did the big TV players ever think the internet would evolve and grow to the level at which it stands today, but it has. And especially where it counts! Money.
The internet has now grown into a formidable force on it’s way to toppling the Giant and no clearer did this become to many then when the biggest economic downturn of our lifetimes hit the world. Every imaginable industry in the world began to fall, and fall hard, including industries that entire nations depended upon for sustenance…all fell, all but one. The internet. It might come as a shock to you to learn this, but during this time, the big players on the internet began posting earnings!!! And that, in spadefuls! The likes of Google, facebook, apple and other internet strong men were in their elements during a crisis which sent shudders down the spines of every other business, including network executives and businesses that revolved around Television. Why? Because only then did it become clear that power was being shifted into the hands of the internet away from television!
What the internet was offering users was unique, unbiased, and distraction-free. In fact, it is this formula that will ultimately render TV useless and put your family and business in a better position, unless TV gets smart. But if you ask me, it’s now far too late for TV. The internet gives users a platform of interactivity and search without the confines of a time schedule. It offers businesses free or cheap ‘extreme target specific’ (that’s my own term by the way) advertising space. I wouldn’t be distracted by a shoe ad if i came to a website to look for shoes! But throw that same ad in my face in the middle of Brad Pitt working up a sweat in a desert fistfight with a giant and I’ll get mad! But that’s just me…or is it? This was precisely the revenue earned by internet players during the crisis, extreme target specific advertisements.
Far more important than this, it’s it’s ability to bring value to users. The internet levels the playing field out between consumers and businesses. On it, you are armed with vital information on products and services that Television does not show you within a 20 second primetime advert slot. What you now have is the ability to discern bad practices, ridiculous pricing and even find better alternatives! And for a business, the price to pay for extremely target specific ad space at more than a million fractions of the TV cost! What a deal!
Taking things even further, the internet has now become the primary source of unfiltrated information. The recent events in nations that have attempts at suppression of free speech and crackdowns on media have been thwarted through social networking sites like Facebook. In Philippines, it was the only means of communication to aid organisations and the rest of the world when great calamity hit it’s nation.