Shift of Control

During the average one hour show, there is 20 minutes of advertisements. Usually 4 or 5 short breaks in the show. Nobody’s ever complained about it. It’s just been accepted.

On the internet we fight advertisements with a passion. We don’t accept it. We don’t like pop-up; hence pop-up blockers. FireFox has the ability to block content from specified sites. Sites like http://www.doubleclick.com/us/ supply ads on sites like www.extremetech.com. What is the difference between computer/ the internet and the television?

The difference between computers and TV’s is the computer is interactive and the TV is not.

With a TV your choice is to change the channel or turn the TV off. Each choice is drastic. Since each station is likely to have the same or similar ads there is nothing really gained by changing stations.

On the computer viewing websites is a whole different ballgame. You can visit other sites that offer similar services without pop-ups (or whatever annoys you about the site). Loyalty on the internet is virtually non-existent.

Control has shifted from the content provider to the users/customers. At one point the only way to be heard was to approach a studio and try to impress them. You would then sign on with their label.

P2P is an example of this change. People are tired of being fed media. Authors have the choice of publishing eBooks via Amazon. Don’t like Amazon? Go to barnesandnobles.com. The choices are endless.