Speaking of ... PingRay's Issue 1:

THE "500 CHANNELS" JOKE

Remember “500 Channels?” If you were otherwise occupied in the late 20th Century…or, possibly, had only recently been born…you might have missed the proclamation by cable baron John Malone. He envisioned a glorious entertainment future, driven by soon-to-be-digital cable, in which the average household might receive not some dozens of channels, as was then prevalent, but AS… MANY… AS…500!

It seemed to us then…and is obvious now…that this was pretty much like someone who made telescopes proclaiming that, with telescopes, you could see that the Universe could have AS… MANY… AS…500…STARS!

It’s not only that the Net is already a far greater, more versatile delivery network for entertainment than cable ever was. With high-speed connections widespread, it is now the largest and most flexible entertainment network in the history of humankind, with zillions of entertainment offerings.

And it’s not only that it is the superset network, where interactivity is the norm, and media that is primarily linear, like cable, can be seen as a subset.

It’s that the whole notion of a channel…a fixed stream of branded material, feeding your house like a water pipe…is so…well…so 20th Century. Fixed channels are the triumph of branding over expression…but now, thanks to the Net, expression wins.  And human expression, inexpensively available worldwide, has as many offerings, as, say, an infinite Universe of stars.

But be careful what you wish for: so many stars, so little time. That's the real punchline of the "500 Channels" joke. Malone was way wrong about the number of media-based entertainment offerings, but, with such an infinity of choices, where does one begin to find the best and brightest? That's where PingRay comes in. (You were wondering when, right?) 

Comments

[kitsie]

is this for real?

[flashfive]

Yes, I'm sure it is.

[joslin]

Unfotunately, 500 channels is all too real.I have almost those many and have no idea what's on. Internet is so much better. And that's not a joke.

[Cindy]

Can barely handle the channels I've got - with TiVo I don't have to deal with what's on at the time. I can just watch what i've mined over night and while I'm at work. Allows me to satisfy my very embarrassing yen for court TV. What's wrong with me? Anyway, don't know how I'd make room for any more stuff. Definitely think there's more creative stuff on the Net than on TV, and now that Pingray can find it for me...

[Kathy]

Gotta love those bunnies... Can't wait to see future issues.

[kathy]

how quickly we forget what's truly important...if ever.

[Kathy]

Google Game is great - too bad I didn't score better!!