Squeeze a family’s disposable income and they’ll indulge in “cocooning”. In other words, battening down the hatches, turning on the TV and tuning out. So far, so obvious. But, according to Sean Maloney (Intel Senior Vice President) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this could be a huge opportunity. After all, there’s a captive audience no longer being distracted by expensive outdoor pastimes. The only problem is getting them to hook their HD TVs up to the net. Indeed, Maloney talks about an ocean of flat panels that are ‘orphans’. Link them to the net and the possibilities are endless – from watching a Blue-ray movie whilst listening to a live director’s commentary to chatting about it in real time with other viewers and uploading user-generated content. Then there are the widgets that’ll soon be sitting in the corner of our everyday screens – probably streaming live Strictly Come Dancing updates. Isn’t it all rather intrusive though? Doesn’t TV = passive and PC = active? TV advertising works because we let our guard down and it seeps into our subconscious. Red Button is one thing but if you’re asking me to click at every opportunity I’m just going to get ‘interaction fatigue’. In these heady days of consumer power I’ll choose when I want to interact, not you Mr Advertiser. That said, the potential for bringing back a shared TV viewing experience is wonderful. Think of it as one global virtual sofa with thousands of Jim Royles!
