I have seen the future, and it's iTV...

I just realized something significant. It's one of those "tipping point" moments you get usually realized sometime far after they happen. I'm sitting here at my PC watching Star Trek New Voyages after having found several other fan-made Star Trek tv shows. Last night I was perusing fan-made movies using a game called The Movies from LionHead Studios.

A few days ago I was sent a link to a great short skit from SNL called Chronicles of Narnia Rap (and the West Coast Response). I realized tonight that instead of flipping channels on my TV, I'm finding great stuff to watch via the 'net - and in a way that's not simply too blurry or laggy to appreciate. And on top of that, if I had a bit of ambition and a decent camera/pc I could probably create something that a small audience out there might find funny and perhaps find worthy of downloading.

The tipping point? It's not about TV any more. Its not about passively watching video spoonfed to you via "channels". Instead its thousands of special interest short films, fanmade shows, and skits (or even full fledged movies). Instead of creating some mass-market high glitz tv show or movie, hundreds of small scale directors/production houses, etc. are creating the "new" tv. Not one that follows Nelson ratings but measures success in the hundreds of downloads. Imagine if you could find shows for any sort of obsure interest like "classic Star Trek" or What if they brought back Logan's Run, etc. etc. The other aspect is the Machinema meme that is growing fast. Imagine movies and tv series that change on a weekly basis based on user feedback, or what would the Oscars look like if a synthetic actor won "best actor"?

Anyway, it's just an observation that things have changed. I hardly watch tv any more, and even then it's Tivo. I wonder what's going to be the Tivo for iTV?