Lately, I’ve been starting my mornings with coffee (as always) and NPR’s online stream of Morning Edition. And I’ve been amazed about how much I look forward to the show. Since I last moved, my only media source at home has been the internet. As more and more media are adapted online, on-demand programming has changed the way I use—and view—media as a whole.
It’s not just audio. Obviously, print was the first and most natural medium to migrate to the web. But lately, video has been making a huge surge.
Once I tried out the streaming capabilities of Netflix, I’ve been watching some great TV and film online. While watching a movie has always been something you watch on your own schedule, being able to pick, choose and watch instantly from a whole library of movies and television is another experience entirely.
Instead of gawking at the screen and mindlessly flipping through the channels to see if something is on (or God forbid you’re one of those people who stare at the Preview channel, inevitably distracted from the listings by the show in the corner or by something going on in the room—so you have to go through the whole thing 3x!), I flip through titles, jacket covers, descriptions and ratings to find something to watch from the beginning as I choose.
Where cable TV had been a metaphorical jump into the stupid channel--sweeping me along helplessly until my own zombie druel startled me out of my couch-potato slumber--streaming on-demand content on the net is like consuming a nutritious brain snack. I’m not necessarily talking fruits and vegetables (like a book ... heard of it?), but we’re certainly not taking in those corporate-cable trans fats.
Back to NPR.
Now before you start hurling obscene phrases at me like “latte-drinking, Prius-driving liberal,” let me first say I don’t drink lattes or drive a Prius ... and there are many streaming radio broadcasts out there in cyberspace so pick and choose at your desire. But the point is, this is awesome! On-demand programming is efficient. It works with my day instead of forcing me to adapt my day to the programming I want to consume.
I love me some Morning Edition. Oh yeah.
Now, I have tried some streaming programming that just sucked. I paid like 20 bucks a month for the National Hockey League’s streaming video package. The service was just plain FAIL. Not only did they have some quirky, annoying blackout rules for games that were available locally on cable (but, um, they were delivering the same ads online), the quality just sucked. It was choppy and hard to watch. Hockey is a sport that has a smooth flow. The choppiness of the NHL broadcast was breaking up that flow literally making me queasy. I hope they fix it. But I don’t see myself being a customer again anytime soon.
Anyway, without further ado, here are 5 ways the web has changed the way I consume media:
1. I will never pay for a newspaper again
Yeah, mom still has her subscription. But don’t expect newspapers to stick around much longer. I feel bad for the writers, editors, press operators and everyone else who will lose their jobs. But why would I pay for a chunk of paper full of day-old news and ads that make my head explode?
2. TV works around MY schedule
I mentioned this above. Instead of having to get sucked in with the masses in a collective stupor, I can pick a show I want to watch when I want to watch it and be done with it. No more getting taken away show after accidental show. I have a plan. I’m sticking to it. I’m better for it.
3. I actually get to hear Morning Edition!
Yeah, I’m a dork and I love this show. I’m also not an early bird which means my head is still firmly attached to the pillow as the frou frou announcers welcome you go-getters into your morning. Thanks to the good folks at NPR, today’s stream is already available as I’m sugaring up my coffee.
4. I read news from all around the world
Like it or not, there is a certain bias to the American news media. No, conservative friends, I’m not just talking FOX News. Since just about every major newspaper is widely available in English online, I can read many takes on the world news and get a broader picture than what I’m getting from the controversy-averse U.S. outlets.
5. I can participate in my niche
Whatever your niche, there is a blog, Twitter follower, website, YouTube video or Wikipedia entry devoted to it. You have a live (albeit virtual) connection to a community you care about.
I mentioned I like to watch hockey. Down here in the American south--you guessed it--there aren’t a whole lot of hockey fans. But I’m still getting all I need. Rather than sticking like glue to SportsCenter waiting for their token two minutes of hockey coverage, I get as much coverage as I want when I want it on the internet. If it weren’t for the web, I would feel pretty isolated and have a hard time keeping up with my team. But with message boards, good content from my favorite team’s site, great hockey blogs, live scores and stats and even choppy video, I feel completely connected.
...
So don’t take it for granted next time you take in a little media over the net. Notice how easy it is. How would you have been doing this ten, fifteen years ago? Are we living in the future yet?
I’m going to go listen to this morning’s Morning Edition.
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