Cutting the Cord: The Introduction

If you're like me, you've probably spent a lot of time caught up (or catching up) in this whirlwind of technology. Wireless technology has infiltrated products we never thought they could (pill bottles, clothing, watches, wristbands, etc.) A phone's voice capacity is often seen as a last resort of a communication if our intended recipient is not responding to our texts. We have a laptop, tablet, phone, headphones, and bluetooth as standard office equipment. For some, it's overwhelming, and for others, it's exciting.  In my generation, the Internet has been the single biggest driving force of change and impact. I stumbled across the below clip that was made a year after my youngest brother was born (1994).

I showed my brother this clip, and he was speechless. My brother is a freshman in college right now, and he represents a wave of kids who have never grown up a day without access to the internet. To further that, the elementary school kids who grow up today, in the US at least, will never know what painstaking agony a 56k modem would cause an eager internet user every time she signed on. They will never hear the scrambled sound you heard when you called from your landline to your friend's house and couldn't get through. You justified it to yourself by saying, "No problem, they're just being flattered by the iconic AOL phrase of "You've Got Mail!" for a few minutes. I'll try to call them back later." Now, if it goes straight to voicemail, they're ignoring you, on a flight, or their battery died. It's changed dramatically, and it will continue to change. We're standing at the foot of a mountain that we can't see the peak of yet.

The purpose of my writing is to examine how the internet and TV in conjunction are changing the way we live, the way it impacts companies, and the way companies do business because the internet is something we've come to rely on. We feel stuck in the mud without it. I'm coupling my thoughts with an invention that some people rely on every day as well, television. Two of the most revolutionary technologies of the last century collide in today's world in a way that changes how we consume and interact with both technologies, and furthermore, how businesses interact with us as consumers. We have traditionally viewed both TV and the internet as two separate mediums, but their fusion has forced us and companies to adapt.

The issue of how TV networks and cable networks reach consumers in the Digital Age is intriguing because examining and understanding how we are affected today may give us a glimpse into what we can do in the future. If we can grasp this understanding maybe we can drive this further and faster than we think it can go.

Shawn