The end of television?!

Today the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) went on strike, the first time it has done so in almost twenty years. The crux of the matter lies in how to pay writers their fair share from DVD sales and Internet streaming broadcasts and downloads. This may prove to be more than a mere strike, but rather a clash of the old and the new in the world of technology. On one side you have a system that was built for old media. Enter new media, distinctly unmeasurable by the old systems of counting and evaluating. It is not too far removed from the questions being asked by this video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Clearly, not all the questions raised by Web 2.0 have easy answers.

Here are some thoughts by Marc Andreessen, called "Suicide By Strike":

http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/11/suicide-by-stri.html

You may remember him as the guy who brought us Mosaic (or Netscape if you prefer post-1994 lingo) and is now a respected technology guru.

MediaShift is also expressing real concern that television as we know it may be entering the beginnings of its death throes:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/11/whats_the_role_of_unions_in_th.html

Here we have it. A battle of the Old versus the New. Perhaps the opening salvos in a new technological revolution. Here's hoping the consumers end up the winners when the dust settles. My own personal belief is that good writing is already starting to dwindle on basic cable and broadcast televisions channels, stuffed to the gills with formulaic "reality" show garbage that does not actually reflect anything I would consider "real". What is worth watching requires so much attention (the "24" effect) that watching scripted television live is impractical. The DVR or TiVo is changing people's viewing habits to the point that "appointment" television and even commercial breaks are becoming irrelevant. Although it still looks like regular television, the DVR has shifted the central appliance of mass media from the classic television set to the personal computer.

In the world of movies and film (since they, too, are affected by the WGA strike), I present a couple facts:
(1) Seeing a film at an actual movie theater is more of a pain in the derriere than fun. I have lost most of my inclination to watch a movie with 100+ strangers with cell phones for $10 or more (even if I do smuggle in the sodas).
(2) Studios need to face the fact that technology is becoming cheap enough that amateurs and thrill-seekers will provide equally-intriguing content for free over the Internet, for the sake of getting exposure. I hate tread on ground already much trodden by others, but most star-driven vehicle films are lousy and too much movie budget goes to compensation already-rich celebrities.

In more personal news, I just want to announce that I am two weeks away from completing my masters degree. Since finishing my portfolio is a priority, this blog will continue to be pretty quiet until the end of the month. After that, I'll try to make up enough stuff to keep things interesting around here. Until then, read my "microblog" on the sidebar, a sporadic list of my thoughts at the time.