James Delahunty
27 Jan 2007 18:03
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates believes that the Internet is set to revolutionize television within five years, thanks to the explosion of video content available online and devices that bridge the gap between PC equipment and CE devices. "I'm stunned how people aren't seeing that with TV, in five years from now, people will laugh at what we've had," he told business leaders and politicians at the World Economic Forum.
The rise in high-speed Internet connections and the success of video sites, especially Google Inc.'s YouTube, has already led to a noticeable decline in the time younger viewers spend in front of TV sets. Gates says that more and more people will give up the fixed program slots and advertisement interruptions offered by the conventional broadcast television and move toward the increasing flexibility available online.
"Certain things like elections or the Olympics really point out how TV is terrible. You have to wait for the guy to talk about the thing you care about or you miss the event and want to go back and see it," he said. "Internet presentation of these things is vastly superior."
Source:
Reuters