Broadband TV 2.0

Use8 put on this sci-fi shindig at the Jury's Inn discussing the future of television. Unfortunately it does't involve Minority Report interfaces yet but im typing with crossed-fingers. No, less radical and more as expected, the integration of the internet, or at least web qualities regarding multiple screens and smooth navigating through liquid web 2.0 looking operating systems.

I particularly enjoyed Matthew Huntington's name, and presentation on Open TV's new media interface with its margin menu and visual previews which encourage a seamless transition from simply watching content to discovering content. It's not an easy thing - to make scrolling through endless programs an exciting experience but Huntington nearly had me convinced. The navigation through the content could even be described as enjoyable, everything moves with an organic motion, fluidly sliding, fading and highlighting in and out of text and vibrant video. Open TV employs a user-created content approach to program recommendation, in the same vein as social music site Lastfm, so users can link one program to others of similar and dissimilar genres, depending on what mental connection they've made. In the arena of television this potentially builds communities around programs, actors, locations etc which could be an awful thought for some, but also a wondrous possibility for other screen lovers.

Now that usability is established (the general public know how to use social networking sites) usagility takes precedence and we see more complex networks of information opened for individuals to edit and contribute to. Hopefully we will see an increase in the potential for creation our own paths and hyperlinks through the data and ability to categorise the content personally rather than following externalised associations.

The familiar ideas of sharing, participation and all those popular buzz words associated with the Web 2.0 phenomenon were circulating around the room, lots of talk about "multi-disciplines" and "the end users interaction with the company and its services and products." A good question was raised about the nature of the metadata included in the service. Where does the stock data originate from and more importantly how safe is the information the users input themselves? These privacy issues are at the heart of the peering debate and so it would seem that the future of television inevitably faces the same problems the internet suffers presently.