Yahoo taking a run at interactive television
To say I don’t have high hopes for interactive television in the near term would be an understatement. Yahoo disagrees, witness its announcement this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
From a PC World story on our site:
The company will test a pilot program for interactive broadcasts during the first half of this year, with CBS, ABC, Showtime, HSN, Ford and Mattel as partners. At a pre-CES event Wednesday, Yahoo showed how it worked:
Say you’re watching Hawaii Five-O on CBS. During one scene, a pop-up prompts you to press a button to learn more about actress Grace Park. (Apparently, she holds a degree in psychology.) The system works for advertisements as well. During a commercial for the Lincoln MKX, users can watch a video gallery, view features or request a brochure from Ford. Other applications include trivia, polls and shopping.
It’s not that I cannot imagine instances where I would find such interaction entertaining or useful; it’s that I cannot imagine the entertainment and broadcast industries providing such stimulus without also imposing an intolerable measure of commercial noise. Moreover, interaction isn’t what I’m looking for from my television set.
Leave me alone when I’m watching TV; seriously, leave me alone.
