All TVs, Big And Small
The entire viewing audience seems to be going for either smaller or bigger, either finely tuned and grandly precise video or occasionally-fuzzy-but-fits-on-your-iPod footage you download online – it's like the Bizarro Goldilocks.
According to the author of the article, tech expert Mike Vorhaus:
There's been a lot of debate about how people prefer to get their video fixes and whether or not PC viewing is starting to cannibalize attention to the big screen. Not surprisingly, it varies widely by demo.But is this truly an either/or, or are we actually heading towards a place where all the signals come through via the same source, and online video isn't a different animal from broadcast/cable signals? Or is there something else altogether?While a majority of consumers say they would rather watch video on their TVs than their PCs, remarkably 13% of people feel otherwise. Younger adults are the least committed to TV, with only 23% strongly agreeing that they prefer TV for video viewing. In contrast, more than 48% of the 55- to 64-year-olds strongly prefer TV.
Since Mike Vorhaus seemed to be leading a few technological breadcrumbs down this uncertain path, I decided to give him call.
His thoughts? "You're right. They're not either/ors, anymore. Think about the old days 70 years ago. When you bought a car, you bought A Single Car. Your family bought a car. You didn't have a lot of choices. But you were buying for a group or buying one for yourself.
"Now people and families own two, three, four, five cars. It's the same way with media. People go to film, don't necessarily avoid DVDs. And they have many TVs in their house for different purposes. It's a question of multiplicity.
"If you're at your home office, grainy doesn't matter. 'America's Funniest Home Videos' is grainy and people watch that. But the challenge for online video is that HDTV can really provide a rich experience. That – along with screen size — is going to make some people often than not go with the TV screen over PC screen.
However, if you're super-interactive and used to dealing with online visuals, you stick with your high-speed PC. But if you want to watch [High-Definition Documentary] Planet Earth, you're going to the big screen."
I than asked him the question about the middle ground. Where does that leave the tried-and-true traditional 30-inch TV screen?
Vorhaus responded with a question right back. "Aren't they already purely a lifestyle purchase anyway? I'm not a consumer electronics guy, but I'll bet that people buy the largest screen for what they can afford or fit into their space. And the costs keep going down. The difference between $500 and $5000 for one of the big screens is now $200 and $1000, cost-wise."
So the answer to my initial question, that of "What's It Going To Be, Big or Small?"
The answer – according to Vorhaus, at least – is, "Yes."
(Disclosure where I'm not even sure it's needed: Mike Vorhaus works for Frank Magid Associates. Frank Magid is a tech contributor for CBSNews.com. But I came across Vorhaus' piece in my own web surfing.)