by Matt Bird

Created on: June 16, 2009

Television used to be my patron saint. When I woke up in the morning I'd flick the TV on and see what was playing. Even if there was nothing good I'd watch just for kicks. I'd watch for a few hours, leaving that lovely flickering light only to fetch food on commercials or for a bathroom break, then take maybe an hour break to do something else - and, invariably, I'd come right back to it.

Now? I watch the news a bit. Check the weather. See if MythBusters is on. Then it's off to work on the computer or outside to enjoy the fine weather. Even in the winter I'm more likely to be outside than sitting and watching TV. And I think increasing numbers of people around the world are like this: while television still has incredible drawing power, it's not nearly as powerful as it once was.

What happened?

Well, this very gem we're sitting on right now. The Internet happened. It provides instant gratification where TV falls flat. If we want to watch a specific television show, we don't need to wait countless hours for it to come on; we just boot up the appropriate website, find the show we're craving and watch away. Piece of cake, really. Besides, you can access way more information online than you ever could on television, so why bother with it?

Now television is a passive form of recreation. When I need to rest for a while I'll lie on the couch and watch TV. Or, when I'm playing video games, I'll use it to play. That's about it. I have no overriding commitment to television anymore, and were television programs to suddenly vanish from the face of the Earth I wouldn't be too depressed. Surprised and jarred, maybe, but you wouldn't catch me jumping off rooftops in despair.

I guess the problem is that we have too much other stuff to do these days. Between video games, the Internet, texting, movies and all those other forms of entertainment, television has been plucked from its leading spot and relegated to a roughly equivalent place amongst the rest. It is no longer the king, just a viable option for families all over the place.

Which isn't to say, of course, that I think television is going anywhere. Far from it. There's still a big place for televised shows in our hearts and homes, and that hole won't be filled by something else for a long, long time - and even then it'll probably be something roughly equivalent, if quite a bit more advanced. But television is surely no longer the mass media baron it once was, and I don't think those halcyon days will ever return.

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