It was pock ugly brown, with a ridiculous curved glass screen and four buttons. That is how old I am. The realization came sudden and brutal. Three buttons would get me: first Belgian channel, second Belgian channel, first Dutch channel… and the fourth one would power the wooden piece of furniture on and off. My dad called it a television. We were mighty happy with it.
Bizarrely, I associate this first TV with happy family moments. Eating together at the family table was mandatory at Casa Devriendt and the hours we spent watching the news, the weather or cheered on James Bond in saving the planet, we watched together.
But that did not last. For some decades, every basement, teenage dungeon and master bedroom was equipped with TVs. People would watch on their own, contently dabbing some chips in cheesy dip sauce. For decades the motto was me and my TV… and now… people with nice corporate hair on stage at #canneslions are talking about social TV.
There are three things that prevent people from meeting at the dinner table at the same moment: TV, Internet and mobile phones. And still, various people on stage think that the new golden age of TV is combining those three things and that it is going to be social.
Before you invest in a bigger comfy chair and a giant fleece blanket to cuddle under, hold your horses. Social TV does not mean sharing the family handkerchief while watching The Little House on the Prairie. Apparently, social TV means you now can tweet your mom how great your American Idol is. And you can use your phone to vote for stuff. Oh yes, you can Facebook your dad some hilarious fragments of your show, so that he can like it.
Social TV does not mean more people come together…. Social TV means people now have more devices to be away from each other.
I miss that pock ugly brown curved glass thing.