Go ahead… think back just few years… do you remember when Cable was new and Satellite was just beginning (and expensive?) You know, people had that big dish in the yard (usually 10 ft across diagonally, or larger, in this area), and people wondered why anyone would need more than 5 channels? (Even at that, if people got more channels than their neighbor from their antenna, they would brag to everyone about how many channels they got.)

Okay… maybe that’s going back a little too far.

How about, you used to get 36 channels from your cable company and wondered why anyone would only want to watch the locals on their TV while you could get CNN, ESPN, HBO and a bunch of other channels (whether you watched them or not.) You know; it took a couple of minutes to scan through all of the channels you were getting instead of a few seconds?

Well… I’m sure you know what’s happened since then and it is beginning again. New methods of delivering programming are becoming visible all the time and, I have to be honest, it is sometimes hard to keep up with all of it, (even for those of us directly involved in broadcast and reception.)

All of these changes raise more than a few questions, like:

• What do you really know about watching TV from the internet on your TV (as opposed to watching it on your computer screens)?
• Do you know what ways of receiving programming are available rather than just Cable or Satellite?
• Have you purchased a TV lately and found it has an ethernet connection, a USB port, SD card slot and a whole host of inputs you have no idea what they are?

Well… if so, then you know exactly how confused some people are and you may even have some unanswered questions of your own. If that is the case, the next few articles here at the Norman TV View will, hopefully, bring you up to speed and remove some of your confusion.

You see, technology is changing whether or not you keep up with it. No matter what you think, and how positive or negative you feel about it, it’s going to continue to do so and the only encouraging news I can tell you about it is, fortunately, they are making it easy for the consumer to use so you don’t have to be a “Geek” to watch what you want when you want. (Now, come on, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to learn something new along the way.)

Over the next several articles, I want to give you some usable information so you can begin to understand more about this new technology and the delivery of information and programming to your television (and not just your computer screen…)

If you thought  Digital, HD and 3D was the the biggest and best thing to happen for the viewers of content of all kinds and the end-all of the changes that are coming… think again… Trust me when I tell you, those are just the beginning. So tune in right here next time to the Norman TV View and find out more.

Remember, this is just the beginning of several articles on the newer modes of delivering programming to you…

Next time, we’ll talk about some things you may, or may not know about your TV (especially those new ones…) and what some of those new inputs, ports and slots you’ve never heard of before do for you.

See ya next time…

Rusty

All views expressed are solely the opinion of the writer

© February 24, 2011 – Rusty Norman and Norman TV & Video Systems

(All audio and video productions by www.Podcastnorm.com and PCN Productions)