no more TV in the future? WTF?!

[Dal Rassak]

I can't see TV dying out even if complete immersion virtual realities as in holosuites could ever be invented.

Reason one: as a species we've always loved telling and being told stories. When you're taking part in one, fun as it is, you can't actually really concentrate on the story itself, you're missing out on a lot of detail because you're so taken up with your own participation. Holosuites are just a step up from video games. I enjoy the odd video game, but it doesn't beat losing myself in a good book or a great bit of TV.

Reason two: people said nobody'd listen to radio anymore when TV was invented and we still have radios.


Reason three: abolishing TV would kill off two great arts in one go, the art of the cameraman - it's moving photography after all (and they still have holocams!), and that of the actor, since holo characters are simply programmed simulations. I don't like the idea of a future minus that much potential for cultural expression.

Plus after a hard day on duty, I wouldn't want to have to exert myself with a holoprogram (unless we're talking one of Quark's special recommendations maybe) - I'd just want a nice drink and be allowed to passively enjoy an entertaining programme. Like Star Trek...

 

[Pavonis]

I can't see TV dying out even if complete immersion virtual realities as in holosuites could ever be invented.

So you actually don't see non-interactive entertainment formats dying out. Even in Trek, characters still read books.

Reason two: people said nobody'd listen to radio anymore when TV was invented and we still have radios.

Have them, yes, but when was the last time you sat down just to listen to the radio? The only radios I have are for emergencies, not entertainment. Even in the car, I use my phone to play my iTunes library.

Reason three: abolishing TV would kill off two great arts in one go, the art of the cameraman - it's moving photography after all (and they still have holocams!), and that of the actor, since holo characters are simply programmed simulations. I don't like the idea of a future minus that much potential for cultural expression.

Yes, it was sad when the buggy whip artists lost their livelihood, too, but what are you going to do? Force the purchase of horse drawn carriages to keep the "artists" from starving?

Plus after a hard day on duty, I wouldn't want to have to exert myself with a holoprogram (unless we're talking one of Quark's special recommendations maybe) - I'd just want a nice drink and be allowed to passively enjoy an entertaining programme. Like Star Trek...

Again. Books.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

If they turned off broadcast TV right now. I doubt I'd notice. I consume my television by means of DVD, Blu-ray, Internet catch-up services, and time shifted recordings. The only time I sit down to broadcast television at the behest of the broadcaster these days is for twenty-four hour news services, live events such as sports, or the rare watercooler talking point show. I watch at the most three hours of such a week. Right now it's one hour a week, season 2 of Dallas.

Television as I knew it when I was a kid is already dead. Last week I was on a train trip to the city, and most everyone was watching TV on their iPads.

 

[Anwar]

When they said that Television no longer existed as a form of entertainment, they meant television by 1987's standards no longer existed.

And given how we now have entertainment on demand, recordings, web series, etc...

...Trek was right, again!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If holosuites existed, I could see that wiping out "TV" - even if you don't want to interact with a story, you can set the holosuite to passive mode. So yeah they have "TV," they just don't call it that. When everything comes from the internet and is viewed on computers or tablets or smartphones, will we still call it TV?

 

[Lance]

It always bothered me that Captain Pike has got a TV smack bang in the middle of his quarters in "The Cage". Is it just an antique? Something that he's collected in his travels as a decorative piece but effectively non-functional? Or does it actually get transmissions from... somewhere? Is the good Captain a rabid, devoted viewer of Days Of Our Lives (or whatever the 23rd century equivalent is)?

 

[LogicDeLuxe]

Even they mentioned that it died out in some episodes, there are also occasion where television is evident in Star Trek. There is at least one federation news channel. And the Cardassians broadcast trials on their network. Of course, Pike may have a TV set too, just like Tom Paris does. It might be meant for shows on video. Maybe they share this hobby on vintage media. Who knows? We do not know very much of Pike, actually.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Commercials officially killed off television in 2047 when people discovered one day they were watching more commercials than actual programming.

It was called The Big Switch Off.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I can't see TV dying out even if complete immersion virtual realities as in holosuites could ever be invented.

In TOS they had the viewscreen for communication purposes.

In the movies of other Trek series they would say "audio only" when no 2-D picture available.

As for actual Trek on TV series see this thread in Future of Trek forum.

Futureproofing (for viewing) the next Trek TV series

 

[SchwEnt]

I always took that "no more television" line in a specific sense. Television in this case referring to network programming broadcast over the air.

There's probably video entertainment programming in the future, but it's not produced by network corporations and it's not commercial programming and it's not broadcast over the air. So far removed from traditional production and distribution that it's no longer referred to as "television".

That's all. A simple idea, I thought.

I never thought the "No television" line ever meant people aren't watching video entertainment on screens anymore.

 

[T'Girl]

If holosuites existed, I could see that wiping out "TV"

But how many people are going to have a holosuite in their homes?

I think Data meant something like broadcast television was gone.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Don't be silly, why would we watch TV when we're all busy studying science and mathematics? If we don't study science and mathematics, we can no longer write piano concertos and invent new and exciting uses for nadions!

 

[Shawnster]

If holosuites existed, I could see that wiping out "TV"

But how many people are going to have a holosuite in their homes?

I think Data meant something like broadcast television was gone.

Riker had a small holoprojection device in his quarters. Can't remember the episode. It was a passive display. Picard had a holoprojector built into his Ready-Room desktop. We've seen it project an image in at least one episode. Data also used a holoprojector in his briefing about the T'Kon empire.

So one can sit and watch holograms without being fully immersed in the holodeck or holosuite. These smaller projectors are probably more commonplace than a holodeck or holosuite.

 

[Lance]

If Wesley Crusher had've had a TV, he wouldn't have to keep himself amused by inventing devices that let him imitate Captain Picard's voice, and then using it to take over the ship.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If holosuites existed, I could see that wiping out "TV"

But how many people are going to have a holosuite in their homes?

Maybe they do have them, like a pod that is networked to a "big" holosuite where everyone else is playing from, also from home. Or forget anything centralized, it's a network. All you need is space to sit down, stand up, lie down, turn around, maybe jump...everything around you is simulated, and when you jump off a cliff, it's the cliff that moves.

You could have the experience of walking across a vast expanse while basically just on a treadmill. That big holosuite in TNG never made any sense, why does it need to be much bigger than a human body?

 

[Lance]

I seem to recall Star Trek expanded universe materials from the 1990s (particularly one of the comic books) theorising the use of some kind of headset, which might have been how holo-technology could be widely available to the lay person in their homes. They might not have a full holosuite, but they could have some smaller variant of the technology.

 

[Dal Rassak]

Maybe I should have phrased this differently. A lot of people seem to be getting the idea I'm talking of a television as an actual television.
I meant television as in programmes. I was talking about consuming a visual medium, to be able to watch something without having to take part in it.

It doesn't matter if you watch them on an actual TV or computer or whatever, the point I was making is people still watch programmes. The invention of games didn't stop people watching films. And I find characters portrayed by actual humans far more interesting and rewarding than artificial simulations. I don't see where having real actors could ever be considered "old-fashioned".

It's different ways at different times - sometimes you want to read, sometimes to listen, sometimes to watch and sometimes to take part. It's a lot more fun to have ALL those entertainment options than to limit yourself. There's a reason why books didn't get replaced or superceded by more modern technology, because they're a good thing. And so are television programmes.

Besides, call me a Luddite, or maybe you haven't got any decent radio stations, but I listen to mine for hours every day.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Have them, yes, but when was the last time you sat down just to listen to the radio? The only radios I have are for emergencies, not entertainment. Even in the car, I use my phone to play my iTunes library.

No one has sat down to listen to the radio since the 1950's. Radio is still a widespread and popular media, enjoyed by millions of people around the world. It has found a niche, just like television probably will.

 

[LogicDeLuxe]

That big holosuite in TNG never made any sense, why does it need to be much bigger than a human body?

Because of multi player? If more people enter the holodeck, it then splits space so that each person has basically his own point of view of the simulation. If only one person is in there, probably only a fraction of the big space is actually used and the rest is reserved for other people to join in.

I don't see where having real actors could ever be considered "old-fashioned".

Neither does Star Trek. We have several episodes where stage performance is shown. TNG Frame Of Mind is a very prominent example of this.

 

[heavy lids]

Reason one: as a species we've always loved telling and being told stories. When you're taking part in one, fun as it is, you can't actually really concentrate on the story itself, you're missing out on a lot of detail because you're so taken up with your own participation.

Wait, what? So physically interacting with a story means you'll likely be concentrating less on the story? I suppose if you have severe ADD and can't stop getting distracted, then yeah that might be true.