Roll your own network
February 14th, 2006 by TheCore
This idea plays on the phenomenon where you catch a movie while flipping channels, and you stop to watch it, despite the fact that you own it. Even though it’s on network TV and has been censored and includes commercials, you sit there and watch it rather than getting up and putting in the DVD yourself.
(It’s this same phenomenon that tells me that TV will only ever get so interactive.)
So here’s what you do:
- Throw all your digital video content on a computer
- Connect the computer to the TV
- Put the content into a random playlist
- Start the content playing
- Return to your normal TV viewing
- Treat the input from the computer as if it were any old channel
- When you flip by, chances are there’ll be something on you like
- Watch it
Voilà. Your very own cable network.
You could get all anal retentive about it and actually schedule stuff, but to me it’s the random seed that makes it compelling.
Posted in Ideas
What an excellent idea! The husband does that all the time — stop to watch something on TV, even though he has it on DVD or laser disc. I just shake my head and walk out of the room. Of course, why he didn’t just start watching a DVD in the first place instead of watching the satellite, I dunno. I think maybe having to actually ‘pick’ something is what makes it so hard for him, he’s the quintessential ‘whatever’ man.
Dude, just pay time warner for the porn channels and save yourself the headache