While streaming media from room to room doesn't require discs, the content has to come from somewhere. And that somewhere is, of course, the Internet. In the digital home of 2013, the Internet will help you access libraries of content that go far beyond what Netflix or Wal-Mart offer in their DVD catalogs. Furthermore, on-demand Internet delivery will allow viewers to turn away from prescheduled TV programs. You'll be able to watch what you want, whenever you want.
Already, sites like Hulu.com have shown that people are more than willing to watch television programs online. Services like iTunes and Amazon's Unbox also let viewers watch movies online using set-top boxes and computers. Still, there's no convenient way to bring a show from the computer to your HDTV. In 2013, that will change.
With broadband penetration spreading, and people becoming more receptive to online television programming, the prime-time television block and other schedule-based viewing habits could fall by the wayside. After all, if it's possible to watch 24 at anytime it's convenient instead of at a set time when you'd rather be sleeping, wouldn't you pick the former? According to a recent survey, the answer is a resounding yes.
Because of the success of Hulu, more broadcast networks and even cable stations will jump on the online bandwagon and find ways to make it much easier for you to take those shows from the Internet to your high-definition television. Even better, homeowners will be streaming shows from one room to another. This means you won't be restricted to the living room for your HD fix, and popcorn will finally be lost in other couches throughout your home.
Table of contents from the Industry Standard special feature, Ten Technologies from the Digital Home of 2013:
- Introduction: What your future really looks like: The Digital Home of 2013
- 1. The Digital Home of 2013: High-speed telecommunications
- 2. The Digital Home of 2013: It's an HD world
- 3. The Digital Home of 2013: Gaming gets real
- 4. The Digital Home of 2013: Reach out and touch something
- 5. The Digital Home of 2013: Automated home control
- 6. The Digital Home of 2013: Green goes mainstream
- 7. The Digital Home of 2013: Welcome to the cloud
- 8. The Digital Home of 2013: The rise of streaming media
- 9. The Digital Home of 2013: Online distribution of TV, movies
- 10. The Digital Home of 2013: Collaborating across town, and across the world
- Sidebar: The castoff home technologies of 2013?
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