"Interactive Television"
October 2000
Interactive television is back in the news in October 2000 for several reasons. A number of broadcasters and cable casters are making use of its capabilities, a few cable companies are expanding their video-on-demand capabilities, and the continuing growth of the Internet (and its convergence with television) continue to fuel expectations of fully interactive video. Interactive television, already here for some, will eventually be a part of every viewer/user’s media environment, providing a number of services:
For now, however, greater diffusion of interactive television is hampered by lack of bandwidth, space on the wires (or in the case of DBS, the electromagnetic spectrum) for viewer feedback. Fiber optic cable is making broadband (channels with broad information carrying capacity) access more of a reality, and industry estimates are that that by 2003 15 million Americans will have sufficient bandwidth for full interactivity. Still, this is only a fraction of the total Web and television audience. Another problem potentially limiting the fuller diffusion of interactive television is that many people simply may not want it. As technology writer Bill Syken observed, "Television and work do not go together as naturally as, say, television and beer."
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