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Surfing the Internet on TV may be a tough sell
December 27, 1996
Web posted at: 12:00 a.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Rusty Dornin
SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- From channel surfing to surfing the World Wide Web, some people have hailed television as the latest, greatest place to tune into the Internet.
But so far, audiences aren't convinced.
A recent survey found that 93 percent of U.S. consumers don't want to tune into the Internet on their TVs.
But ICTV, the latest company to enter the Internet television market, hopes to change their minds. The company plans to launch a cable TV service that lets people dial up the Internet, play CD-ROM games and, some day, use the television as a personal computer.
ICTV promoters hope that adding the personal-computer element will be the tie-breaker.
"It's not that no one at home wants to look at the Internet, it's that no one wants to look at the Internet on their television," Van Baker of Dataquest said.
Faster than phone lines
But how about turning your TV into a personal computer, all for $6.95 a month, payable to your cable company?
"This service should actually be a new way that the consumer can get multimedia computing services without requiring them to purchase expensive computer equipment," Robert Goldberg of ICTV said.
With ICTV, subscribers have a box like a cable converter that lets them change channels to access the Internet. A small laptop keyboard lets users play CD-ROM games and send e-mail.
In the near future, it will be like a personal computer -- storing files and providing word-processing capabilities, but there will be no upgrades required and users won't have to worry about repairs. All the hardware and hard drives will be located at the cable company.
Other forms of Internet television use telephone lines, which can be slow in transmitting information and pictures. ICTV transmits over cable, more than 50 times faster than phone lines.
"Compared to Web access for a Web TV or even a personal computer in your home over a modem, it's much faster," said Emil Rojas, a trial user.
Competition for remote
But some experts believe using the living room TV as a personal computer or a channel to the Internet won't be too popular.
"We believe that browsing the Internet is not a social activity. It's an individual activity," Baker said. "And you think there's competition for the remote control with the television -- it's going to be even worse if you're thinking about browsing the Internet."
ICTV will get its first commercial trial run in Santa Barbara, California. Promoters hope changing this channel will end up changing the world of personal computing.
Related stories:
- What's on TV? How about the WWW - December 20, 196
- Web surfing for the impatient, and the techno-timid - September 10, 1996
- Race is on to build a cheaper PC - April 5, 1996
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