A world where the internet is only a remote control away

The world of television is changing as we know it. From a channel-based broadcast watch-it-when-it’s-on world to an on-demand internet fed world of entertainment when you want to watch it.

The adoption of internet based TV is happening across the UK (BT Vision is the leading service in this space now, but even Virgin and Sky in the UK are trying to get on board) and increasingly TV watchers are choosing what they want to watch and when, rather than wait until their show is broadcast, which manifests itself in spending rainy Sunday afternoons watching 3 episodes of The Wire on demand back to back in my case.

The future of internet TV

Speaking yesterday to someone much more closely connected to the future of TV than I am, I realized that internet TV isn’t going to stop there. With the world of entertainment being connected much more closely with the online world as we know it, it’s easy to imagine a world where watching an episode of Sex and the City you can hover your remote over Carrie’s latest outfit and be taken directly to ASOS to order it for delivery from your own sofa.

Hedge your bets

And those who like a flutter can make a mid-game wager made while watching Liverpool play Chelsea in the FA cup with only a few clicks of a button. A recommendation (Facebook ‘like’ style) would also be available in real time to make sure your friends can share in what you are watching, and then get ratings and reviews on your TV.

Even those re-runs of Location, Location from 2001 coupled with the latest house prices actually paid on your street from Zoopla would make for reasons to watch Saturday morning telly and realise how crazy the real estate boom (and bust!) really was.

It’s just the beginning

Of course, these ideas are only a taste of what will come from the minds of the tech gurus in Silicon Valley and Shoreditch. In the not too distant future we’ll be operating our touch-screen remote control to access the internet much more frequently than turning on our home computer and moving a mouse…

What do you think about the future of the internet and TV? Let us know below.