Everyone thought that the iPad would revolutionize the way that we watch and consume television content, but most would have thought that streaming live television content to the iPad was where the action was going to happen. For the most part it has been streaming content that has garnered most of the attention during the early days of the iPad, but the innovation hasn’t stopped there. Both ABC and NBC are focusing on offering interactive properties to their applications that will let users interact with live television.
NBC Live will bring fun trivia, and interactive polls for users while they watch their favourite NBC shows. The application will sync with the television, and provide you with interesting information while your favourite show plays on the tube. ABC, on the other hand, is looking to collect their content, and provide digital books to their viewers. The ABC Video Bookstore is a mashup of news snippets and other media into a digital book that will tell a complete story from beginning to end. For instance, the first ABC Video Bookstore will focus on the upcoming royal wedding, and its aim is to tell that story using ABC News media.
It’s going to be an interesting journey
It’s starting to look like the iPad may actually begin being a companion to television instead of a replacement for it.
The real revolution could come in the form of streaming from one app and pushing that content to an Apple TV or another compatible device using AirPlay, while multi-tasking with NBC Live or ABC Video Bookstore. We’re a ways away from seeing the technology proliferate in the majority of homes, but it’s certainly on the horizon.
The real questions that we should be asking is how this technology could help encourage political envelopment on the local and international levels. This kind of technology could make the traditional voting mechanism obsolete in no time. Heck, voters could be in direct communication with their political representatives in real time, letting them know how they feel about important issues being discussed.
Clearly it’s just the beginning for the tablet computer, but it’s certainly something we should be getting excited about.
Article Via The Guardian
