A TV Critic In The Post-TV World

(From Time Magazine -- By James Poniewozik)

The day after thanksgiving, my TIVO died.

Because it doubles as my cable box, this meant that for the week it took to get a replacement, my TV was dead as well.

This would be a tragic circumstance for most Americans. But for a TV critic, it was a blow to my livelihood.

I was like a cotton farmer after a weevil infestation.

I was cut off from the main pipeline of American media life. Or I would have been, a couple of years ago.

Now, however, my situation offered a learning experience in TV-free TV.

I had no cable, but I had DSL and a houseful of gizmos with screens -- desktop, laptop, cell phone.

Could I make do with them?
Could I satisfactorily watch TV without a box?
How would it change my experience?

And more broadly, now that TV (the medium) is divorced from the television (the machine), now that video is as portable as a GRISHAM paperback, now that big-budget series can be blog-embedded and emailed just like your YouTube video of your cat falling asleep -- what are we even talking about when we talk about TV?

My TV Is Dead. Long Live TV!

A TV Critic In The Post-TV World

[Great article.]