Science and academics have conditioned us to accept that intuition, or a hunch, is only a portal to discovery. Until the idea is tested, it is, at its base, still a myth. Did you know that dial-up users were more likely to complain about download times? Do you need the stats to back that up?
Only one in five people who claimed to be online video viewers said they had watched or downloaded a full-length movie or television show. Nearly three-quarters of those polled preferred short news clips and, in descending order, movie and TV clips, music videos, sports highlights and user-generated videos.
Did you know that?
The numbers are helpful, even if we sort of figured. A sofa is more comfortable than the most posh of computer chairs. A remote is easier to use than a mouse. The TV screen is bigger and the whole room can share without standing hunched over the corner of a desk. The TV is faster and smoother – instant gratification brought on by 60 years of broadcast experience and loads of sort-of-free content, ready out of the box. The video quality is better.
TV is less work.
That’s the way it is at my house, anyway. But I didn’t take a poll, so I could be imagining it.
So is it a surprise that only seven percent of those polled have paid to watch any video online, and that close to 75 percent say they prefer free ad-supported videos? Well, the seven percent is a little surprising. I thought it was just me that balked at the thought of paying per episode. But it is, at least, useful to know that 25 percent may be willing to buy their way out of commercial hell.
But when do they go to the bathroom?
The reality of it is that we’re waiting for IPTV like a soldier’s mother at the window. We know that it’ll take some time and a healthy dose of fiber to get us there. In the meantime, we take what small bits of the vast variety of content we can get, in our spare time.
Polls are for boardrooms, progress reports, and for those little spaces between the advertising. But if you want a feel for the status of Web-video, just look around. And I guess that’s the point – in business, technology, advertising, or whatever, fresh ideas are usually grown in cups of steaming coffee, tended by the casual hints experience and friends can provide. Stats are often just ankle weights.
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