Interactive TV on the Way?

A little noticed news item popped up this week as Adobe and Intel announced that they’re working to make Flash work on TVs.  The two companies state that the focus is on better Web based videos via TV but what it ultimately should do is to bring interactivity to the broadcast medium.

With TV going digital and most of our boxes hooked up to high-speed connections, the only thing that missing is the interactive screen in our living room. This push, hopefully, will start fulfilling the promise of on-demand advertising, non-linear storytelling and maybe even direct user generated content on live shows.

Or will it? The question is whether we want to watch from a distance on one box (the TV) while interacting with something closer (our laptop) at the same time.

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops and which broadcast network tries to get out in front of this. Or whether they’ll test it primarily on Hulu and Joost.

Crispin and Windows, take 2

Sometimes I can’t resist piling it on. Back on September 10th I wrote a blog entry lamenting the fact that Crispin Porter Bogusky spent Microsoft’s money on an expensive TV ad campaign (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Well, Apple has responded. And, of course, the ads are much more fun to watch than Microsoft’s. Please, Alex, make a Subservient Bill for us, please! Since Subservient Vista is apparently out of the question.

A Microsoft TV Ad – Not that there’s anything wrong with that

The Web is awash and agog at the new Microsoft TV commercial starring Bill Gates with co-star Jerry Seinfeld. Or vice versa. Some hate it, some love it, and some don’t get it.

Face it: watching Jerry Seinfeld is never boring. I used to think the same thing about Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the cool agency behind the new ad campaign.

But for all their coolness and cult of Alex, for all of their alternative media and online focus, what CPB ended up delivering was same old, same old. I mean, what’s up in Colorado?

A TV commercial? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but where’s the customer engagement, the personalization, the conversation?

Use the biggest star you can find and see if his shine can rub off on Bill Gates? How traditional. From this group, with a deep-pocketed client, I was hoping and expecting something more along the lines of Subservient Chicken.

Personally, I’ll take Ms. Dewey over Jerry any day. One of the better Microsoft campaigns. Much more fun and engaging, with results, too.

Maybe CPB thinks they’ll see a slew of user-generated content like the I’m A Mac ad has generated on YouTube, like this one for a WII and this one for comic books. Don’t hold your breath.

Right now, CPB seems to be happy that their generating buzz and conversation. I wonder if generating and measuring negative comments was one of the business goals of the campaign. Doesn’t Microsoft already have enough of that?

A huge, missed opportunity to change the top down CONTROL of Microsoft and deliver more KAOS and personal engagement.

For you Seinfeld fanatics: Didn’t Jerry’s apartment always have one Mac or another in the corner on the desk?