Mark it down. September 12, 2006. The day that changed everything. The day that brought the TV/Internet convergence era from a theory to a reality.

Amazingly enough, it came as an afterthought to a press release about the new iTunes software. While it is cool and interesting that Apple is now offering more TV shows than ever and feature length movies for download, this is not the groundbreaking news I’m talking about.

No, I’m talking about the announcement of the tentatively-titled ‘iTV’, a novel-sized device that allows users to wirelessly stream iTunes video to their TV sets. Just like the iPod didn’t invent the mp3 or the mp3 player, iTV does not invent this technology — I could rig this up on my LCD TV today quite easily. It will, however, just as the iPod did, bring this technology to the mainstream. (And I’m not even one of those crazy Mac people!)

According to Apple, the videos will also now be offered at near-DVD quality, which pretty much makes this new device and software package an immediate competitor to Cable OnDemand services and DVDs (rentals, sales and online memberships). It pretty much turns the world of TV on its head!

So, a few years from now, when the way we acquire and watch video content is totally different than it was in 2006, remember this day. And remember that you heard it here first.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 13th, 2006 at 8:57 pm and is filed under interactive TV, digital music, HCI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.