if:book (I’ve been reading it a lot lately) has a post about the future of television.
Today, radio listening habits have shifted, and I only hear the radio in cars and offices. Television viewing (if you can even call it that) is experiencing a similar shift, as people multitask at home, with the television playing in the background.
The post goes on to mention a partnership between YouTube and NBC and the shift from watching TV on, well, TV to watching it on computers and portable players.
It got me thinking: I live by technology at work. The words “digital library initiatives” are in my job title. I blog. I think coding web pages is fun and I actually sort of like vi. I own an MP3 player and connect it frequently to my computer at work (although lately I’ve been listening to my favorite radio station, WXPN 88.5, a lot). I use IM to help patrons with technical problems. I am obsessive about checking my feed reader.
But when I get home at the end of the day it’s a different story. I own a cell phone for emergencies, but I don’t know the number and I definitely can’t check for messages. I am more likely to listen to NPR than to watch television. (I did get addicted to several procedurals last winter, but summer has helped me get things under control and I hope to stay on the wagon. Does anyone know of a CSI 12 step program?) I used to maintain a website for fun but stopped because I was never in the mood to work on it. I spent a recent evening playing a board game with some friends and I have been thinking of taking up sewing or knitting.
What gives? I am getting all digital-ed out at work? Are my roots showing? Is it Gen X nostalgia for my pre-web existence? These are all rhetorical questions, but I am curious to know if anyone else can relate.