Ron Richards gave an awesome presentation about the future of internet television and what they are working towards at revision3.com. I’ve been watching rev3 stuff for a while and I agree with him that the convergence of the computer and the television is inevitable. Being able to watch high quality niche content on a HD tv is a dream that is going to be realized before we know it though there is still a debate on the best way to get there. I personally believe that the best way to get that content to the TV is not through a set top box distribution model that we have now with Apple TV, slingbox, Tivo, etc but fully integrated wifi tv and a built in video podcast subscribing system similar to what iTunes has now. Apple TV is not the future; just a bridge to that until a large television company realizes what a HUGE opportunity is currently being untapped. I think wireless keyboards in a living room setting is going to be commonplace within the next 10-20 years an a whole wave of new market for web enabled “TV apps” are going to emerge.

To me this is very exciting because when this happens, it will be a game changer. Of course we’ll always have network TV, but it will be possible for someone with a great idea, to create their own sustainable show and have it broadcasted to million as opposed to thousands a week like it is now with podcasts. It’s going to change the advertising game as well, creating a much  longer longtail with higher ROI the more niche the program becomes. We’ve already seen game systems turn into very powerful computers, I think it’s only logical for televisions to evolve in a similar fashion.

Anyways, here’s Ron’s presentation. Good stuff.