ATLANTA – Want to know what’s coming? Ask the kids. Or in this case – the college students.
After what was one of the dullest opening sessions I’ve ever attended (hey, we figured the plenary moderated by author of Blink and Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, might be a neat-o start to this year’s National Show, but we were wrong as the session got sidetracked too many times with oft-repeated tales on the history of cable), 10 leading-edge college students were featured as panelists to discuss their media consumption – and whether or not cable has a role in it.
Framed by research from MTV Networks which offered the usual insights about how gaming is a central piece of the overall media puzzle and that BitTorrent and Skype are well ensconced in the consciousness of American youth, what this youth group had to say was enlightening.
For seven of them, the computer was their main media device. One said her cell phones, one said his Nintendo DS and the other said his digital video camera. "I IM all the time. The laptop is never turned off," said Adar, an 18-year-old electrical engineering major from Georgia Tech. At this school, students receive 10 Mbps Internet in their dorm rooms, 157 TV channels and wireless Internet throughout the campus.
When he returns home to his parent’s 3 Mbps high speed cable connection? "I find it annoyingly slow," he said.
Twenty-year-old Andrew, a computative media major and fan of South Park and 24 said he "gets TV by downloading it." And where does he get news? "Only through web sites," said 20-year-old Christopher.
Then a statement from 23-year-old John that drew a hearty laugh from all of the panelists is one that should send a shudder through all TV newsrooms: "We don’t really trust the news on television very much – except for The Daily Show."
Twenty-year-old Alan, who lives off campus, said the house he shares has a few servers which hold all sorts of video content which is linked to all the televisions in the home. "We don’t watch TV much live from the satellite," he said. "We have a media network in the house."
"We can keep up with shows without actually having to watch them live," added 19-year-old physics major Becky, who also downloads her TV favorites.
One of the shows downloaded a lot among his friends, said John: The Price Is Right. Come on down Bob Barker! Go figure.
The key word all of them used was "share." With their on line friends from Facebook (a web portal similar to MySpace but where only college and university students are allowed in) they share photos and video and link madly all sorts of information to each other at all hours.
It’s social networking.
While some folks often look at a user in front of a computer as a lonely nerd, said the panel, they are most likely interacting with dozens – of not many dozens of on line (and off-line) friends. It’s not a lonely experience – it’s a social one, even if it looks like it’s just them and their Powerbook.
"The Internet is actually making us more social," added Adar.
But, what also came out of the discussion is that appointment TV still does exist. For "great shows" or sporting events, these young students still gather around the TV to watch together. Some of those great shows mentioned that they’ll watch together (or at least download and then IM about it): 24, South Park, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Sopranos, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and American Idol.
What about product placement in TV shows. Does that offend? Nope. The opposite. Bring it on, they said.
"I think product placement is awesome, said 22-year-old electrical engineering major Kristen. "You’re going to watch the show anyway even if the (product) is there and you pick up on it. Companies should put their products in there."
Despite her major, Kristen said she was going into marketing.
Do they like long-form video on small devices? No. It’s hard to share or gather people around a two-inch screen for longer than a minute or two. For example, PSP (Playstation Portable) movies sound like a reasonable idea, said 20-year-old Brandon, "but you’re stuck playing them on that player and nowhere else. And in some cases they’re more expensive than the games… if I can’t share it, then I don’t use it."
With so many planned products from many consumer electronics companies trying to merge computing, music, video, phone and messaging into one device, do they want one of these? Not really. "If everything was on one device, we’d lose the multi-tasking aspect that we have come to appreciate," said Adar.
"People talk of the convergence of all media into one thing," added Brandon. "What if that one thing is your head?"
