This article was written by David Lazarus @ Wired News Japan is buzzing about digital TV broadcasts, which are slated to debut by the end of next year. But a sneak peek at what’s coming suggests the Japanese aren’t sure what to make of the newfangled technology. And a bigger question remains unanswered: Does anybody here really want TV shows with point-and-click capabilities?

State-run NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) held an open house the other day for reporters to check out digital interactive TV. It was a stage-managed affair, heavy on demonstrations and unfortunately light on question-and-answer opportunities. The local press lapped it up. Once again, Japan is rushing headlong into a new technology without giving much thought to its end users. The country figures if it can reach the market quickly, it can establish de facto standards that favour local industry. NHK, for one, should know better.

For the past decade, the company has been spending millions on a high-definition broadcasting format called Hi-Vision. Hi-Vision does look snazzy. The trouble is that it’s an analogue format, and HDTV throughout the rest of world is going to be digital. Oops. About five years ago,

cable and satellite companies began popping up with promises of hundreds of channels and various other bells and whistles. Unfortunately, you’d need multiple tuners and dishes to enjoy all the programs, and viewers didn’t really see much need to pay for fancy new services when they could watch a half-dozen or so existing channels for free.

There’s the rub: No one’s shown yet that Japanese TV viewers are clamouring for greater choice and interactivity. One could argue, in fact, that the Japanese are particularly passive in their viewing habits, and don’t want to “interact” with their TVs. Pundits routinely point at the tangle of bureaucratic regulations affecting the Internet to explain why usage in Japan is so low. Another reason may simply be that most folks simply aren’t that hot for the feelings of freedom and empowerment frequently associated with the Net. It’s not that the Japanese don’t revel in new technology. They do. But when it comes to information and entertainment, by and large, they prefer to sit in the passenger seat and let someone else do the driving.

Digital TV will arrive here soon, and it will be cool. But it will have to do much better than liner notes on long-dead composers if it’s going to muscle analogue aside.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/hi-vision/hivi-e.html

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