The New York Times > Technology > Patents: Tuning In to Television, Two Ways

The New York Times > Technology > Patents: Tuning In to Television, Two Ways - a brand new way to make TV-watching and interactive activity, brought to you by AOL. What is very interesting about this article, I found, is not the new idea to let people see what their friends are watching and chat about it (great idea, not new), but a statement about why WebTV and AOLTV didn't exactly meet the gargantuan demand they were supposed to. The article argues that the new approach - integrating interactive features with existing practices of TV watching may fare better than the previous attempt that was essentially "trying to change people's television viewing habits". This statement is near revelatory - a little beacon that says - by simply introducing "cool" technology you can't change the way people do things or create new activities for them unless these activities fit into existing practies and somehow augment or empower them.