The article focuses on the movie experience -- in theaters and with home theater set-ups -- as a function of "fidelity." USA Today says, "Techies describe fidelity as the total experience of something.
"Seeing a movie in a packed theater, with its wide screen and the social aspect of a crowd, is a higher-fidelity experience than watching a movie on a home system. Seeing a movie at home is, in turn, a greater-fidelity experience than viewing a movie on a cellphone.
"In music, a concert is higher fidelity than a CD playing on a home stereo, which is higher fidelity than an MP3 player."
Fidelity versus convenience
Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, says "People will trade fidelity for convenience." (Side note: People do this with wireless data all the time. You might walk a few blocks with your laptop for free or inexpensive WiFi, but many people are purchasing cellular connections -- more expensive and generally slower than WiFi -- for the convenience of superior coverage.)
USA Today notes that if you can't experience the full fidelity of watching a sporting event at the stadium, you'll watch it at home on your TV. "Eventually, we might opt for an even more convenient yet much lower-fidelity experience: watching on a cellphone.
"Video is available on cellphones now, but major league sports don't yet offer live cellphone broadcasts," the article says. (But, we're getting there.)
Better new media
USA Today reports how new media products evolve to deliver better experiences at lower costs. "Fidelity gets good enough in a package that's significantly more convenient, and consumers rush in. That often leaves older formats struggling to hold on to customers.
"The iPod marked just such a threshold. MP3 players existed before Apple created the iPod and iTunes, but previous systems weren't convenient or cheap enough to make up for the lesser fidelity of MP3s, which sample less than one-tenth the sound CDs do.
"After the iPod, digital music — legitimate and pirated — took off, while CD sales sagged....The music industry, which relies on CDs for 90% of its revenue, is trying to save the disk by increasing its fidelity.
"That's why more CDs are stocked with video clips and extra songs."
Cellular fidelity versus convenience
The article says, "Cellphones took wing once the quality and convenience (including cost) got good enough to trump the better fidelity of landline service."
Obviously, mobile television's fidelity (or lack thereof) is a major challenge that for most people overshadows any convenience. One of the biggest problems is screen size.
Cellular LCDs certainly can be produced with better resolution. Cellular networks certainly are getting faster for transmitting videos. Networks and production companies certainly can crank out virtually any content consumers want.
But most people want small cellular phones and that's antithetical to the "fidelity" of a large (or larger) LCD. Unless people "give in" and decide to purchase phones with larger screens or until technology can come to the rescue -- projecting a screen in the air? -- the LCD problem will remain a stumbling block.
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