End Boredom, Get a Perk, Feel Good -- Why Not?

Yesterday I launched my very first crowdfunding project on Indiegogo -- On-Demand Internet Television.

Crowdfunding is using social media to  raise funds for anything – be it a business, a creative project, or as in my case – a bit of both. From a business start-up point of view, it’s also a great way to see if the business idea has a market, because you can see by how many fans do – or don’t – jump on board to support it either through promoting it via their social networks, contributing ideas to help it grow, or even donating to the cause to ensure it takes shape.

You may have heard of websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo – these are the biggest and most talked about crowdfunding websites out there, which help people raise funds by growing a social following of people interested in seeing their ideas happen.

Of course, there’s also something in it for the fans that donate to the cause – gifts are set at different levels of funding which encourage people interested in making the idea happen, to open up their wallets.

The On-Demand Internet Television crowdfunding project is a really cool one -- which I hope you will check out, select a perk, and even share it with your social circles to make it happen.

Help us rid the world of boredom, by creating the first television network with programming that you'll actually watch.

How do we know you'll watch it?

Check out the crowdfunding site here to learn more, and please help us make this possible by donating to the cause and sharing the site with your friends.

Over the next 50 days, I'll be using this blog to share my thoughts, feelings, successes and failures about crowdfunding the worlds first viewer created television network.

See what challenges we go through as we crowdfund -- great if you have an idea you've always wanted to try, but just don't know how to raise money to start it.

Thanks for reading this blog -- and for supporting our crowdfunding project!

Where Do You Watch It?

Remember the old days, when you had to rush home to catch your favorite show on TV?

People would literally dash out of social functions with friends to turn on their television, sit in the dark, alone, and watch their favorite show.

That was if they were polite. Some would just tune into their favorite shows wherever they were, often without asking the host first!

The VCR certainly changed that – but they weren’t fool-proof, occasionally eating a tape, or if there wasn’t enough tape left you’d miss the end of whatever you were recording.

Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) also called Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) have made the recording of television shows almost fool-proof. Almost. If there’s a power failure, or your cable or satellite service goes down, there still is nothing you can do.

That’s where the power of on-demand Internet Television comes into the picture – pardon the pun. It’s on-demand, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything, because you choose when and where you watch.

And because it’s on the Internet, you can be just about anywhere in the world – so long as you have access to the net.

Over 15 percent of Canadian households claimed they got most of their television via on-demand digital media last year. That number is expected to climb to well over 40% over the next decade, and could even go as high as 60% by some estimates.

No longer do you have to run home to ensure your PVR catches your favorite show.

You can be anywhere and watch.

From your bathroom, a party at a friend’s place, work, or even in the park.

Toss in cloud-based computing technologies, and you have some cool television tech – it gives you the ability to continue watching on-demand Internet Television exactly where you left off, somewhere else and on a completely different device!

So that show you were watching on your iPhone during lunch but only got halfway through can be viewed right where you left off, on your connected large screen TV in your living room at home after work!

Though being able to watch on-demand Internet television anywhere can raise eyebrows too.

Listening to someone chatter on their mobile device while in the bathroom stall next to you is awkward enough. Overhearing them watching a television show while they do their “business” is downright dirty.

Not all content available on-demand is suitable for children. As some bus riders found last year, when a man began watching an adult movie on his tablet while on the bus.

Televisions across the globe have been used for years by couples to avoid contact during arguments. With on-demand Internet Television, those arguments can be extended to public spaces, as people continue to avoid each other by streaming their “distractions” on their mobile devices so they don’t have to actually talk to each other.

Speaking of public spaces, society already has become more anti-social, as we spend more time with our mobile devices, than with each other, even in social settings. Just go into any coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi, and you’ll see most people are busy watching their mobile devices, instead of interacting with each other.

Used to be, coffee shops were a great place for singles to mix and mingle, because you could easily go up to a stranger, and have a nice conversation over a couple of hot beverages.

Mobile devices have become gatekeepers in a sense, making it harder to approach someone that you can’t make eye contact with, because they never look up from their mobile device.

Still, it’s better than listening to someone watch TV in the bathroom.

Damn that flushing toilet – now I’ll never know what happened to JR!

Unboxing – Is That Even a Word?

We love our tech in this gadget-driven world, but a fad that’s occurring on many tech podcast is the infamous ‘unboxing.’

‘Unboxing’ – is when the host of some tech show or blog, walks you through the process of taking some cool new tech toy out of the box.

‘Unboxing’ is that even a word?

The term ‘unboxing’ is even listed on Wikipedia – so it must exist. Wiki says the act of videotaping the unpacking of tech toys and uploading these videos to the Internet has been around since 2006, and has been nicknamed “geek porn.”

That’s it. It’s an unboxing, not a full review. Occasionally you may learn some of the main specs on the tech, but typically the toy is removed from the layers of plastic bubble wrap, brown paper, and once shown, that’s all she wrote.

WTF?

What purpose does it serve to show us what a product looks like in the box?

I raised this question on Google+ once, and received numerous messages back explaining how it lets us live vicariously through the ‘unboxer’ – so that we can share in the experience.

Another person told me it allows us to experience the act of getting something which we may otherwise not have.

The experience of ripping open a box?

Really?

When I was a kid, sick in bed, I never had anyone ‘unbox’ my friend’s birthday presents so I could share in the experience of the birthday party I was missing because of my cold.

Have we really sunk so low in our society that we need to be entertained by people opening packaging material?

What’s next, virtual bubble wrap, so as the ‘unboxing’ occurs, we can immerse ourselves in the physical experiences as well?

Isn’t the stuff INSIDE THE BOX more important than the box itself?

When I first got my iPhone, I was impressed with the slick box it came in. But after I got past the box, and there, sitting on my desk was my brand new iPhone, I quickly lost interest in the box. My interest in the packaging lasted all of two-seconds – if that.

Most of these ‘unboxing’ podcasts last at least 10 minutes. Ten minutes reviewing the packaging material!

Really?

Maybe the tech isn’t so hot, if the best part, is the box it came in.