TV vs. Internet - Opportunities For Producers

As a result of its widespread global use, the TV is better suited for global business than the PC. Producers/innovators have the opportunity to create/prduce products that can be used alongside television sets; like entertainment centers, video-game consoles, DVD-players, etc. Modern TV-sets even have imputs for digital cameras! Furthermore, electronic On-Screen Notepad and Calendar provides onscreen message reminder that can be programmed for a specific time or when the TV is powered on.

For a global marketer, producing gadgets/electronic devices that plug in to PCs will be a big gamble and internet marketing will be a risky game. Examine the following staements by Dr. Sam Vaknin of PeaceJournalism.com:

"Societies in the countries in transition are inert (and most of them, conservative or traditionalist) - following years of central mis-planning. The Internet (and computers) are perceived by many as threatening - mainly because they are part of a technological upheaval which makes people redundant. E-commerce is the natural culmination of a process. You need to have a rich computer infrastructure, a functioning telecommunications network, cheap access to the Internet, computer literacy, inability to postpone gratification, a philosophy of consumerism and, finally, a modicum of trust between the players in the economy.
The countries in transition lack all of the above. Most of them are not even aware that the Internet exists and what it can do for them. Penetration rates, number of computers per household, number of phone lines per household, the reliability of the telecommunications infrastructure and the number of Internet users at home (and at work)- are all dismally low." (Vaknin, 1)

The truth is that TV infrastructure have been developed in these countries. Consequently, to reach the majority of the world's developing population, global marketers will have to focus on "the big box".

Sources: Vaknin, Sam. "The Internet In Countries In Triansition". http://www.peacejournalism.com. August 5, 2005.