It's not only the 30 second spot that's dead

In my world the whole TV thing is dead.
The only time i deliberately turn on the TV nowadays is when I stay in hotels.
It seems less lonely with the images flickering in the background and the sound on.
I don't necessarily watch anything.

I get all the news I need from New York Times' and CNN's online versions.
And the newspaper on the train in the mornings.

I watch the movies and odd programs I want to watch when I want to.
Tivo takes care of that.

So, yes i do watch TV sometimes, but not the way I used to, which was whenever I had time or felt lazy.
Or when I wanted to catch a certain program I didn't want to miss.

With the option to watch everything whenever there is not the same urgency as before either and more often I simply never get around to watch what I had in mind to watch.

The computer takes care of most of my information and entertainment needs nowadays.

TV commercials?. Nothing can be more annoying. I can live without them. As a consumer.
That's from me, who makes a living in advertising.
Although, that said, its mostly web-based nowadays.

Before the TV was the modern campfire.
A bunch of friends with a case of beer and a match to watch.
Or more recently, American Idol with my younger kids.
And even they are annoyed by the commercial breaks.
So all in all, we use the TV as something gather around once or twice a week.
Very targeted.

The Internet certainly changed my behavior.
My kids never got into the daily TV routine anyway.
To them 30 second TV spots are simply something to ignore or poke fun at.
Advertising will never again be as simple as it was for a while.
People, whether young kids or older adults, don't go to the web to watch commercials.
Advert sing has to become much more embedded.
Without destroying the experience.

I borrowed the image from getty images.
http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com