On the disappearance of TV viewers
I'll admit, I have done my part to tank Neilsen's ratings over the past few years. I have not watched live TV since just after 9/11. My house has three TiVos in it -- all networked together so that I can watch anything that any of them are set up to record on any TV to which one may be attached. However, I rarely even watch things on the television, because I download them to my computer and can have them running in a window in a corner of my screen while I am doing something that may or may not be as crucial and life-affirming as watching television.

I also can download my shows from the Desktop to either my iPod or my phone, but since neither really has the screen or battery life for heavy video consumption, I tend to stick with it on my laptop, when portability matters.

Slingbox is great for those who must watch something either live or recorded in the time since they left their living room, susceptible as it is to the issues of bandwidth when streaming a show. You either didn't plan ahead by downloading the show in advance or you're trying to watch it too soon after it's been recorded. It may be weeks before I catch up with a show, though I usually don't run further than an episode behind in Lost when I can avoid it. I watch television, when at all, for entertainment. That King of Queens will be just as funny a few weeks from now when I get around to it. I know the network is confident of that because they plan on showing it a thousand more times in syndication.

Do I care if the networks and advertisers are tracking my every move? Not really. I care if the government and the military are tracking my every move. But they probably aren't too worried whether I fast-forwarded through that car commercial or held off watching it until I could get a good deal on the thing at a used lot.

Thoughts on MySpace and YouTube
MySpace and YouTube reinforce my cynical feelings toward people in general by reinforcing the statistic that for every one worth meeting (or video worth watching or Myspace page worth visiting), there are literally hundreds out there that are a complete mess and a total waste of time/disk space/oxygen (as may apply). And who decided that the library would be listed as an 86-year-old female? Just sexist, it is.

Thoughts on Web 2.0
Web 2.0, for the most part, is still amorphously defined. Does it have to come in your web browser? Like blogs, videos, or applications such as Google's word processor and spreadsheet programs? Or does Web 2.0 include items that leverage the technology of an interconnected mass to communicate thoughts, ideas, and information -- Second Life, Skype, Google Earth, etc.? The Web 2.0 video exemplifies the sort of wide-spread changes that people working in technology strive to achieve. As with any source of social upheaval, technology will separate the winners and the losers. The use of technology demands careful thought. Through technology you can eliminate hunger. But through technology you can also eliminate The Hungry. We will be judged on how we use technology just as assuredly as we will be judged on every other gift or talent that we possess.