As a Productivity Ninja, I am often asked what I recommend as the single biggest change we can make in our lives to boost Productivity. The answer is simple: Blow up your TV.
This second post in this series asks what has gone wrong with TV. I think part of the problem is that technology improvements have fast outstripped programme quality.
I am old enough to remember the days of black & white TV. The picture quality was horrendous – blurry, variable and (obviously) no colour. But the programmes were great – Blue Peter, Dixon of Dock Green, Blue Peter, Top of the Pops. All good stuff, watchable despite the rotten technology.
But now things are different. The technology has advanced incredibly rapidly. We have High Definition TV everywhere. The detail is astonishing; every last molecular component of the action is revealed. But the problem is the content. With one or two exceptions, it is all crap. Dancing shows. Celebrity shows. Cooking shows. Talent shows. Celebrity cooking shows. Celebrity dancing shows. Dancing cooking shows. You get the picture...
Just at the point at which the technology is available to deliver to us an intimate, immersive experience, the quality of the underlying experience has evaporated.
How disappointing.
You can go along with this, or vote with your feet. Read a book. Go for a walk. Talk to someone. Go for a pint.
Blow up your TV.