Synthesis Studios

Talk about a class full of ideas!

Assignments from day one are going pretty well considering they’re not easy at all! Students are struggling a bit with the tolerances (and the annoyances) of the paper clock, and most haven’t even started the Sterling engine yet — we’ll see how it will all come together next week. One question that dogged me: “why build these clocks?” My answer is simple and it has to do with experience. This class is not one of mechanical engineers, so actually building something and following plans will help prime their imaginations for their final projects.

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Yesterday was day one of “Physical Computing without Computers” (H79.2584 for you NYUers), and, in my opinion, it went pretty swimmingly! My class were like kids in kindergarten as I armed them with Make Volume 7, some of the parts to assemble the Sterling engine, and Make Your Own Working Paper Clock. Why start out with those two projects? First off — any “computer” is going to need a power source, and in my class electricity is out of the question. So, given that, a Sterling engine seemed like a great way to turn heat into rotational motion. Secondly, sometime during the term, people’s projects are going to get large enough that they are going to require some sort of synchronization — hence the clock.

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So, now that all the good stuff isn’t on TV, what can networks do to keep us on the TV instead of roaming about? To answer that, let’s rephrase it slightly. Let’s ask, “What’s special about TV?”

There’s at least two ways to answer that question: technology and community. Unless you’re watching video on demand, you’re effectively participating in a multicast stream — all US television viewers (over the air, on the cable, or blasted down from a satellite) have so much video being blasted into our homes that promise.tv is impossible here. That’s a lot of pre-allocated bandwidth. Community-wise, watching live television is almost akin to being part of the “now” culture — given the time it takes for a video to appear on iTunes, it’s impossible to join in on the water cooler talk the next day.

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The whammy for our boob tube habit is that the most exciting thing about the Fall 2006 television season is: what’s not on our televisions. Is this predicting is the end of our “free TV” as we know it.

No longer are we scouring the news and watching advertisements to find out when new (and returning) TV shows are premiering. No longer are we waiting for them. In fact, now, the studios are pushing them into our faces as quickly as they can. Aaron Sorkin’s new dramedy, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and NBC’s new thriller Kidnapped are both available ready for the renting through our favorite DVD-by-snail-mail-operation Netflix weeks before their third-week September premiere dates over the airwaves. The Class (CBS’s attempt at a comedy) is going to show up on TiVo a week before its 18 September date. Of course, what the networks are trying to do is reel people in early — but it leaves me wondering whether this is good or bad for them? Are they missing out on the opportunity to get advertising during their new show premieres? Just like box office openings, isn’t that their only chance?

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