A Real Alternative to TV

Over the past several days I have spent quite a bit of my 'free time' watching what would have been traditional TV programming on the web. Now that I have high speed internet I have more options available to me for video. Two in particular are really worth checking out both put out by PBS. The first is a Nova series on String Theory called "The Elegant Universe". This is a fascinating look at the evolution of general relativity and quantum mechanics and the rise of string theory as the possibility the holy grail of physics - the unifying 'theory of everything'. PBS publishes the videos in 8 minute segments which makes it really easy to grab bits and pieces as time permits. This is a really well done, highly produced production well worth the time!

The second series is NerdTV, the brain child of Robert Cringely. He describes it as Charlie Rose for nerds. Just as a funny aside, when we first got cable here the very FIRST show I watched was a Charlie Rose episode. Anyway, Cringely has interviews lined up with the best minds from nerdom. His inaugural interview is with Andy Hertzfeld, the original Macintosh systems programmer. I watched it on my laptop in the kitchen while I cleaned the dishes and made the kids lunches. It was a really informative interview. This is a much more down and dirty production. About 10 minutes into the 1 hour interview I found myself wondering why I downloaded a 100 mb movie file while I kept looking at a close up of Andy nodding and smiling repeatedly. Cringely also offers it as a audio download and a text transcript. I will probably opt for the quicker audio downloads in the future.

Anyway, kudos to PBS for embracing the web as a way to distribute their content. Its a great service and a glimpse at the future of content distribution. Good to see my PBS membership dollars being put to good use!