Interactive Media

[al_rants]

I have, in the past, ranted about how I don't like watching television. I'm also not fond of movies. My reasoning for this is because it's passive entertainment. For much the same reason, I don't like spectator sports (I'm fond of saying, "Why watch a bunch of guys run around playing a game when you can be the one running around playing the game on

Comments

[al_rants]

My point was not that all media are passive. That was, in fact, the exact opposite of the point that I was trying to make. I was suggesting that some media are active and some passive. The entire point of my rant is that television and movies are passive media, and that reading is an active medium. Which, I notice, is the same way you have categorised them.

I did try to point out that it's not a black and white issue, that sometimes (and for some people) a specific medium can be more or less active or passive than at other times (or for other people). This is also in agreement with what you've posted here.

From what I'm seeing here, it seems like the only difference between what I've said and what you've said is that you've added the "hot/cold" dimension onto the "active/passive" scale. Which is not something I've thought about before. I can see the point that is trying to be made in the snippet of Wikipedia that you've posted, although I'm not sure I agree that television is a cold medium. I say this because television seems more visual than auditory to me, and does almost as much to "demand a viewer's attention" than "requiring... more conscious participation by the [viewer] to extract value."

But other than that, I don't see where there is any divergence in our stated opinions.