brian eno talks about youtube and television

[therealsweep]

Nice one, Brian, about TV. I'm glad someone's saying this.

[Oldbmwr100rs]

He's partially right, major broadcast television is dead, overrun with non programming and far too much advertizing. Another thing wrong with it is the same with radio, the complete lack of good engineering. On radio it's bad segues,dead air, overlapping songs and adverts,there's not even interest in trying to do a good job. With TV its that no effort is put into making anything entertaining or even to try to make a decent presentation. There's no respect for the audience,and people notice.

[CiaranPaulRoche]

Televison murdered itself...... Yet, billions till suckle at the tit. True individual capitalism (not corporatism) was my nieve utopian vision of the Internet back when I started building commercial websites in the early 90's. I believed if everyone was connected the cream will naturally rise to the top and then your eyes, you the audience will be the true commodity of the future. You are, afterall, just someone to sell to.

[funkb0x]

TV is dead but the people still have to pay a TV license for a useless service, even if you only have a radio. All I have is a computer monitor & the internet, yet they threaten me with £1,000 fines if I don't pay. The BBC has far more legal backing than I do. Why am I still legally obliged to pay the bill? And how do I get off this swindling roundabout? The BBC directors pay themselves ridiculous bonuses & give us nothing we can't find on the internet. Paying an ISP every month should cover me.

[therealsweep]

@funkb0x They used to pester me as well. I think in the end they finally worked out that I really don't have a TV and don't want one. Not having an aerial on the house may have helped. But I also had some discussions with the guy who was the LibDem shadow media minister at the time, and he helped. Whether the LibDems are still helpful now Clegg's got hold of them is another question. But stick to your guns and don't let these peope intimidate you or demand to search your house or any of that.

[801liveable]

BRYAN FERRY, says ENO is the funniest person he ever met..

[mariothepookster]

avant garde, creative ... a musical genius

[JulianBaynes1]

I agree wholeheartedly with what he said about television.

[PorroFirst]

Why should I listen to Brian Eno.. he speaks only shit.

[organaphus]

@PorroFirst Why bother looking at the video and commenting on it then? You are either a troll or a dickhead. Probably both.

[coolshit28]

Wouldn't say Tv is dead. Still nice to veg out in front of the box. TV is just another alternative. Internet can be equally boring. Everything has its place. The internet has its draw backs and we all know that.

[jeremyshaw]

Once again, Mr. Eno has nailed it! G-d he's briliant and so much American TV does suck anymore

[TheSongsparrow]

Freaks and Geeks and That 70's Show are proof TV rocks!

[wlwak]

I got rid of my TV and after a week of withdrawal, I wouldn't have one for a china teapot now.

[dudestube]

Yes, TV is indeed dead in it's tracks, at a standstill. Programming is redundant...and repetitive in a way not unlike the radio. Your chances of finding something of interest, by chance through the TV, are astronomically small. It happens in all channels of media. The internet TV is the direction we are heading in....good or bad.

[halfmonk]

television is not finished. artists rarely understand that commerce has the same kind of organic cycle that everything else does. television is a commercial tool. artists tend to see the world though their own filter which is good but it is not always accurate. just because someone is not interested in something does not mean it is finished. in terms of sheer numbers, eno is a drop in the bucket compared to television. i could just as easily declare eno finished and be right.

[pureloveracing]

You missed his point. He's not saying the medium is useless. He's just saying that it's been wasted, outdated and it's recovery, if it will happen at all, will be a long hard road.

[halfmonk]

he contradicted himself in his own statement. he said "television is finished," then went on to say it would have to change. these kind of provocative attempts at definitive prophecy are arrogant and make him sound pretentious as hell. why would anyone be interested in brian eno's assessment of television? as i said before, television is a tool of commerce, not an art medium. what eno might say about it is irrelevant especially those who watch television and "support" it by buying into it.

[idealtypical]

"...artists rarely understand that commerce has the same kind of organic cycle that everything else does. television is a commercial tool. artists tend to see the world though their own filter which is good but it is not always accurate..."

Eno's not talking about commerce or even about television as such. He's talking about television as a cultural force, its relevance to human life. It was powerful when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan. It's self-evident that it's significance has waned.

[halfmonk]

significant? to what? i do not recognize eno as an expert on culture especially not american culture. television is still a cultural force. it's just not a cultural force that he likes. citing the beatles on ed sullivan as significant is missing most of what is significant about television. don't misunderstand, i'm not saying that tv is important or beneficial. it is not but it is also not dead by a long shot. artists are often so busy looking ahead they fail to see what is obvious.

[idealtypical]

You're responding not to Eno's remarks but rather to those of a 'straw man'--i.e., someone who mistakenly thinks that since you're maintaining that TV isn't dead, you therefore think it to be important/beneficial. But nobody's claiming that, least of all Eno.

It's also semantics. When Eno says 'tv's dead', that's hyperbole, used in a coherent way. To infer that he is in fact concerned only w/ culture that "he likes" is without basis. As is this stuff about artists missing "what is obvious."

[halfmonk]

it is the hyperbole to which i am referring. a intellectual tactic of dismissing reality to make a point. it sounds provocative but it is something only in eno's head. a rhetorical effect without substance. to be honest, i've already spent more time on this than it's worth.

[idealtypical]

"to be honest, i've already spent more time on this than it's worth."

Fair enough. I'll plead guilty to the same charge. Cheers.

[narozzz]

@idealtypical - If you guys are British.....you honestly don't know how lucky you are. The UK is the probably the only place in the world where TV not only still holds potential as an art medium but delivers on it.

[idealtypical]

"If you guys are British.....you honestly don't know how lucky you are."

Nope, American. But also -- like you are, I gather -- something of an Anglophile. And I agree w/ you about British television, albeit with reservations. In the main, it's still way better than the utter shit produced in the USA. But there's decidedly parochial about UK culture @ its worst. E.g., celebrity culture in some ways seems more pervasive across the pond. But mass culture is so fragmented now, it's hard to know.

[vintageification]

Indeed tv is dead, too many advertisements between programs, Reality shows that exploit the public and insult our intelligence, z-list celebrities that are all in it for the money, tv is dead and the internet has taking its place.

[entropious88]

TV is dead!

Create your own world.

Brian is a prophet that should be respected.

Thanks for sharing.

[alien8ted]

"Rethink your world" Good T-shirt slogan!

[dullsvillain]

Love that guy

[daveyfarrell]

@dullsvillain