Once upon a time communication was limited to audio only. There were radios, which relayed programs and then there were gramophones which played records. If you fancied “viewing” something on a screen, you had to go to the cinema, unless you were the theatre type, in which case you could dress up as if you own the whole British Empire and go to the theater.
But then, the Scots came up with something, a television. And the people were sure excited! For now you could sit at home and have visual communication and entertainment. Well, it wasn’t that way in the beginning because those televisions were ridiculously large with a disproportionately ridiculous small screen. However, things got better with time until the Japanese decided to have a go… then they got superb!
With giants like Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic and National evolving into giants, the television industry rose to peaks. Every country had National Broadcasting bodies set up. Private channels started dedicated to specific areas like Music, Nature, Engineering, History, Nonsense etc. Families got together to watch their favorite shows, yes everyone. The daughter, the son, the grandparents, the baby, the mother and even the neighbors sometimes.
Then, it all changed. As televisions were being developed, there were other inventions too. Mobile phones, personal computers, gaming consoles, the internet… and they too were developing – fast!
And somehow, somewhere, the scientists mixed them all up in a very confusing way which slowly started to make sense and things began to click into sync. What they’ve ended up with is something every one carries in their pockets. A small slab of plastic, glass and metal. Yup! The Smart Phone.
Now a smart phone is everything. It’s your cell phone, your camera, your phone book, your diary, your computer, your television, your gaming console, your book… it’s your office, your home, your resort, your heaven! Families do not have time to spend with each other anymore.

And that brings us to the point. The television is dying. Well, if not dying it sure is getting very old and weak, and heavy.
HTC, Apple, Nokia, Samsung and their other rivals have been hard at work, they still are and boy are they successful!
Recently the iPhone 4 has been big news! The iPhone 4 was particularly marketed for its “Retina Display” and video calling. It is available from AT&T starting at $199. It features a new video calling software called face-time which enables iPhone to iPhone video calls over Wi-Fi, then it has its amazing Retina Display which has such high resolution that the Human Eye cannot distinguish individual pixels. You also get HD video recording and editing and a 5 mega pixel camera with an LED flash.
The iphone 4 sure has competitors. The most amazing products are from HTC. The HTC Desire HD is one of the most impressive rivals. It can actually match or beat everything an iphone does. Additionally, it is cheaper than the iphone4, plus point. The HTC Desire runs on an Andriod OS by Google. The display and sound system is truly superb! In fact, there is so much perfect with this phone that you can get VERY attached to it!
Speaking of Apple, their Apple TV might be the next big thing in getting audiences back to watching television but thats a story for another day. It remains to be seen if they can win the living room battle with Microsoft and Sony when it comes to gaming on the television set.
The Nokia N series has kept its charm too. Recently they released the Nokia N8, the First Symbian 3 device. Nokia have worked hard on this one and as usual the display is supreme viewing pleasure! But how does this all work? Having an iphone or an HTC or some other smartphone… how is this killing television.
Well, in these modern times a day is 48 hours long which passes in 12 hours flat. In short, there is a time crunch, a very painful one. People no longer have time to sit in front of the telly now that food is portable enough to be eaten while walking, and digested without a sofa. Pardon me.
Most of the people now view programs, shows and even matches on their phones. There are numerous online tv services like TVU and Justintv which allow you to view literally anything you would normally do on your television. And then there is YouTube of course, you should have known that.
The only advantage that television probably has that you can share viewing with people, more of a group activity. But that was what our ancestors did, history. Lifestyles have changed, choices have changed and so have priorities.
The truth is, you would go straight for the iPhone or the HTC if you value your money. Most of the phones from other companies are not actually a real deal. It’s like Germans making food and the French making cars. It is food, and they are cars… but well, a Renault is something German’s use to clean their garbage cans.
So there you are, if you have a television, but no one to watch with, you should sell that off and get yourself something a bit more practical, a bit more personal, a bit more flexible and a lot lighter and powerful.
Welcome to the videophone age. If you find this article helpful, you can always subscribe to our RSS Feed or follow us on Twitter & Facebook for more updates.