Internet-ready TV

[Commentary] For more than a decade, the focal point of the annual International Consumer Electronics Show has been a digital generation of television sets capable of displaying far more detailed pictures than its analog forebears. The most notable development, though, was the growing number of TVs that could bring new sources of entertainment to the screen. Seemingly every major set manufacturer unveiled models that can offer video from the Internet, while the brands already selling Internet-ready sets announced support for a wider range of sites. Granted, the sets typically limit consumers to a "walled garden" of sites chosen by the manufacturer. Their arrival nevertheless portends profound changes in the TV industry. Internet-ready sets weaken the hold that cable and satellite TV operators have over their customers by enabling viewers to receive much of the value of their services for free. The major studios and TV networks have benefited from cable and satellite companies' role as gatekeepers to the living room because they've been able to extract ever-higher fees for their programs. Plugging the Net into TVs and providing open platforms such as Yahoo Widgets, however, means that anyone with a camcorder and a computer will be able to reach the global population of couch potatoes. Their productions probably won't approach the studios' refinement or picture quality, but such shortcomings haven't hurt YouTube and its supply of clips from the grass roots.