Now Stephen Effros, a prominent cable industry consultant who has long been skeptical of the interactive television industry's promises, is laughing the contrarian's hearty laugh. Video on demand is not Wink, and Wink is what we were calling interactive television two years ago. We're changing the word to meet what the market is, rather than explaining what the concept was in the first place. Mr. Effros said many proponents of interactive television made the mistake of assuming that technological advances would bear economic fruits. We could manufacture automobiles that are far superior to automobiles manufactured today, but that doesn't mean that consumers would pay money for them.
Every technology is a compromise.
Mr. Bernoff, for one, stands behind his original market projections and is even going so far as to suggest that an upcoming Forrester report will raise the consultancy's estimates of the size of the American interactive TV market even higher. Yankee Group Analyst Adi Kishore, however, is of the same mind as Mr. Effros on the rosy outlook for video on demand relative to the future of other services that have been labeled interactive. I think in the longer term it could be t-commerce. Mr. Kishore said multiple system operators such as Charter Communications are using Diva's software and server infrastructure to create a platform designed to allow cable customers to view any program in the MSO's collected library of shows at any time by simply clicking their remote controls. And Comcast has inked a deal with Concurrent Computer for the same purpose.