You click the order button, the cost of the shirt is deducted from your online bank account and the shirt itself is delivered to your door the next day. A quick check of tomorrow's weather tells you that it will be sunny and warm, so you'll be able to wear your new shirt to the local theme park, a trip you booked through the TV just before watching the Arnie flick. Though i-TV is still in its infancy throughout most of Europe, industry analysts expect it will be coming soon to a living room near you. And by 2005, Forrester Research in Amsterdam estimates that i-TV services will reach some 80 million households. France has led the way in the global i-TV industry.
People have PCs at home or the office for that.
CanalSatellite, on the other hand, will be punching a door in those walls, providing its 1.4 million users Europe-wide with a seamless transition between television and the Web. Most analysts think that the walled garden approach will soon be overgrown by the Web's tendrils. Part of this group is to be found in the U.K., where i-TV has been coming on strong for the past two years. OnDigital offers interactive games plus the ability to exchange e-mails while watching films. An online auction channel and full Internet access are planned for later this year.