TV is the most popular means of mass communications. TV is used for entertainment and for education. Now, you have the introduction of data broadcasting and enhanced television where the internet, computers, and television are converging into a new means of interactive TV communications. These advances are moving TV into a new exciting future. Everyone will eventually think of the new fancy extra functions as expected functions of television.
Television is the future and has always been the future of communications.
There were previous attempts in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s at implementing some form of Interactive Television in the past via special devices over cable television. Then you had another form of Interactive Television where people were prompted to push buttons on a telephone device to make purchase orders through a special telephone number. Then along came the internet and the world wide web. The internet took off and it was only a matter of time before someone thought about connecting television sets to the internet or to some sort of interactivity. The rise of the internet helped to bring about the viability of interactive television.