The Culture of Television

        Television has been around for as long as most of us can remember.  Whether a means of escaping reality as a child, a form of idleness as a teenager, or a time to relax and recuperate as an adult, television has likely been one of our favorite forms of entertainment throughout our lives.  As we have grown up experiencing the pop culture than radiates from the screen, we have also subtly grown with the advances in television technology.  It is often even somewhat comical for one to pull out an old wooden television or VHS tape for a day of reminiscence, and to realize the actual extent of the improvements in quality made over the past few decades.  The subtle upgrades have added up to be so substantial in the eyes of most people that it seems almost difficult for them to even enjoy the act of watching television in the first place.  One of the most significant improvements to television in recent history has been the innovation of digital operation and the steady swing of the prevalent form of technology in society to being more and more in favor of digital operation in television.  This switching of the dominant form of television technology will have lasting effects on both the characteristics of the television system itself as well as the society sitting on a hypothetical couch watching.