The television is not dead

For all the tech-savvies out there, the television is irrelevant. And by television I mean the actual box attached to a satellite dish through a a set-top box and what not.

From their daily dose of entertainment and news, to their daily social interactions, everything is on their smartphones — and that makes our favourite idiot box very irrelevant.

And why not? If the kids are watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix and the aunts are watching saas-bahu serials on Hotstar, then why need a TV?

See, the Internet has transformed the meaning of ‘television’ to a rather vague one with very flexible boundaries. Television is that which is not relayed at a cinema theatre.

Everything else could easily fall under the broad category of television. But I digress. I believe the television holds a good amount of relevance and for the following reasons:

1. Power packed Arnab Goswami debates:

Without Arnab, how would we know what the mood of the nation is? How would we know who, in Rajdeep Sardesai’s words, the ‘pumpkin of the day’ is?

And I refuse to believe that someone would log onto YouTube to religiously watch the debate(s) they missed, unless they wanted to find something they were looking for.

Or maybe I am wrong in assessing Indian audiences.

But you don’t chase Arnab looking for him on websites. He comes to you on your favourite news channel Times Now, India’s “leading 24-hour English news channel.”

2. Repeat telecasts of Sooryavansham on Sony MAX:

Without this, there wouldn’t be questions like these on Quora:

3. Making me feel safe when home-alone:

A television will always make sure that I feel safe when nobody is around. Its constant sound in the background will ensure that I have nothing to fear. In this regard, the television always beats the smartphone/laptop.