WATCHING TELEVISION

By Jackson Nzuli.

Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in two or three dimensions and sound. At times, when one is watching an action in a TV, he/she forget the TV and moves with the images in the Television. This is called immediacy in new media.

Take for instance, when one is watching football, he may find himself kicking and acting just like the players in the television.

In this case, the viewer has forgotten the medium (The TV) and will be active in the match just like the players and the audience live at the game.

When a viewer views a boxing contest, he may find himself restless on the couch he sits. He or she forgets everything around, the TV and gets into the real contest.

Often, the viewer will be moving the hands, the head, the legs and the whole body just like the actors in the play. Sometimes, the viewer may kick the objects around him or find himself celebrating crazily just like the audience in the real live game. This is called immediacy.  

I had a friend who used to shed tears we were watching the Nigerian Blood Sisters Movie. He could always get himself inside the situation of the movie and feel like he was the one undergoing the challenges in the movie. He could forget the people around him. At times, I could hear him abuse the characters in the movie. This is an example of immediacy in new media.

The situation whereby the user of the medium forgets the medium and concentrates on the content is called immediacy. Immediacy makes the interface/ medium to be interface less. This is called an interface less interface.