Customer Reviews

Producing Interactive Television (Charles River Media Internet & Web Design)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you are a working professional in this field, much better is Interactive TV Technology & Markets by H.O. Srivastava. If you are a consumer getting your feet wet, some of the WebTV or AOL TV books are a better bet. However, if you enjoy pre-internet-crash style needless boosterism combined with a complete lack of understanding of the technologies and business models surrounding interactive television, this is probably the book for you.

Navigating through the complex landscape of ITV is difficult to do. In an industry that finds it hard to define itself, it's very helpful to get a broad picture that clarifies the basic concepts and issues.
In very clear, user friendly words,Annesa Hartman manages to provide a trail through the ITV world I found easy to follow.

The book provides an historical context that is very helpful for understanding the connection between television, the Internet and ITV. It provides an overall picture of the different industry aspects through easy to understand examples of production, technology, standards and content issues. You can also get a "hands on" experience through the CDROM. All of the above allow you to then choose which aspect of the industry you wish to explore further.
The interviews with industry players provide a valuable "inside" look , which I found particularly helpful and interesting.
Great for anyone who is starting out in this field - producers, content creators, technically non-savvy people and students. ( I have used it for my graduate school work)

This book makes it appear as if one can simply write Web applications that will run on Interactive Television - an egregious error. The book fails to mention a number of the major players and products in the industry. It also fails to discuss implementation details (such as headend components) and limitations of which developers must be aware (such as bandwidth restrictions).

This book is simplistic at best and is not worth the investment.

This book proports to give information on how to produce for the interactive television industry. Unfortunately, the information is misguided, since most of interactive television is NOT using the tools or standards listed in the book. Additionally, some of the largest players in the Cable TV space are not even mentioned - players like Comcast, Motorola and SeaChange International.

This book is a terrible dis-service for those individuals who are looking to learn about this complex industry.

The book is an excellent overview of the industry. It provides a historical and developmently approach to the ITV industry. The subject is written with a sense of humor which invites the reader into an arena that may be foreign information. It is well organized with an approach toward learning the subject with points of interest highlighted and a summary at the end of each chapter. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the area of ITV.

In this book, Hartman has pulled together all that any web designer needs to know about television, interactive television, and how to design for what may be the biggest nexus of entertainment and information in our lifetimes. She weaves history, theory, and design, all in user-friendly, informative formats that make the reading and the references both enjoyable.

This book contains a treasure trove of case studies from companies on the bleeding edge of iTV. Ms. Hartman handles the material in a very easy to follow manner. As an animator and designer, I now feel I have the tools for asking the right questions about the medium. iTV is a moving target for content developers, and it is refreshing to see candid takes on the limitations of the industry. The profiles of companies tackling iTV is worth the price of the book. SpiderDance is now on my radar as a truly cool company I'd never heard of. Anybody in the telecommunications industry who has time on their hands, and you know you do, catch up on the latest iTV stuff here. The next place you work may require this knowledge.

I purchased this book to gain more knowledge about the Interactive TV industry, and was greatly disappointed. After learning more about interactive television (via other channels) I was appalled by how inaccurately this book portrays the industry. Many key players are excluded across the industry and the information on what materials are necessary are missing key components. This book was a complete waste of money. I do not recommend it to anyone.

With little background and real interest in this topic, I picked up this book almost by whim and surprisingly found myself quickly growing more intrigued. It's written in an engaging style and provides just enough history for the novice such as myself to see the broader perspectives of this rapidly developing field. It told a "story" but the ending is still unfinished with the author presenting some of the more interesting possibilities. I also really enjoyed many of the "sidebar" interviews of the leading figures in the field. When I started I didn't think I would actually read the whole book but I did. And I glad I did.

I'm quite disappointed in this book. It's not only missing big players in the industry (i.e. SeaChange as a VOD player which has the largest share of the market) but it also gives the wrong impression about the industry. You would think a book released this recent would realize Web thinking in the iTV industry is a major faux pas. This simply shows how little experience the author has in the iTV industry. Buying this book is a complete waste of money.