Remote Access

It is a revelation of some sort. Even while executing the most mundane tasks that we do, the process of thinking lingers behind the background. Else we would have achieved nirvana with ease.
It struck me like a lightning suddenly while I was surfing the channels on my television set. I wasn’t sure of what struck me as I continued to surf. I was threading through the sequence of lucid thoughts when I realized that it was about the channel surfing!! It is ritualistic procedure to surf channels, which is occasionally hampered by low battery. Else the freedom of choice lies just in front of ones eyes; a choice that is just a click away and that which can be exercised anywhere within range, at any reclined position, or even reflected at appropriate angle.

But this time, suddenly I was tempted to follow the flow of thoughts while I actually surfed. Firstly the Nomadic Surfing; there is this uncertainty about what one wants to be entertained with. From among cartoons to actions cuts to scantly clad fashion porn, one don’t know what the mood of the moment is. Hence one surfs to stumble upon something wroth viewing as dictated by the moment. I do recollect having surfed across the hundred available channels over and over again, with occasional sojourn in quest of solace. This is the commonest of all cases. This gypsy freedom is so alluring that we stick to surfing over some other program of choice.

The second one, I call the Pop Corn Surfing. As one might have guessed, it happens during the commercial brakes. While one is bewitched by some twenty minute programmed protracted into an hour long episode, nothing can be more irritating than the equally long commercial brake. The feeble human mind tends to believe that it can locate some other small program elsewhere within the commercial break’s span. On the contrary, one would manage to find only commercials in every other channel as well. Yet unlike the nomadic surfing, this is definitive and time bound but usually unproductive.

The third is the Hybrid surfing. This surfing needs some planning and strategy in order to be executed successfully. While one indulges in the Pop corn surfing, one might stumble across another program worthy of watching. More often than not, this is the source of hybrid surfing, which is about managing to watch two or more programs simultaneously. The ideal example would be watching 2 movies on some special occasions, both of which will be stretched by over 75% one can manage to watch both of them simultaneously by planning it properly. This is preferred surfing technique and pretty productive too. The effectiveness depends on the planning done.

The fourth is the Stealth Surfing. The target customers are the teens. You guessed it right. It is all about reflex action. The possibility of this kind of surfing depends on the orientation of the TV with respect to the intruder. This surfing is also seasonal, I mean heightened on Saturday nights and also channel specific. Unlike the other types of surfing, this is a situational and forced surfing where in the viewer is actually reluctant to surf. Yet to mask or justify the sudden absence of screen display, then viewer might jump to 2 or more channels till the intrusion ceases.

The fifth one is called the Anticipation surfing. This occurs while surfer is interested only in the small portion of the program viewed. Say for example a cricket match highlights. While watching the highlights, the viewer might switch to otherwise Pop corn surfing and might want to come back to the highlights in order to get the glimpse of the fall of wicket or a six. Unlike Pop corn surfing, anticipatory surfing requires the program to have been viewed once already. This kind of surfing overrides the lesson of experience that it is virtually impossible to jump back to the previous channel at the right time. Sometimes during the course of surfing, the anticipated moment might be completely forgotten.

The sixth one is called the Curious surfing. This surfing is frequent between a selected set of channels. For example, the surfing among the news channels on the wake of flash news. The surfing is furious and engrossing but limited to few set of channels showing the same footages over and over again. But the viewer is hopeful of spotting something extra to satiate his curiosity. But this surfing is not all together futile, one might get an information may be a few seconds in advance. Unlike the other surfing methods, which are used as time pass, this one about the useful utilization of time. Hence the viewers tend to club a few channels together based on linguistic or program specific basis.

The seventh one is called the Blurred Surfing. This happens when only the reception is not proper. That is, the viewer tries to locate some channel that is received or displayed properly. Unlike the other surfing techniques, this one arises due to a loss of choice and is forced. The occurrence of his surfing is pretty rare.

After having discussed all this, now I appreciate the wonder called Remote. The very design of the channel swap, jump, and quick access buttons. It is an aesthetically designed engineering marvel aimed to please me. So I shall go back to use it. But the next time I surf, I am not sure if I will forget these categories or if I am going to classify them everytime I surf. Pobably i need t owait and see.