Essay #167 "Is Television Still Important?" 03.07.18 Television is one of the most influential technologies of 20th century, however, nowadays it has experienced the drop in its popularity. It has been partially substituted by the internet and different services which provide people with a similar content. I will try to discuss below the overall situation with television technology and why it has become less important in modern life. The step back of television over recent decades has been determined by the development of internet technology and the creation of different internet projects which allow users to get desired information in no time and require only an internet connection. Today people mostly watch news and movies over the internet, and use traditional television broadcasting rearly because of its inconvenience. This has changed the position of television in our lives, making the internet the most important modern mass-media resource. Despite the fact that television channels experience quite a big drop in their ratings the idea of television is still strong enough, but usual broadcasting has changed drastically in order to meet demands and new standards. This spawned a great number of interactive television services, which allow people to fetch all information whenever they want to. So, nawadays, television has transformed into a complex fusion of internet technology and television, rather then old plain broadcasting system. In many cases television is more of entertainment rather then a serious informational source, it has happened because of the development of other means of mass-media and the competition between them. Nowadays it does not play such a crucial part in everyday life as it used to be. It seems that the further development of television will go in absolutely different direction where people will have no need in broadcasting channels and will make their own custom choices of programs with no connection to a particular channel, it will make television more flexible and convenient. To conclude, over recent years television has been affected drastically by new technologies, especially by the internet. Despite the fact that it had a very negative effect on the ratings of broadcasting channels, it has provided television with new features and made it more convenient for users. Thus, nowadays, television has incorporated all positive features of the internet and became a complex entity which creates an absolutely new experience for ordinary viewers with its new features and services.