Watching TV News is S-O-O-O Last Century

Tonight I turned on the news, but I turned off the set almost immediately. It was ABC evening news - but that's not important. What's important is that they'd just finished a story about Bill Richardson, who'd been nominated as Commerce Secretary, and the screen only read: "He's out!"

I wanted to know more, but they'd already moved on to the next story. There was a crawl on the bottom of the screen, but it was on yet another story. I turned to CNN, then MSNBC, but they didn't have the Richardson story either. It was frustrating. It seems that six P.M. is standardized time for TV news, and this was the lead story. I would have to keep flipping to other news programs, or else wait for CNN headline news to start the loop again.

But I went a different route, one that was not available before. I went online to CNN and the full story was waiting for me. I learned that Richardson pulled out because there's a federal grand jury investigating his campaign finances. An indictment was possible. No doubt he was pressured to withdraw so as not to taint Obama's new cabinet.

I don't know if I'll ever catch up to the pace of the internet today, but I have learned that the old ways are disappearing fast. I'm a baby boomer. Most internet users today are way ahead of me. They're not dragging the old media, like TV anchored news programs, behind them like iron chains. I'm used to the time when you sat on the couch and watched the news drip, drip, drip out of the anchor's lips. If you missed part of a story, too bad. You'll catch it on the next news show. But you'd probably have forgotten it by then.

This internet generation may never have that experience. You can find the latest news in seconds from any number of sites. No waiting period. The news is already there, and it's waiting for you.

So what's the next step? Will our computers start to think? Will they become frustrated that we're too slow for them? Maybe my next one will haul my body in front of the screen and hold me hostage until it's finished telling me the news.

I think we're headed in that direction.