Idea
I get my tech news by scrolling, and the feed never finishes, so I never finish either. I wanted something I could switch on in the morning, watch for a few minutes, and switch off. So I built a television. Turn it on, turn the dial, and each channel is a short show:
- A news studio with the day’s headlines.
- Market tickers and candlestick charts.
- A gadget review.
- An industry forecast, styled like the weather.
The headlines are all made up, parody tech news written to sound almost real. When you have seen what is on, you turn it off. A feed you can reach the bottom of. Wiring it to real news so it opens on the day’s actual headlines is the next thing I want to try.
Dial
The interaction I cared about most was tuning. I did not want a menu of channels. I wanted the feeling of hunting for a station, with static in the gaps. You can change channels four ways:
- Drag the dial on the set.
- Scroll on the screen.
- Press a number on the remote.
- Use the arrow keys.
The numbers on the panel light up as you land on them, and dead channels showing snow sit between the live ones, so scrubbing feels like finding something rather than picking it. The knob took the longest to get right: a real dial has weight and little clicks and should never spin the wrong way when you let go, so this one tracks your finger and settles on the nearest channel by the shortest path.
Channels
There are no video files. The browser draws every channel live, and a CRT shader adds the curve of the glass, the scanlines, the color fringing, and the way the picture collapses to a dot when you cut the power. Each channel has its own look, type, and motion.
Sound
Every channel has its own sound too, all synthesized in the browser with no audio files:
- The news runs an urgent underscore, the way a real broadcast does.
- The markets have a trading floor and an opening bell.
- The forecast has wind, rain, and a warm chord when the sun comes through.
- The film reel channel is just the rattle of a projector.
It all plays through a simulated cabinet speaker, so the sound comes from the little box, not your headphones. An early version had a news anchor’s voice that sounded haunted and creepy, so I removed it.
TV Set
- The knobs are knurled, and the highlights move across the teeth as you turn them, which is what makes them read as metal.
- The glass carries a faint reflection of the room that fades once the picture is bright.
- When the set is on, it lights the dark room with whatever is playing.
Remote
On a laptop the remote hides until you need it. When the set is off it sits tucked at the bottom edge of the screen with only the power button showing. Move your cursor toward it and it rises into view. Move away and it settles back down. On a phone it stays visible the whole time.
