The personal computer. The television. These are two of the most important technologies in the last half-century. One revolutionized the way we work, the other revolutionized the way we relax. But more importantly, both revolutionized the way we stay informed.

In the late 1970s, several experiments with "interactive TV" beginning with the cable TV-based QUBE in Columbus, Ohio, in 1977 were conducted. While the interactive technology still needed some computing muscle, it was the public, still unexposed to the power and interactivity of the PC and videogames, who was clearly not ready to put down TV remotes and pick up a control pad or keyboard.

By the late 1980s, however, the PC had started invading the home and every home with a child, or so it seemed, also had a videogame system nearly as powerful as the PC. Suddenly "Video 1" became an important switch on the TV. Since the computer monitor and the TV used the same screen, and consumers now were used to typing and pushing buttons to manipulate images on a screen. Why not finally combine, or converge the two?

Programmers looking to get a start on a "smart" TV and convergence began in the mid-1990s to use the vertical blanking interval (VBI) to present all manner of information to the TV watcher. Electronic program guides (EPGs) and nascent Internet-based interactivity, such as searching for sports scores and statistics while watching a game, became available. In 1996, the set-top box-based WebTV brought the Internet to a TV near everyone, followed by AOLTV in 2000. Neither WebTV nor AOLTV caught on with consumers, however; in 2002, AOL pulled the plug on its AOLTV operation. MSN TV devices, however, still are being marketed by Microsoft.

In 2005, several other attempts to merge the Internet with TV were made by such companies as Akimbo and Dave.TV that delivered niche programming channels that could be viewed on a computer or a TV screen. Apple, Google, Yahoo and several other online sites began to offer TV shows that could be downloaded for viewing on a PC or a portable device such as the iPod. And both Verizon and Sprint began to offer TV shows downloaded over the cellular network. A separate digital broadcast technology called DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) is being developed to transmit live TV to cell phones and other portable devices.

The problems with the convergence between the PC and TV were immediately evident. TV used interlacing technology to produce an image, while the PC monitor used progressive scanning. Plus, the PC is a single-person experience, while the TV was perceived as a group activity. Other terms used to describe the fundamental differences between the two technologies include lean forward (PC) vs. lean back (TV) and the two-foot (PC) vs. the 10-foot (TV) experience. But thanks to the Grand Alliance's flexible HDTV solution, and the changing behavior toward their TVs by the public, the marriage between the TV and the PC, as well as digital audio and video recording systems, may occur in the new millennium.