There’s been some interesting people talking about the future of TV, which got me commenting and thinking. Here’s what I was reading today.

• A post on Contentinople discussing how Boxee CEO Avner Ronen says pay TV systems will move to a la carte.

• Mark Cuban’s post on how Internet people must think content people are stupid for wanting to push a la cart pay TV.

• Jim Louder’s response to Mark Cuban’s post.

Over at Technologizer, I’ve contributed a post about my experiment watching YouTube on my TV through Tivo HD. I had lots of fun with the experiment and I found that there is a place for YouTube in my TV watching schedule.  It’s nothing like real scripted TV from Hollywood, but it’s a great way to share media with friends, or browse a popular video without having to get up to your PC or laptop.

The third option, of course, is to use my iPhone. But that’s not what I reach for when I want to watch YouTube. I guess, it all depends on where I am and what screen is closest. Now that the iPhone 3.0 update will include YouTube log-in, we can all ensure to keep our YouTube acconts synched. I really hate that I can’t sign in right now and I have separate YouTube bookmarks on my iPhone.

Anyway, I’ll be contributing regularly to Harry McCracken’s Technologizer blog in the future. Look forward to seeing everyone there.

In the last few weeks, I’ve become obsessed with Twitter.  To my surprise, this obsession happened very quickly and may not be short-term.

In essence, I’ve drunk the Twitter Kool-Aid.

I think microblogging and sites like Twitter will have tremendous growth in the future. Because Twitter spreads virally, from a group of networked friends, to another group of friends, it spreads very quickly.

Updates aren’t about what you’re doing now. It’s not to see if you’ve just ordered a grande latte from Starbucks or where you are right now. It’s really about how you’re feeling. What you’re reading. What you’re writing about. Photos you’ve taken and want to share. It’s pretty much a mini-Facebook.

Facebook has started to take on Twitter recently. (See the TechCrunch article about why Facebook won’t beat Twitter.) They announced they were opening up their Facebook updates so that any third-party developer can use them. No doubt, Twitter’s popularity is definitely worrying the folks over at Facebook. That’s because when it comes down to it, Facebook’s greatest appeal is the Twitter-like updates. The great part of Facebook is having your own home page, playing games or using the third-party apps. But the updates are the heart and soul of Facebook. It’s bring out your community and fosters more conversation.

Because I use both Twitter and Facebook, I’ve linked my Twitter updates to Facebook, so that they appear for all my Facebook friends. But I’ve been rethinking this strategy. Many Facebookers have not made the move to Twitter yet. As such, Facebookers will encounter strange messages from linked Twitter message. For example: a) Facebookers will see a huge increase in Twitter/Facebook updates because of the interactive nature of Twitter, b) there’s lots of Twitter-specific language, like hashtags, re-tweets and replies to other Twitters and c) essentially if you’re not on Twitter you miss being left out of the Twitter conversation. Also, Twitter’s updates are shared around the entire Internet through third-party APIs. Meanwhile, Facebook is only available to your circle of friends.

Anyway, I’m definitely interested in all the media sharing aspects of Twitter, so I’ll continue to look at that in the future. In fact, Facebook said they would even allow posting of video from their updates–I’m definitely interested in that.

For now, why not follow me on Twitter. I’m at @jalvear - but be forewarned. Twitter can be addictive.

A company called Kwiry has enabled an interesting feature that lets users program their Tivos via text message.  You simply link up your Tivo DVR with an account on Kwiry.com and you can remotely program your DVR on the road.

Just send a message like “Tivo American Idol” to 59479 (KWIRY) and the application sends the command to your DVR.

Kwiry originally was unveiled as a way to perform web searches via text messages; if you type in a word or phrase you get results back on your Kwiry.com account. Think of it as a quick way to get something out of your mind. Kwiry’s slogan is “text it before you forget it” and I think that sums up their service precisely. Kwiry can also connect with other online services like Twitter, Facebook, and NetFlix.

Generally, this service is great for consumers that don’t have a smartphone and can’t access the web (or Tivo’s web site) from their phones.

After hearing about the service today, I signed up with Kwiry, and set up a connection with Tivo by signing in with my Tivo login and password. Then, I was able to choose which Tivo DVR your texts go too. You can also change the recording priority and Season Pass options.

I then texted “Tivo Gossip Girl” and immediately got back a response on my iPhone:

So overall, it seems to work. It even selected the HD version of the show, which I thought was nifty.

However, I walked over to my living room and checked the Tivo to see if it received the command. However after about 20 minutes, I hadn’t received a confirmation message yet. (I’ll report back on how long it actually takes.)  In theory, it should record the next available recording, but CNet’s Crave points out that it may not work well with programs that have lots of repeats. Like everything on VH1 and MTV.

Overall, I think the Tivo/Kwiry service is interesting but it’s not likely something I would use everyday. I already have a smart phone and can access the web on the go. In fact, ever since I added a shortcut to Tivo.com on my iPhone, I’ve been discovering lots of new programs and movies.  I manage to log into Tivo’s mobile site every few days to check in on new shows and other recommendations. Tivo’s mobile web site also looks very good and I don’t mind taking the extra few minutes to visit.

The other downside is: what happens when you spell the show incorrectly? Or incompletely? I haven’t played around with this much, so I don’t have many answers.

Now that I have a Kwiry account I’ll keep track and see if I keep using it, or if it’s just a interesting idea with no real staying power.

Every day, I wake up and ask myself:  Why can’t TV be more like the web? Why can’t it be interactive? Why can’t it be social? Why can’t I get the Internet on my TV?

Ok, this isn’t the first thought I have, but I’ve definitely been thinking a lot about interactive TV. Just recently, I saw that Yahoo is delivering Samsung HDTVs that use Yahoo!’s Widget Engine. What are TV Widgets? They are tiny applications that allow some form of interactive web content that enhances the TV viewing experience.

Only select Samsung’s 2009 flat-panel HDTV lines will support the new TV Widget service, called “Internet@TV - Content Service.”  The Samsung HDTVs will include an Ethernet port and allow for a Wi-Fi connection via a USB dongle. (What a weird world we live in when dongle and widget are actual tech words.)

Applications that will be enabled on TVs include a bunch of Yahoo! properties like Weather, News Finance and Flickr. Developers can also use the Widget Development Kit (WDK) to create almost anything to the TV. (I wonder if anyone will build some Google widgets, hmm.)

Overall, I was really happy to read that Yahoo’s Widgets would enable streaming video, like YouTube.  It’s clearly a step in the right direction, and these kinds of Internet/TV hybrids will be the norm in the future.

What sucks is that this is not a standard; it’s Yahoo’s approach to TV widgets. Will programmers and content companies get behind it? Will they only want to deliver to Samsung HDTV sets? Clearly, Yahoo! sees this as a first step to signing on more TV manufacturers, however it’s too early to know what consumers will do with this.

My feeling is that Yahoo’s TV widgets are  a great idea, but they won’t have much of an impact with anyone (consumers, advertisers, content owners, developers, etc.) because there will likely be slow adoption of broadband-enabled sets, and in particular, Samsung TV sets. Once Yahoo! signs up more TV manufacturers, it may be more compelling.

One thing I keep wondering is: What would Google do with broadband-enabled TV?