A slew of related news items clogging up my desktop:

Electronics makers rally around Linux, July 2, 2003, ZDNet: Matsushita Electric, Sony, Hitachi, NEC, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba on Tuesday announced the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum, or CELF, a consortium designed to adapt and advance the operating system for use in consumer electronics.

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Internet opening doors for independent filmmakers, June 30, 2003, statesman.com: "Right now, the content most people create is no substitute for what we can get from the major media companies," said Jed Kolko, an analyst at Forrester Research in San Francisco. "Today's speeds aren't really great enough to do any sort of widespread broadcasting of entertainment content. The potential is there, but it will be a while before the Internet is really used as a true entertainment device."

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New technology a boon for big screen, June 30, 2003, CNET: The digitization of celluloid films is being driven by several factors. Studios are restoring old movies with new, cheaper technology and converting old and new films alike for release on high-definition formats that will far surpass current DVDs in quality.

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Reprogramming radio and TV habits, June 30, 2003, Boston Globe: Just as TiVo digital recorders enable consumers to pause live television, skip ads, and easily store shows for later viewing, Gotuit Audio's product, marketed as ''The Radio That Remembers,'' will allow you to do the same with Howard Stern and 50 Cent...Company number three is called Pause Technology. Pause is a company set up as the repository for what could prove a very important patent, issued to Jim Logan and a partner in 1995. The patent is for a ''Time Delayed Digital Video System Using Concurrent Recording and Playback.'' Logan believes that TiVo, among other manufacturers, is infringing on this patent, which was filed in 1992.

After TiVo refused to license the patent from Logan and Pause, the company sued TiVo in US District Court in Boston. The case could go to trial next year, and it could have a major impact on anyone who is building -- or intends to build -- a TiVo-like device for storing digital video while also watching a show.

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Catering To The Demographic Of Dumbasses, June 29, 2003, Plastic (via DelawareOnline.com): The 1960s and 70s were, according to Pierson (Frank Pierson, writer of Cool Hand Luke and Dog Day Afternoon, and current president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), a golden age for cinema because by then the builders of the studio system were on their way out and control was loosened. But, when the money men saw just how much profit a blockbuster could make, an orgy of mergers and acquisitions (and the resultant debt thereof) led to today's environment of minimal risk-taking and pandering to the lowest common denominator.

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Hip-hop filmmaker Kevin Epps gets right to the point, June 25, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle: "It was good for the youngsters because they saw a brother with a tripod, not just somebody hanging out on the corner all day selling drugs," Epps says. "It helped me get that stigma off of brothers and off of me that everybody that's supposed to be about something is a drug dealer."

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Big names in tech join forces- Group tries to sync consumer electronics, June 25, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle: A group of 17 major technology companies -- including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and Sony -- announced Tuesday the creation of a consortium to draft guidelines to enable consumer gadgets like TVs, cell phones and PCs to work together as one system in the home. Called the Digital Home Working Group, the alliance was unveiled in San Francisco...The group envisions a future in which consumers can store, manage and use digital content, such as home videos and photos, on any home device...The group hopes to address the problem of consumer electronic products that can't operate with each other because they are based on different proprietary standards.

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Digital America 2003, June 2003, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), : Digital America 2003, The U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry, showcases the growth and opportunity in the consumer electronics market, from handheld computers and personal video recorders (PVRs) to wireless phones and MP3 players. Available free as an online publication, Digital America 2003 explains new technology trends that are enhancing consumers’ lifestyles and workstyles by bringing information, entertainment and communications almost anywhere, any time.

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Subscriber base of Reality TV on rise, India, June 23, 2003, NewsTodayNet.com: Reality TV, a 24-hour channel which combines hard-hitting and real-life drama with its unpredictable footage, has achieved a total viewership of 35 million subscribers across five continents. The channel reaches 35 million homes in 15 languages across 100 territories and in India alone the reach is 15 million homes.

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Digital in-home entertainment networks are the next must-have, Monday, June 23, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle: The rapid adoption of the MP3 format for playing music shows "the consumer mind-set is changing to accept the idea of getting their entertainment on demand, anywhere, anytime," said Kurt Scherf, vice president of Parks Associates.

The Dallas market research and consulting firm forecasts that about 5 million U.S. households may have an integrated home entertainment network set up in the next five years.

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Michael Dell Says Standardization of Digital Home to Lower Costs for Consumers, June 23, 2003, Business Wire: By driving industry standards for consumer technologies, the convergence of a broad range of consumer electronic equipment in the home -- with the personal computer being at the center -- is inevitable, Dell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said during a media briefing... "As we saw with personal computing, high-performance workstations, server computing, services, storage and the data center, standardization is inevitable," Mr. Dell said. "And with standardization comes another certainty -- the customer always wins through lower costs and freedom from proprietary products at unreasonable prices."

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Reality, schmeality. Scripted TV rules., March 6, 2003, Media Life Magazine: For all the talk of a flush of new reality shows, it's real scripted shows that are fluffing out network schedules. Moreover, a study by Magna Global USA reports that sitcoms and dramas accounted for a higher percentage of rating points in the February sweeps than they did in 2002 and even more than two seasons ago, when ABC’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” accounted for the bulk of unscripted hours. Sitcoms, for example, accounted for 18 percent of household rating points this sweeps through mid-February, compared to 16 percent two seasons ago. Dramas accounted for 41 percent of household ratings, which was up from 36 percent in 2001.

“There’s no question that the foundation of the networks is still the scripted programs,” says Steve Sternberg, senior vice president and director of audience analysis at Magna.

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Will reality bite TV networks?, March 4, 2003, USA TODAY: (Reality TV shows), which test people's talents, endurance or simply their tolerance for humiliation, filled 13% of broadcast networks' prime-time schedules last month. The share could be 40% this summer. And they'll represent a big chunk of fall lineups for the 2003-04 TV season.

"In the 27 years I've been in the business, I have never seen the landscape of TV move as quickly as it has over the last few months," says NBC Group President Randy Falco.