What IPTV will be.

The word TV could be misleading, since the IP and the traditional TV will substantially be different, because different IS the transport of content and different IS the substance of content.
IPTV will be similar to the traditional TV in the sense that will be a display of content prepared and sent from a central server to many "clients".
The servers of course can be millions and the "clients" billions.
In this it will be different from any P2P or "search and download".
There will be a schedule and the audience will choose the more suitable time to connect in order to have the wanted content.
Till now not so much different from traditional TV.
But what will IPTV mean as improvement compared to the traditional TV?

1) Footprint. Any Producer theorethically from any part of this world can reach any consumer on any country of this world.
Traditional TV and Satellite TV are restricted to a limited footprint coverage.
This will have a huge imoprtance, because very specialized programs and content will find the reason and meaning to exist.
And specialized content means specialized producers.
While in a restricted area is difficult to find the minimum number of listeners and viewer of certain programs, on a large scale like the one offered by the full world footprint, it will be easy to find the minimum number that allows enough revenue for the broadcasting of a transmission .

2) Low Cost. The Internet as a tranportation way can beat any other for cost and availability. Can beat also any other as possible customers' number.
Internet capacity and traffic are growing rapidly.

3) High quality pictures and music. Also magnetic storage capacity is growing rapidly and that is the right direction of IPTV.
More than a low bandwidth streaming it will be a high quality downloading.
Download when it is broadcasted and store it to see later. Just any TV transmission.
Displays are improving slowly, but improving.
And with them the need of high quality videos and audios.
You cannot display a low quality movie on a high quality display.
And if you are used to enjoy good quality music and videos, you simply cannot enjoy a tiny screen and bad resolution...

4) Interactivity. Internet delivery is likely to facilitate evolution of TV (HDTV).
And the most important feature will be the interactivity. (The real interactive TV, ...)
Also commercials will be different.
More as "movies as commercials" than "commercials in the movies".
The customer wants to be entertained and be an active part of the enertainment.
This is quite clear if we look at the type of entertainment most popular among Internet users: video games, emailing, forums, chat lines.
In a society which kills individualism, where individuals are seen as consumers, where socializing gets everyday more difficult, the Internet is the new mean to regain one own's identity, one own's share in the game, in the communication.

On one side what is called "long tail" and on the other side the possibility to interact give the consumer the voice he has lost with the other entertainments, one way means: traditional TV, Radio, Cinema.
IPTV will win in the short run, because it is the answer to the demand of the individual of today.
It will be many things, but the most valuable and important will be giving space to the single man on the road and in its own way the real democratic dlivery of human production...

Since the rates of change are:

technology: fast
consumer habits: slow
industry dogmas: slowest

The question is:

Will it beat Internet Time?