3-D TVs are more evidence we live in the future

The concept of 3-D television was once a staple of science fiction stories, but it's now a reality. Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic are all marketing their own 3-D TV displays and banking on the popularity of 3-D movies like Avatar to tempt consumers into buying their sets.

The over-riding message from technology pundits seems to be that unless you're keen to be the first on your block to own the latest, shiny electronic toy, then you should probably wait. There isn't a lot of content yet and the sets are fairly expensive, not to mention the costly glasses you have to wear are not compatible with other sets. Imagine inviting a gang of friends over to watch the World Cup in 3D and realize that you have to shell out a couple of hundred bucks for each extra pair of glasses.

That isn't stopping the electronics companies from going full steam ahead with these new TVs. They are counting on them being the next big thing, LG wants to capture 25% of the market by the end of the year and Sony's is banking on 3-D technology for not only TV sets, but for video game systems. Hollywood is certainly planning to cash in with as many 3-D features as they can.

What happens when every movie and every TV show is 3-D? Then they will simply become movies and TV shows again and the ones with the best stories will be what we want to see. It happened with sound and colour, two revolutionary innovations in cinema technology which are now taken for granted.