This is a note regarding the name change to "Ruel's Set-Top Net Page." Don't get me wrong: I Love My WebTV! And, NO, the WebTV folks did not tell me to rename the webpages here. WebTV is the current top premiere product that all other TV set-top products will be measured against. Although the WebTV folks have been trying to educate everyone to put the ® registered trademark symbol after the first instance of the word "WebTV" (that's the correct spelling with the caps on the "W" and on the "TV") on a document or webpage, many people use "WebTV," "webtv," "web TV," "Web TV," etc. as a generic term covering all TV Set-Top devices. I receive email from people from all around the world who use "WebTV," in all of its various spellings, as a generic term. They want their "WebTV," but the real WebTV is not available in all countries. So, I thought I should go with a generic term for these webpages. And that generic term is: "Set-Top." "Set-Top" is a nice short term that is not only used in the Television, Cable TV, and TV Set-Top industries. And it also fits nicely in the TV logo for these webpages. The term "Set-Top" covers Interactive TV, Internet TV, Enhanced TV, Personal TV, and much more. So, "Ruel's Set-Top Net Pages" is the name.

So, what is a "Set-Top"? A Set-Top is a box that generally sits on Top of (or somewhere near) a television Set. The Set-Top can be a cable TV box that most people are familar with. Or the Set-Top box can be a genuine WebTV device or another Set-Top device made by a competitor. Other Set-Top devices would include videogame machines such as the Sony PlayStation and the Sega and Nintendo videogame consoles. Set-Top boxes would also include the next-generation cable TV digital interactive boxes that cable TV companies want subscribers to use as soon as the end of 1998 and really beginning in 1999. An expanded definition for Set-Top boxes could also cover the Commodore 64 which is supposed to be making a come-back sometime in the near future as an Internet-capable set-top computer device that you can hook up to your TV set..

There are various different Set-Top Boxes coming out as the convergence of television, computing devices, and the Internet continues to accelerate to change the way we all communicate and distribute information and entertainment. So, as you read these webpages, read carefully, think about what you want, whether you "THINK TV," and you decide for yourself which is the TOP set-top box for you.

Happy Set-Top Surfing!
Ruel

Click for What's Happening
with SET-TOP BOXES
and INTERACTIVE TV
(It's not only WebTV....)