We began to unplug ourselves over 50 years ago. Perhaps first with the transistor radio, then the cassette tape and the Walkman in the late 1970s; soon afterwards came portable television receivers. In the 1980s we acquired compact discs (cue roller disco soundtrack), and home camcorders unplugged us a little more as we began to shoot our own television-like content. As audiences, we began unplugging ourselves from appointment television about 10 years ago, and this trend is growing. We no longer sit obediently in front of the box at certain times. We time-shift, delay and replay (Alex, 2010). For a decade now, the trend has been towards narrowcasting and on-demand viewing (Hirst & Harrison, 2007).

But we really started unplugging at a greater rate when audio and video recording went digital: devices began to get smaller; wireless services are now more reliable and the range of television-like devices has grown exponentially. Analogue television signals are being switched off across Australia and New Zealand, and a total switchover to digital (due in 2013) will be in place by the time you’re reading these words. We are unplugging ourselves from large stationary screens in favour of mobile phones, tablets and laptops; all have in-built HD video capability and are web-active. The number of mobile phones in Australia outstripped the nation’s population in 2008 and now smartphones are set to dominate handheld devices. In March 2011, smartphones constituted 70 per cent of the Australian mobile market (Foo, 2011). According to Nielsen Online survey results in February 2012, each day over 500000 Australians use their smartphone to connect to the internet. We are also using smartphones more to chase breaking and major news events (Christensen, 2012).