Sigh. Yesterday I wrote about the app-focused idol gameshow that is currently in production, and I have to be honest: though I understand the motivations in making a show like this, I think it’s a terrible idea.
One look at the sponsors of the show and you can piece together how this show came into being. The well-intentioned Taiwan government, understanding it needs to sow the seeds of tomorrow’s economy today, decides it needs a way to increase awareness of the mobile space and perhaps encourage software programming and finds an eager group of telecom companies who stand to gain from a stronger mobile space. Somewhere, the TV studio JTV crosses paths with them and during a night of drinking this idea of an app gameshow comes up and, unlike most alcohol-induced ideas, this one somehow sticks.
Taiwan has done a remarkable job recently in fostering a startup culture. Efforts like Taipei’s first Startup Weekend, the Institute for Information Industry, and incubators like AppWorks have gone a long way in carving a groove of legitimacy for Taiwan’s startup scene. I wouldn’t write about Taiwan as much as I do if I didn’t believe in Taiwan’s potential to one day be a strong regional internet and software influence. Which is why the prospect of a show like this bothers me, and should bother everyone else who cares about Taiwan: AppStar will undermine those efforts by turning something genuine into saccharine-sweet pop artifice for the masses.
Look, some things belong on TV and some things do not. This is an example of something that does not. Even in the best case scenario, where the program is produced tastefully (unlikely) and the apps are first-class (unlikely), who the hell is going to watch a television idol show based on application programmers?
Just look at the shows that typically come out of JTV. 超級偶像, 百萬大歌星, 麻辣天后宮, etc. If these names mean anything to you then you are familiar with the culture that surrounds them. A playful, cute narcissism with little actual programming depth. How on earth is this going to befit mobile applications?
It’d be nice if Taiwan’s young, bright minds could channel themselves into a culture of strong software/internet development, but shows like this cheapen any real effort to make that happen. Maybe I’m wrong and maybe this is Taiwan finding its post-hardware tech niche. But is the image of glamorous and cute apps that lack any innovative technical depth the niche that Taiwan really wants?
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“Hey Taiwan, Want to be Taken Seriously? Don’t Turn Startups into Gameshows!”
What a statement.
Do you take the TV shows presented in America into consideration as well, when taking about Silicon Valley?
Want to be taken seriously? Good luck.