nteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities

I had dinner the other evening with some friends from New England. The couple splits its time between a home in the southern part of New Hampshire during the winter and a scenic farm in northern Vermont during the summer. In the past, I've had opportunities to visit both places and travel with them between their homes.

As dinner progressed, the conversation turned to the Old Man of the Mountain, a natural rock formation on the New Hampshire landscape that serves as a symbol adorning state highway signs and license plates. I'd stopped on several occasions at Franconia Notch State Park to view the Old Man from a distance.

In May 2003, erosion, wind and weather finally took their toll on the Old Man, when in an instant the rocks gave way and the landmark slid down the mountain and into history. At dinner, I asked in passing about the event and my friends told me a few things I had never known about the landmark.

The Old Man of the Mountain had existed in a tenuous state for years, my friends said. In an effort to preserve the landmark, the state had wrapped chains and cables around portions of the face to keep it in place. Plastic was strategically placed in an effort to prevent rain from penetrating crevices, freezing, expanding and making the face more unstable. Volunteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities b

>As dinner progressed, the conversation turned to the Old Man of the Mountain, a natural rock formation on the New Hampshire landscape that serves as a symbol adorning state highway signs and license plates. I'd stopped on several occasions at Franconia Notch State Park to view the Old Man from a distance.

In May 2003, erosion, wind and weather finally took their toll on the Old Man, when in an instant the rocks gave way and the landmark slid down the mountain and into history. At dinner, I asked in passing about the event and my friends told me a few things I had never known about the landmark.

The Old Man of the Mountain had existed in a tenuous state for years, my friends said. In an effort to preserve the landmark, the state had wrapped chains and cables around portions of the face to keep it in place. Plastic was strategically placed in an effort to prevent rain from penetrating crevices, freezing, expanding and making the face more unstable. Volunteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities

erosion, wind and weather finally took their toll on the Old Man, when in an instant the rocks gave way and the landmark slid down the mountain and into history. At dinner, I asked in passing about the event and my friends told me a few things I had never known about the landmark.

The Old Man of the Mountain had existed in a tenuous state for years, my friends said. In an effort to preserve the landmark, the state had wrapped chains and cables around portions of the face to keep it in place. Plastic was strategically placed in an effort to prevent rain from penetrating crevices, freezing, expanding and making the face more unstable. Volunteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities

ed in a tenuous state for years, my friends said. In an effort to preserve the landmark, the state had wrapped chains and cables around portions of the face to keep it in place. Plastic was strategically placed in an effort to prevent rain from penetrating crevices, freezing, expanding and making the face more unstable. Volunteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities

nteer quarryman even regularly inspected the landmark and did their best to maintain its integrity. However, despite everyone's best efforts, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in a heap May 3, 2003.

As my friends discussed the Old Man and the efforts to preserve it, I couldn't help but think about the similarities between the fallen-away landmark and TV, commercials and digital signage.

As a mass medium television is the undisputed champion, but I see signs of erosion, unstable features and steps at preservation that ultimately are likely to prove futile. TV is in a state of transition, and the medium as it's been known for the past 60 years or so is undergoing radical changes.

Sure there's the transition from analog to digital that the government has mandated for February 2009, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to a transition being forced upon the medium that's about as welcome as the rain and snow were to the Old Man.

Since it's inception as a commercial medium, television in this country has been linear. Programs have a set starting time and known finish -for the most part. In between show segments are commercial breaks; and in between shows are more commercials. Networks and stations have relied on this structure to build program lineups, audiences and desired demographics that advertisers wish to reach.

However, with the roll out of digital video recorders over the past few years, viewers -not network programmers- are in charge of when a show gets watched. Worst of all for the marketers and the networks, viewers can use the same recorder to "zap"