Future of advertisement

I was watching "CSI" and "Eleventh Hour" today, and I was amazed at product placement of iPhone. It also reminded me of the first season of "24" where I saw clear product placement of Cisco and Dell.

Today was rare. I don't watch much TV. I spend a lot of time online to watch TV shows (and video clips) on Hulu, Veoh, and YouTube. Why? It's purely convenience. I can watch it anytime at anywhere whenever I want. I guess I could have TiVO, but I am cheap.

A few weeks ago, I attended Bay Area K group's technical seminar on IPTV, and I am not quite convinced whether IPTV will be the future. Unless there are programs that clearly take advantage of two-way communications, I don't see the need for IPTV.

I don't know if video websites will ever take over cable or over-the-air market, but it's getting clear that new business model for TV advertisement will be required. One of them is obviously product placement, and I can't believe so many actors you see on TV are using iPhone! That's one great strategy.