Image courtesy of Fanhattan.com

First it was big screen projection technology that dramatically changed the way we watch movies in our own abodes. And now we’re cozying up with small-screen tablets for in-home watching like never before. It’s predicted that by next year, “there will be more mobile devices than people” on our lovely planet Earth (source: IBM ad).

My tablet has become a good little friend, like a pet, actually. I can hunker down to watch whatever, wherever, and whenever I want, and the magic is that I don’t even need to find the remote to use it.

Best yet is that if I want to transform my tablet image into something big and cinematic, there are new projectors, like the less-than-three-pound Optoma ML500, which can connect to my tablet and transform the small-screen image into a big one — and for less than $600 too.

All of this innovation is thriving with a little help from the streaming content boom.  It seems that every day there is an announcement about expanded content availability on one platform or another. But now, instead of separately searching Netflix, Hulu,  HBO, Amazon Prime, or other video content provider to find what we want to watch, Fanhattan lets us search across all of these platforms in one simple app.

And the opportunities to nab huge quantities of streaming content continue to come at us at an extraordinary pace. In addition to its aggregating capability, Fanhattan recently announced a new WatchList feature, which allows users to add a show to a personal watch list and eagerly await a Fanhattan email when the show is  available for streaming.

I’ve been stumped sometimes, standing in a drug store or grocery aisle, just staring at the array of toothpaste, olive oil, soup, and organic cereal. Regardless of all the algorithm recommendations that appear on our screens, I can’t help but wonder how all of these content choices will impact our ability to make the final decision on what to watch. But I’m not complaining. Choice is good. A little overwhelming, to be sure, but good.

With big screens, small screens, streaming, and who knows what’s next, in a very short time indeed, everyone in the world will be a Home Projectionist.  And in that, you’ll actually have no choice in the matter.