It may not have been perfect, but one thing is for sure: TV used to be simple.

There were just a couple of channels. You knew your favorite shows, and you knew when they were on. You sort of had an appointment with your TV to see those shows. And things were pretty good, all in all. We didn’t really know any better.

But over time, life just got more complicated. Lots more stuff, lots more choices. Try buying a pair of training shoes nowadays: there used to be two brands. Now there are thirty with fifty different models each. And that’s just in one department store.

Same thing with television: 2-3 channels became twenty, then fifty, then five hundred. Some people can get more than 1000 channels on their cable. And it just keeps going: YouTube, Video on Demand, OTT TV (ever try explaining that to a normal human being?)…

There have been some attempts to make it all usable: the EPG which was supposed to replace paper TV guide magazines. They were OK when you could put ten channels on a grid, but how do you handle 388 channels with 14 programs a day 7 days a week? And those labor saving video recorders: absolute nightmares that became the butt of jokes around the globe. Our partners at Philips, who used to make the things, know that of everyone who ever bought a video recorder, only 4 percent—4%!—ever actually recorded a TV show with one of their machines.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could go back to when things were simple: when you just had your channels with your programs? Maybe some more choice and less wasteland, and maybe when you wanted it and how you wanted it. Just not all so complicated…

That’s the whole idea behind watchmi: it’s a new way to bring back the old simplicity. Watchmi helps you easily create your very own personal channels: each one always automatically filled with exactly the kind of programs you like. And there’s room for channels for everyone in the family. All you have to do is start with a favorite show; click twice on the remote, and there it is: your very own personal channel. Of course, there is a lot of science behind it: artificially intelligent program recommenders that use vast data banks about stuff that is broadcast or hiding in the Internet, and then select exactly those shows that you want. Without your having to program a scary box with hundred-button remote.

No filling out complicated personal preference profiles; no fiddling with equipment. Really just start watching and enjoying. Another great thing: no bothersome, irrelevant adverts distracting from your showtime. Yes, of course, there are some “words from the sponsor”: but somehow, the sponsor always seems to be someone you actually are interested in. After all, he is giving you the whole thing for free, so might as well listen what he has to say.

Watchmi is not a science fiction dream: it is here today and now. Watchmi was tested for two years in real homes with real families in three countries. These were just normal people who were given a watchmi box and one page with a simple explanation, and then let to get on with it.

The results were frankly nothing short of amazing: after less than a month of using watchmi, people watched only the personal channels they created with watchmi’s help 90% of the time. 10% was left for watching football, which everyone understandably wants watch live. That’s quite a bit different from those first video recorders which were basically used to play pre-recorded cassettes or discs.

Those people who were lucky enough to participate in the watchmi tests were pretty upset when the test was completed: “What about my channels? How can I get them back?”

Well, now they can. No matter how they get their TV: cable, satellite, from the telephone operator (something called IPTV, whatever that is), or even straight from the internet. It might involve a simple, easy to use box, or it might even be built into the new flat screen they just bought. Kids and teenagers might want to use their watchmi on their PC in their own rooms. Watchmi will be everywhere, but always making things the way they were meant to be: simple, fun and surprising.

Isn’t it time to start using watchmi today?

Ned Wiley is the Managing Director of Axel Springer Digital TV Guide - the makers of watchmi.