Technological Developments and Transitions in Israel’s Preschool Television Industry

Abstract

This article documents two ethnographic explorations (2012, 2015) held at Hop! group based in Israel, when it was in transition from being a preschool television company into a preschool content group. Three core challenges presented by new technologies were revealed: the need to be present on every screen; understanding the affordances of each technology; and finding successful collaborations. The article discusses the ways in which Hop! addressed those challenges, focusing on the transition from a dedicated television set into a multiplicity of screens; the negotiation of the new platforms’ affordances; and the development of a workforce suitable for platform content production. These challenges reveal that despite the feeling of revolution within the company caused by the great extent and rapid pace of technological innovation, what we see is a potentially endless transition period since, like the mythological hydra, after the affordances of new technologies become clear another technology springs up.