lean forward
adj. Requiring active, participatory involvement.
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2000
It's the difference between what is often called the "lean forward" experience of the PC, versus the "lean back" experience of television.
—Mitchell Kertzmann, “The Nightly Business Report,” National Public Radio, November 30, 2000
1997
The last thing such people want to do, skeptics suggest, is "interact" with their televisions. "People already interact with their TVs," says Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. "It's called the remote control." Maggie Wilderotter agrees. Television viewing a classic "lean back," exertion-free activity, says the CEO of Wink Communications, an interactive-TV start-up in Alameda, Calif. "I'm leaned back while I'm watching television," she explains, "and I'm leaned in when I'm at my PC. People won't respond to interactive television if they have to lean in and work."
—Katie Hafner, “TV Meets the Web,” Newsweek, September 29, 1997
1997 (earliest)
Most people want to sit in front of a TV with a beer — not a keyboard," said Philip Monego, chief executive of NetChannel, which makes the new device. "TV is a lean-back experience. PCs are a lean-forward experience.
—Jon Swartz, “TV Remote Becomes A Way to Surf the Net,” The San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 1997
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