I tend to agree. Story at Adage.com.

funshipisland.com…The new site is a virtual tour of a Carnival cruise, where visitors can try out everything from the ship’s piano bar, sundeck and karaoke lounge to onshore activities such as 4×4 cruising. The idea is to pique interest by showing what to expect, since fewer than 18% of North Americans have been on a cruise.

The site is an example of marketers’ increasing sophistication in their use of online video to create not just linear demonstrations that look like TV commercials, but interactive, virtual experiences.

It’s an evolution enabled by higher broadband penetration, more-sophisticated web-development technology and a continued rise in TV-ad skipping, which is leading marketers to question the effectiveness and efficiency of the medium that has long been at the center of marketing plans.

Well, yeah, who doesn’t want to actually watch something in action as opposed to just reading about it?

This quote really hits home though.

Brian McAndrews, who last week traded his title of aQuantive CEO for an executive role at Microsoft, said in April, “The website is replacing the 30 as the central expression of a brand.” In most cases, rich-video sites can be made for half the cost of a 30-second spot, according to people who have done them.

Plenty of detractors say the web will never be a replacement for TV’s reach and ability to create interest, but there’s no denying the depth of experience a website allows. A “significant” percentage of the 500,000 people who visited funshipisland.com in its first month spent 30 minutes on the site, said Susan Kidwell, VP-client services at Avenue A/Razorfish, which manages Carnival’s account. On Boeing’s NewAirplane.com, millions of people have spent an average of 12 minutes exploring the nooks and features of the DreamLiner jet.