[opendtv] Re: Valve's Newell: How PCs Will Take Over the Living Room

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:43:05 -0500

At 4:03 PM -0600 2/13/13, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Give me a break. You think I don't know that all search engines have heuristics? What I said was, when people talk about what "smart TVs" should be capable of, they go way beyond what these search engines do.
Hey, I'm the one who had to show you how much TV content regular old search engines can find. Why would you think I don't know how they work?
First, there is a ton of noise out there about smart TVs, iTVs et al. Every analyst out there seems to have an opinion. None of this really matters, as the problem has less to do with the technology than the ability to provide a meaningful alternative to the current MVPD based content oligopolies.
That being said, there is still a great deal of room for debate about the role of the big screen TV relative to the other screens in the home. And here the User Interface is a consideration. But even more important, IMHO, is the new marketplace that will exist, when someone finally figures out how to make all of the devices work together to add value.
As for the second part, sorry Bert, but I was well aware of the kind of content that is accessible via the Internet. Fact is I take advantage of some of this content on a daily basis - but not on the big screen in the family room. Where we differ in a significant way is that I have little interest in most of the content created by the big media congloms.
Unfortunately, like many other American consumers, the only way I can access the content that I DO want is via an expensive MVPD bundle. MOST of this content is live events, sports in particular.
It's amazing how the best you and other pundits can do is repeat tired old religious mantra.
First, the "PC" is embedded in the TV set. It's not a separate entity. The TV becomes simply a smart box, capable of browsing the entire web. The clueless user doesn't have to know there's a PC or tablet embedded in there. He simply gets to use a TV set that behaves much like that tablet or smartphone he can't seem to live without. 

Yes Bert, we all understand this.
What you cannot seem to grasp is that the user interface to whatever is inside the TV is the major problem. And then you compound the problem by continuing to claim that all we need is a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Yes, you can put a UI on a TV that looks like a tablet or smartphone. But you still need to control it. We have discussed extensively the ways in which this can be done.
Given the fact that most homes already have smartphones and the tablet market is growing rapidly, the real question is whether we need a dedicated human interface for a Smart TV, or if we should leverage the devices that already do the job very well.
Secondly, for the 100th time, if the most clueless TV users can't type in their own bookmarks, which is essentially a one-time event and then you can put away that remote keyboard, using a remote mouse or other pointing device from then on, then they can go and download "apps." Much like they do for their tablets or smartphones. These apps are the bookmarks.
Better yet, let the engineers in Japan decide what you can watch and eliminate the need for the keyboard... 

Oh wait, they already do this, which seems to infuriate you.

Yes, apps can be bookmarks. I think I wrote about this two decades ago...
Click your remote mouse or whatever pointing device on the "get apps" icon on the TV, it takes you to the CE company's "app store," and you click on the app that finds the TV network you want. With your brain resolutely stuck on neutral the whole time.
Once again I ask, what is it about "connected TVs" that makes everyone so ... never mind. 

I'll answer your question anyway.
Because smart people understand that the role of the TV in the family room is about to change in very dramatic ways, and that the big screen is going to be used for many new activities that have NOTHING to do with watching linear TV programming.
By the way Bert, you have provided a good example of how little you understand all of this.
An app to access a linear TV network is essentially worthless - TV remote controls do this reasonably well via channel numbers and "Favorites." Channels are just walled gardens - they deliver content from many producers to fill up the program schedule. What these producers would like is an App for THEIR content, and for you to be able to access this content anytime, anywhere. And this app is likely to do far more than just play the most recent episode. It will likely provide access to program archives, background information, social networking, and stuff we may not even have thought about yet... 

"Would you like to buy the outfit that your favorite star was wearing?"

You really are stuck in a time warp...

Regards
Craig


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