[opendtv] Re: iPad remote for Comcast
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:53:49 -0400
At 1:59 PM -0700 5/14/10, Kon Wilms wrote:
On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This is one of those philosophically baffling applications. An
application that ought to be included somewhere else, not in a
hyper-expensive "remote control" that amounts to a TV set in its
own right.
$500 remote control.
Sucker. Born. Every. Minute.
You both are missing the forest for the trees.
The iPad is much more than a remote...at least Bert did acknowledge
that it can also function as a "TV set" if you are mobile.
The key here is the comments by Roberts about what has been missing
from cable boxes and remotes up til now; he specifically mentioned
the search capabilities and the virtual keyboard on the iPAD.
Bert and Kon may recall my post, just after the iPad was introduced
where I wrote:
The additional screen real estate and features of the iPad may well
lead to some new applications that will solve a few problems that
have slowed the long anticipated convergence of the big screen TV in
the family room with the Internet and computing in general.
The most elusive piece of the puzzle has been the human interface to
this convergence device.
Today we have bizarre multi-device remotes to control all of the
boxes connected to the big screen; DVD players, cable STBs, game
consoles, Apple TV, Sling Box, et al. Let's just say that nobody has
figured it out yet. The Multimedia PC is every bit as much a hobby
as Apple TV; the average consumer is not interested in a solution
that requires a keyboard and mouse on the coffee table.
The iPad may be the missing piece of this puzzle. There is a good
reason that Jobs was sitting in that big easy chair when he
introduced us to the iPad. This is a device that can be used
comfortably while sitting on the sofa watching TV, under any
lighting condition. Now it is up to developers to exploit this new
potential.
...
But this just scratches the surface of what may happen. Clearly with
a connected client in your lap you have the UI needed to surf the
web and control what is connected to the big screen. You also have
the ability to create a wide range of multi-player games that will
allow people with iPhones ad iPads to interact (note that one of the
new features announced with iPhone OS4 is the Game Center, which
will allow the development of networked game applications).
Bottom line, it looks like the iPad (and the many tablets that will
follow) may be an important piece of the puzzle to unlock the
potential of the connected TV in the family room.
Bert continued:
The Internet TVs coming on line these days should, by all rights,
incorporate everyhting the iPad does in this TV remote role. And
instead of having to touch the screen with your own fingers, you
just click a remote to push the "buttons" on the TV screen.
Perhaps an IR-connected keyboard would also be available.
Are you suggesting that TV manufacturers provide remotes that offer
the equivalent functionality to this iPad APP?
Seems rather silly, as by doing this you might as well build an iPad
competitor; a remote that will still be a tablet computer in its own
right, not to mention still expensive.
If you are suggesting a remote that utilizes the TV screen for the
display and some cheap form of buttons and a keyboard for the UI, it
is clear that you are still stuck in the 20th Century. This is the
problem that Comcast and others are trying to solve (i.e. get away
from).
Now consider the next step in this process as viewed by Comcast and
the rest of the cable industry, not to mention Apple, Google and the
rest of the computer companies that will soon jump into the tablet
market.
What do you do, if while sitting on the couch you decide that you
want to load some content onto your tablet to watch while commuting
to work or flying across the country? With Bert's remote you will
still need another device. With an iPAD or equivalent, you can move
this content to the tablet with ease.
The big screen in the family room is a "communal display," as opposed
to the personal display (and other limitations of a PC). There may be
MULTIPLE devices interacting with the big screen, especially for
games. Looking at this issue through the blinders of a traditional TV
remote completely misses the opportunities that are about to be
exploited via the big screen and intelligent devices like the iPAD.
It's time for both of you to wake up and smell the future, rather
than trying to hold onto a PC computing paradigm that is rotting even
as we argue...
Regards
Craig
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