There’s nothing more exciting than going to a tech conference and touching the new products… before they hit the retail shelves. Of course all of us at Mingle Media TV admit to be total geeks so it’s no surprise that we are watching what happens as more and more video is being consumed off the traditional track of Television to the digital world of the Internet.
This week in Los Angeles, The Streaming Media West Conference is going on at the Hyatt in Century City and we thought we’d check out some panels and of course, the exhibits… okay, and yes, we went to check out the Google TV demo at the Streaming Media booth.
As much as we would have liked to video tape a real review, the set up at the event was not conducive to a test run, but we took some photos of the Sony Internet TV powered by Google TV and found this article by CrunchGear that you might want to read for comparison between the Sony TV and Logitech Revue.
After reading this post, I have to admit that I prefer the option of watching more content on the Internet without having to deal with “apps” on the console. Why? Well, for one reason, I have Verizon Fios, now remember I said I’m a geek, I have an iPhone, iPad, wireless connected home – and yes, I was one of those who bought into the Apple TV when it came out… I’ve been watching the Internet on my TV for several years now. However, when you’re looking at the consumer in general… you have to think about what they will and won’t use.
They won’t use apps… I don’t use the apps on my Verizon Fios… it’s too much clutter. How many people use Picture-in-Picture on their TVs? Seriously, I have that too… but damned if I want to use it on a regular basis.
So what’s all the fuss about… well, it’s a disruptor to TV Networks… and if we look at our recent history, industry offerings that are adopted by consumers like VOD (video-on-demand) have put retailers like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster out of business. Prior to that newspapers started feeling the pains of citizen journalism and news feeds that were available in readers and their newspaper in print started shrinking as more consumers moved online for their news and in most cases don’t even read the local daily paper??
What does this all mean? We’re early in the game still and TV and electronics manufacturers are going to try to make nice boxes on the screen thinking that the general public are going to like it (we don’t, I don’t and I’m your target audience… yes, I am a collective of people here at Mingle Media TV and speaking for all of us…) Let’s just connect the TV to the Interwebs and let us surf freely – don’t put us in a nice, neat package, it doesn’t work that way…
Seriously – we don’t want to wait around for you to create containers we have to install and have to have people build more apps for… it maybe the way the iPad works.. or Android… but with less than 30% of cell phone users having a smart phone… get the clue… the Yahoo! connected TV has been out for a year now… not making too many waves are they? There’s a reason for that… you need to look at the numbers of who are using the apps on smart phones and how long they use them for… I spent 20 years in technology marketing – 8 years in Silicon Valley and this makes me crazy!! It’s simple: make techology that is simple for the masses to adopt…. THEN make it cooler….
Of course, if Google TV, Sony Google TV or Logitech Revue Google TV (that goes for Samsung, Toshiba, LG, Vizio and HiSense and anyone else out there developing technology for the masses) folks want to have the experts who broadcast 40 plus hours a week of LIVE Interactive and produced web series to test out the technology in our studios… we would love to. HINT.
Until that time, I say – put your money in a TV that connects DIRECTLY to the internet… if you aren’t sure how to do that… just let us know! We’d love to get you connected on your 50″ flat screen watching Mingle Media TV shows!
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