Can cable block the Google TV revolution?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/can-big-cable-block-the-google-tv-revolution.ars

by shawndumas • 15 years ago

26 13 15 years ago

geuis• 15 years ago

What Google TV revolution? I developed a web app for the GTV Logitech box and it was absolutely horrible. I'm talking about both the hardware and the software.

nhangen• 15 years ago

I'd prefer to call it the new set top box revolution: Roku, Boxxee, Apple TV, Google TV.

Still, they aren't catching on, and I can't tell if it's because of Netflix's ability to be everywhere, or if it's the cable networks blocking the momentum. I suspect it's a bit of both.

r00fus2• 15 years ago

Roku revolution sounds better (they were the first fastest innovator in this space).

I seriously wonder what Comcast is preparing to do to my 2xroku/appletv household.

The merge with NBC doesn't portend well for cable internet rates.

cybernytrix• 15 years ago

Google just doesn't get it - TV is about simplicity. It is not about having a clunky keyboard. Apple probably had the best chance to succeed... There is no chance for Google to succeed when the venerable Apple did not...

austinB2• 15 years ago

Sure it's about simplicity at times, but how convenient would it be to read an article or browse the internet on half your television screen while a basketball game you want to passively watch is on simultaneously? I wouldn't mind eliminating the laptop that constantly sits on my lap (fittingly.) while I watch tv. If they are able to make television content searchable as well, that's gravy for me.

r00fus2• 15 years ago

WebTV died years ago. I don't think many people really want a modern website on their TV.

I wouldn't mind twitter/RSS updates in a side area or Growl box (like a chat box in a FPS), but the web doesn't fare well on the lower-resolution TV; similarly as with mobile devices, websites would have to be redesigned for TV usage.

snprbob86• 15 years ago

I don't think Google is completely hopeless. They understand the need for the passive watching default mode of operation. See http://www.youtube.com/leanback

jrockway• 15 years ago

I don't really get why the government is involved. If content creators don't want their content to be next to Google's content, then they should release their content as a movie that is only viewable in a tightly-controlled theater.

Of course, there is no money in that... but you can't have it both ways. Wait until I tell the networks that I take a shit during the commercials and read a book instead of watching CNN at the airport. Oh noes, I'm stealing their content and making it "confusingly similar" to taking a shit...

fleitz3• 15 years ago

The gov't is involved because TV is in the final stages of gov't intervention subsidy. It's been taxed, it's been regulated and now it's time to subsidize it.

The method of subsidization the gov't has chosen is: barriers to entry.

It's a favorite of gov't because it's a tax that no one sees.

fleitz3• 15 years ago

Who even has TV anymore?

I bought a digital projector, connected it to my PC and have never looked back. Last week I was watching #egypt on Al Jazeera in 720p @ 120 inches. I don't even miss the remote as when I watch something I don't have to worry about commercials or changing channels to find something interesting.

mv• 15 years ago

this statement is why I love HN, and it is also the reason why I take most business feasibility ideas given here with a grain of salt. The intelligence and community here breeds people that become so disconnected with how the other 99% of people work/think that they fail to see how a normal person would have NO idea how to even go about setting up a PC to watch TV on a projector.

That said, I do love my 1080p projector hooked to my i7 xbmc computer :-)

fleitz3• 15 years ago

Yeah, HN is on the crazy smart scale. I have this theory that once you reach a certain level of 'intelligence' you become so smart that you're actually dumb. What I mean by this is that you've lost touch with how everyone else lives their lives that your ideas are ahead of the curve and you actually need to hold off on implementing them because the timing is not right.

Somewhere between the Newton and the iPod Steve Jobs lost enough intelligence that he's now a visionary where as in the 90s he was being mocked on SNL for the Newton. The alternative is that he stopped producing computers for producers and started creating them for consumers.

Woz on the other hand is still so crazy smart that he rides a Segway.

Can cable block the Google TV revolution?

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