The arrival of interesting internet-connected TVs at CES had me thinking that, for what’s supposed to be a very fast-moving sector, the technology industry can shift very slowly indeed. Consider this: the PC, TV and internet are often cited as the three most important modern developments in the way we consume information and are entertained. And yet, in two decades of trying, nobody has come up with a good way to combine all three phenomena.
CES: The time for the smart TV must be nigh
The internet on the PC works great if you have broadband, but TV on the PC is a kludge that works out as enriching an experience as editing a spreadsheet on a smartphone. Similarly, attempts to put the web on TVs have usually been horrible or suffered from severe compromises such as dependence on streamed content. Nobody has cracked the code of making a product that takes all the best features and enhances them through the combination. Instead they go together like boiled eggs and silver spoons — respectively nice in isolation but leaving a nasty when taken together.
For a cocktail of reasons from vendor politics to lack of standards and woeful design fails, that goes for any attempted combination seen so far: so-called ‘smart TVs’ have tended to dumb down the individual component strengths so we’ve been left with an orchestra of related bit parts from set-top boxes to DSL routers, high-quality programme content, huge displays, 3D and multicore processors, all refusing to harmonise except through plug-ins, spaghetti wires and cables. And yet everybody believes there’s a huge market for a device that takes the best from all three capabilities.
The smart TVs at CES suggest we remain at the ‘close but no cigar’ stage but the pace is picking up as rivals anticipate the arrival of the long-rumoured Apple TV. The stakes are so high that no major device maker or platform owner can ignore the action; forecasts are necessarily hazy but an outstanding product would surely become an instant must-have purchase.
After 20 years of Frankenstein attempts to bodge together recalcitrant pieces of the puzzle, the time has come for a device with all the processing power of the computer, live programming strengths of the TV, access to information afforded by the internet and the user interface that can make ingredients improved by the blend. If not now, then the time for the smart TV must be nigh.
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