Google TV may already be doomed

[SockRolid]

Daring Fireball and MacNN are reporting that Google is telling TV manufacturers to not show their TV sets with Google TV built-in at CES. Oops.

Maybe Google is trying to smooth things over with the TV and movie studios who prevent their content from being streamed to Google TV. Or maybe Google is finally learning that hardware products are vastly harder to update than online software. And that they need to get past both the alpha *and* beta development phases before releasing hardware.

Or maybe Google has finally figured out why WebTV failed. Hey Schmidt - here's hint #1: it wasn't because we didn't have HDTV back in the '90s. And hint #2: it wasn't because we didn't have high-bandwidth internet connections.

What's that, Eric? You said something about internet complexity vs. TV simplicity?

Getting warmer...

And did you say something about browsing being private and individual. And big-screen TV viewing being shared and communal?

Getting red hot...

Maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board. Let me know what you come up with for CES 2012.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Lack of network support killed them. Also, consumer electronic buyers are far less tolerant of Google's iterative "beta" software, which isn't free when sold in hardware like it is on the web.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

I have to say Google is on the right track, but of course needs a lot of work. With Apple they went on the second generation of Apple TV all wrong. Rent TV shows? Why? If we just want to watch a episode of Fringe once, we could easy watch it on fox.com for FREE. Streaming? Its nice, but all your really doing is streaming your SD or 720p HD content over the air. Not as nice as getting 1080p quality for that 1080p TV of yours.

At least Apple did one thing right. and thats have HDMI. Two years ago I remember jobs saying "HDMI is dead, mini display port is the future" Ok, maybe not those EXACT words, but close enough. Hey jobs, guess what? Its 2010 and HDMI is still the standard.

Yet he refuses to put them on the macs. Go figure.

 

[SockRolid]

Lack of network support killed them. Also, consumer electronic buyers are far less tolerant of Google's iterative "beta" software, which isn't free when sold in hardware like it is on the web.

Google is running into that same "lack of network support." And yes, firmware updates are a totally different story than updating your online apps.

 

[SockRolid]

I have to say Google is on the right track, but of course needs a lot of work.

Exactly which track is that? And when you say "a lot of work" do you mean "back to the drawing board"?

Rent TV shows? Why? If we just want to watch a episode of Fringe once, we could easy watch it on fox.com for FREE.

Buy music? Why? If we just want to listen to the Beatles' White Album once, we could easily download the torrent for FREE.

iTunes shouldn't be making money, if you can get content for free, but magically it is. And you know why? Because "simple" sometimes beats "free." That's all you need to know.

Streaming? Its nice, but all your really doing is streaming your SD or 720p HD content over the air. Not as nice as getting 1080p quality for that 1080p TV of yours.

And if Apple TV streamed 1080p content, you'd be complaining about its slowness. 1080p data is roughly 2x the size of 720p data.

At least Apple did one thing right. and thats have HDMI. Two years ago I remember jobs saying "HDMI is dead, mini display port is the future" Ok, maybe not those EXACT words, but close enough. Hey jobs, guess what? Its 2010 and HDMI is still the standard.

Yet he refuses to put them on the macs. Go figure.

You *do* realize that HDMI and mini display port are electrically compatible, don't you? I've used my 60" Sony as an external display for my MacBook Pro with a cheap little mini display port to HDMI adapter cable. Evidently you haven't tried that, have you Chris?

 

[isaac65]

Exactly which track is that? And when you say "a lot of work" do you mean "back to the drawing board"?



Buy music? Why? If we just want to listen to the Beatles' White Album once, we could easily download the torrent for FREE.

iTunes shouldn't be making money, if you can get content for free, but magically it is. And you know why? Because "simple" sometimes beats "free." That's all you need to know.



And if Apple TV streamed 1080p content, you'd be complaining about its slowness. 1080p data is roughly 2x the size of 720p data.



You *do* realize that HDMI and mini display port are electrically compatible, don't you? I've used my 60" Sony as an external display for my MacBook Pro with a cheap little mini display port to HDMI adapter cable. Evidently you haven't tried that, have you Chris?

Man, this guy's on fire! All very good points. I agree with you and almost everything Apple decides to do. Tey make very good devotions that keep them ahead of their competitors on most aspects.

 

[uhanrodric]

Bottom line...Google has the right idea. Just had really poor execution. I have faith they will eventually get it right...

The current Google TV devices were obviously rushed. I'd say it will be a year or so until we see some real competition from them.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

Exactly which track is that? And when you say "a lot of work" do you mean "back to the drawing board"?

Re read what I said. You can still be on the right track and still have room for improvements.

Buy music? Why? If we just want to listen to the Beatles' White Album once, we could easily download the torrent for FREE.

Not sure how music came in to play whe we are talking about the Apple TV

iTunes shouldn't be making money, if you can get content for free, but magically it is. And you know why? Because "simple" sometimes beats "free." That's all you need to know.[/'quote]

But not everyone wants to RENT a TV show they are only going to see once. Not sure whats so hard about going to the networks website, navigating to the show page and click "watch episodes".

And if Apple TV streamed 1080p content, you'd be complaining about its slowness. 1080p data is roughly 2x the size of 720p data.

Its not all about streaming. Its about the general content. Apple is always talking about "being ahead", well 720p is not really being ahead. Apple has the engineers, they could create a file format that is small enough to compact great quality HD content.

You *do* realize that HDMI and mini display port are electrically compatible, don't you? I've used my 60" Sony as an external display for my MacBook Pro with a cheap little mini display port to HDMI adapter cable. Evidently you haven't tried that, have you Chris?

Actully I have. I used to own a unibody 13" macbook a few years back (first model of the aluminium unibody) but I would it to my aunt who needed a new computer.

Speaking of your love for mini display. Name me 5 NON APPLE devices that use mini display port as the standard video connection. Make sure you include TVs and Blu-ray/DVD players as they both would need to work together over a single cable. No dongles or adapters.