'Connected' TVs Mostly Used Just Like the Unconnected Kind 217
antdude writes "The National Purchase Diary (NPD) Group Blog reports that 'Internet Connected TVs Are Used To Watch TV, And That's About All — The Internet connected high definition television (HDTV) screen has so far failed to break beyond the bounds of its TV-centric heritage, with little use for the big screen beyond the obligatory video services. But the connection is being used to provide access to a far wider variety of alternative sources for video content. The latest NPD Connected Intelligence Application & Convergence report highlights that nearly six out of ten consumers who own a connected HDTV are accessing Over-the-Top video services through the device.' (Seen on DSL reports.)" Wired's headline on a story based on the same information puts things more bluntly: "No One Uses Smart TV Internet Because It Sucks."
People Said The Same Thing About Smart Phones Too (Score:4, Interesting)
In my experience, my TV habits have shift radically since getting a Google TV. Instead of connecting a bunch of boxes to it, they've all gone to the older HDTV. Things I've noticed off the top of my head and in no particular order:
- The DLNA features is a necessary thing for all my TVs now. I've relied on less and less live TV due to this feature alone.
- Apps like Netflix run just as well if not more directly when it is on the TV itself instead of a secondary box.
- Since Google TV has Chrome, if there is not an app for something that offers video or a stream I can just browse to it, play it at full screen and enjoy it like watching a TV channel.
The only "traditional" thing I can think that TV does any longer is that it has a console connected to it where the console has duplicate features too which I would never run since they are all on the TV.
I wish it was smart enough to "scrape" a web page that has been book marked for video or audio content or stream and show it like a channel. Although Youtube and Chrome works fine, crossing between them is a still a bit clunky since it requires minimizing one/activating the other but that is something all tablets and phones. I also wish it would have a more intelligent guide where the information on a show should be available across all sources instead of "Now search Live TV", "Now search Internet" etc.
In the end I will admit that I'm not sure having "fancy TV" changed how I use it as much as my taste and habits changed. I no longer spend much time watching "Live TV" where an net aware and internet connected TV has been more useful.
Consumer confusion (Score:5, Interesting)
My Significant Other can afford the best of everything; not stupid but not a computer/internet specialist. She has a high-end internet-enabled TV, an internet-enabled BluRay player, and a TiVo (with internet features). All have the ability to access, say, YouTube, but each component has a slightly different interface and capabilities. She's gotten lost and frustrated in the interface(s) so many times (Was it the YouTube viewer accessed through the TV, or the other one? What interface on the receiver do I use?) that she no longer uses ANY of the features. She's locked all the remotes but the one for the TiVo in the closet; she doesn't even play DVD's anymore, because if she switches to that input she's afraid she won't find her way back.
Thanks, consumer electronics industry.
Re:People Said The Same Thing About Smart Phones T (Score:2, Interesting)
I just spent a weekend at my sisters and realised the hell that some people live in with their TVs.
Sony VHS player.
Toshiba DVD player
Sky Decoder
Component Receiver and 5.1 speaker system.
Connecting it all to a really old school Plasma (no DVI, only 1 PC input and one component input)
To turn it all on requires using no less than three remotes! And then because she is 100% legal, is reliant on Sky's timetable, and has given up trying to record to watch later because getting the VHS or DVD recorder to get teh right channel is near impossible for her.
TV hell!
My Config:
Sony 40" TV, out to a 7.1 Amp and speakers.
2008 Mac Mini running PLEX front end, and a torrent client with TVShows for getting what I want to watch, and a superdrive to rip DVDs I buy.
FreeNAS runing PLEX Media Server and 2TB storage.
One remote with full mini qwerty keyboard and mouse function, programmed to operate the TV and Amp from the classic remote control buttons, and the KB/Mouse for driving PLEX.
Even my 6-year-old can turn all this on (press the spacebar on the keyboard)
Oh, and dont mention Netflix or Hulu, we dont get those here, and internet bandwidth is still expensive and capped, and often very laggy to the US, so instead of streaming, I prefer to download and play without buffering.