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"The coolest thing about Google TV is that we don't even know what the coolest thing about it will be." That is just another way of saying, "If you build it, t

by teilo 16y ago

"The coolest thing about Google TV is that we don't even know what the coolest thing about it will be." That is just another way of saying, "If you build it, they will come." Not exactly an axiom these days.

houseabsolute 16y ago
My thing is, whatever happened to Google just launching things without announcing them? They still do it for features, but no longer for products. Maybe it's something you can't do with physical products because consumers might postpone their buying decisions for competitors until after the launch. Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see us announcing things that are not even nearly done yet.
- cryptoz 16y ago
  > Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see us announcing things that are not even nearly done yet. What? The blog post explains that devices running Google TV will go on sale this month. That is, within the next 27 days you will be able to buy a Google TV. How is that "not even nearly done yet"? Dude, the product goes on sale in less than 27 days. It's probably done.
  - houseabsolute 16y ago
    It was announced many months ago. I'm using this opportunity to talk about how unfortunate it is that we announced it so long ago and are only launching it now. I'm not saying this current announcement itself is a fail. :)
    - donohoe 16y ago
      It was announced months ago so they was a window for developers to start building things.
      - mikeryan 16y ago
        I'm not sure that's true (I'm not sure its not either) but in this case Google hasn't been very open to outside developers. They have solutions for "optimizing your website for TV" but nothing on the dev page for developers but a coming soon. That and the fact that Android apps won't be available until 2011 http://www.google.com/tv/developers.html http://www.google.com/tv/developers.html
  - illumin8 16y ago
    They said it would be available in September. Now they say it will be available in October. To me this seems like vaporware, specifically to keep people from buying AppleTV. They still don't have any content deals setup. I haven't heard any big players other than Netflix, which is already available on any Bluray player made (practically). Where is Hulu? Where is ESPN? These are the networks they need to beat Apple in this market, and they're conspicuously absent. Even Youtube is supposed to have TV rentals "really soon now," but I haven't heard much about that recently. Why does it seem that the only thing Google can do now is say "me too" whenever Apple releases a new product?
    - joezydeco 16y ago
      Um, wasn't GoogleTV announced at Google I/O in may, way before AppleTV2 was announced? How do you introduce vaporware to block the sale of something that didn't exist yet?
- mikeryan 16y ago
  I can understand that but in this case its just a timing thing. If this was a July launch they'd probably be more under wraps until closer to launch. But with the X-mas buying season coming up quick they need to get it onto consumer's radars earlier.
  - houseabsolute 16y ago
    Roger, but I'm talking about how it was announced months ago at Google IO, not this current announcement.
- Psyonic 16y ago
  1. Physical products probably do need early announcements. The new AppleTV launched recently. Knowing GoogleTV is on the way, I'm definitely going to wait and compare. 2. Control the announcement. Since they had to tell developers anyway (to get apps and websites optimized), it's better to announce it then leave to techcrunch, gizmodo, and all the other rumor mills.
goatforce5 16y ago
People have been working on interactive/internet-connected TV products for years and thinking about the sort of services you can offer to TV viewers when you have a fast back channel. Even I was doing this stuff different start-ups and one big cable company in the late 90's For example, think about what you can build when you know what a lot of people are watching in real time, or if you know what your friends are watching. Or to get feedback from your viewers (You think CNN and every other live broadcaster's fascination with Twitter is bad? It's the tip of the iceberg!). Or you want viewers to respond to your adverts. Which set top box you have plugged in to your TV will be at least as important as the battle for dominance in the mobile phone space. And, more importantly: There's certainly the room for some scrappy young start ups to make huge amounts of money from Google and Apple TVs app stores.
redrobot5050 16y ago
Well, most of the core features (flash games, streaming video from websites, pay video services) are already implemented by my Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360. So it feels kinda ho hum. Google is a late comer to this field. They have to play catch up before they really gain traction in the consumer market. And no, being able to tweet from my couch, using my TV (when I could just as easily tweet ANYWHERE using my mobile phone) is not a killer app.

by teilo 16y ago

houseabsolute 16y ago

My thing is, whatever happened to Google just launching things without announcing them? They still do it for features, but no longer for products. Maybe it's something you can't do with physical products because consumers might postpone their buying decisions for competitors until after the launch. Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see us announcing things that are not even nearly done yet.

cryptoz 16y ago
> Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see us announcing things that are not even nearly done yet. What? The blog post explains that devices running Google TV will go on sale this month. That is, within the next 27 days you will be able to buy a Google TV. How is that "not even nearly done yet"? Dude, the product goes on sale in less than 27 days. It's probably done.
- houseabsolute 16y ago
  It was announced many months ago. I'm using this opportunity to talk about how unfortunate it is that we announced it so long ago and are only launching it now. I'm not saying this current announcement itself is a fail. :)
  - donohoe 16y ago
    It was announced months ago so they was a window for developers to start building things.
    - mikeryan 16y ago
      I'm not sure that's true (I'm not sure its not either) but in this case Google hasn't been very open to outside developers. They have solutions for "optimizing your website for TV" but nothing on the dev page for developers but a coming soon. That and the fact that Android apps won't be available until 2011 http://www.google.com/tv/developers.html http://www.google.com/tv/developers.html
- illumin8 16y ago
  They said it would be available in September. Now they say it will be available in October. To me this seems like vaporware, specifically to keep people from buying AppleTV. They still don't have any content deals setup. I haven't heard any big players other than Netflix, which is already available on any Bluray player made (practically). Where is Hulu? Where is ESPN? These are the networks they need to beat Apple in this market, and they're conspicuously absent. Even Youtube is supposed to have TV rentals "really soon now," but I haven't heard much about that recently. Why does it seem that the only thing Google can do now is say "me too" whenever Apple releases a new product?
  - joezydeco 16y ago
    Um, wasn't GoogleTV announced at Google I/O in may, way before AppleTV2 was announced? How do you introduce vaporware to block the sale of something that didn't exist yet?
mikeryan 16y ago
I can understand that but in this case its just a timing thing. If this was a July launch they'd probably be more under wraps until closer to launch. But with the X-mas buying season coming up quick they need to get it onto consumer's radars earlier.
- houseabsolute 16y ago
  Roger, but I'm talking about how it was announced months ago at Google IO, not this current announcement.
Psyonic 16y ago
1. Physical products probably do need early announcements. The new AppleTV launched recently. Knowing GoogleTV is on the way, I'm definitely going to wait and compare. 2. Control the announcement. Since they had to tell developers anyway (to get apps and websites optimized), it's better to announce it then leave to techcrunch, gizmodo, and all the other rumor mills.

goatforce5 16y ago

People have been working on interactive/internet-connected TV products for years and thinking about the sort of services you can offer to TV viewers when you have a fast back channel. Even I was doing this stuff different start-ups and one big cable company in the late 90's For example, think about what you can build when you know what a lot of people are watching in real time, or if you know what your friends are watching. Or to get feedback from your viewers (You think CNN and every other live broadcaster's fascination with Twitter is bad? It's the tip of the iceberg!). Or you want viewers to respond to your adverts. Which set top box you have plugged in to your TV will be at least as important as the battle for dominance in the mobile phone space. And, more importantly: There's certainly the room for some scrappy young start ups to make huge amounts of money from Google and Apple TVs app stores.

redrobot5050 16y ago

Well, most of the core features (flash games, streaming video from websites, pay video services) are already implemented by my Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360. So it feels kinda ho hum. Google is a late comer to this field. They have to play catch up before they really gain traction in the consumer market. And no, being able to tweet from my couch, using my TV (when I could just as easily tweet ANYWHERE using my mobile phone) is not a killer app.