5 ms·

Google TV failed because no one wants to hook up a keyboard to their TV. The model is 100% wrong.

nextparadigms 15y ago
I completely agree with that, too. Like what were they thinking? I won't even go into explaining why that's such a bad idea, because I think it's obvious to most people that was a stupid idea. They have Google Voice Search, and they didn't even use it for Google TV. They could use that for saying commands and doing the searches on Google by speaking to it.. But I don't even think that should be the main way to interact with Google TV. I know they've been working on Kinect-like stuff for Android and that they hired I believe the former tech lead from Kinect, so I think they should be using Kinect-like technology to allow you to use the Google TV interface with your hands. Would those 2 be the perfect interaction models for Google TV? I don't know. But I think it sounds a whole lot better than using a full QWERTY keyboard. I think the lack of content hurt Google TV, too. Did they even have Netflix at launch? I think they didn't. I know Hulu is up for sale. It might be a good idea to buy them. I also think video chatting on TV is pretty revolutionary and might be a huge thing in the future, so they should take advantage of that with GTalk. The only problem I see here is that people will have to buy cameras for their TV's, too, so adoption for that might be a little slow, but it would get there.
- mikeryan 15y ago
  Hulu is not up for sale, Yahoo may have made an unsolicited offer. Hulu also does not have long term content deals (which are their only real asset). Right now Hulu is mostly owned by the content owners which is why it gets content at all, if Google bought it a lot of the quality content they currently have would very likely go away. I do know that there are a bunch of people playing with the Kinect controller for navigating TV but I think you'll see this with a future Xbox rev first. Microsoft has TV platforms in the past (Media Center and traditional cable style guides etc). I think its much more likely to see this type of innovation come from MS in the Xbox, since they can do a lot of this with software and already have millions of boxes already hooked up in peoples living rooms.
- johnyzee 15y ago
  > I also think video chatting on TV is pretty revolutionary and might be a huge thing in the future, so they should take advantage of that with GTalk. The only problem I see here is that people will have to buy cameras for their TV's, too, so adoption for that might be a little slow, but it would get there. I just bought the add-on camera for my Sony flatscreen, which has a Skype application built in. It is in fact a very convenient way to video chat, compared with using a laptop. I am sure cams will be built into the TVs from the next generation or two.
sjs382 15y ago
Not for daily use, no. But for simple tasks like having a stats-box on-screen during a game or being able to "throw" content from your phone to your tv, it has potential.
csulok 15y ago
I do. "theory" busted. google tv failed because its extra value was extremely quickly killed by the content providers. if it didn't affect anyone, content providers wouldn't have lifted a finger
- Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
  OK, possibly that was an OTT statement but I think it's fair to say that it's questionable whether many people want another large box in their living room and whether a keyboard is something which adds value for them in that scenario.
  - rmrm 15y ago
    I am one of those people that didnt want a box or a keyboard, Google TV integrated into the TV nicely worked as the solution. Pretty much every normal person who sees it in action, pause live tv, bring up wikipedia to look something up to answer a question, or pull up youtube to listen to the original of a song before listening to it on The Voice, pull up a Brian Wilson interview during a Giants game commercial -- all without changing context, just with this same little remote, to a person they have all said "I want this". But the SW just hasn't been fully baked as of yet, it crashes, it halts, it ignores inputs, and the UI is confusing for first time users. All of its problems and issues are primarily SW related. At least for the TV, the paradigm and design are very correct, I think, and quite powerful.
    - glhaynes 15y ago
      I haven't ever played with a Google TV device, but my first thought upon reading that is that I could and would rather do all those things today on my phone (or tablet), not on my TV. E.g. I can separately look up supplemental information on my handheld device and then, if there's something I want to share with the rest of the people in the room, I can: verbally share it, pass the device around, or (with Apple TV, which I'm fairly pleased with, but certainly isn't perfect) beam that info up to the big screen via AirPlay. I'd hate to subject my viewing-mates to watching me fiddle with a UI that overlays and takes screen space/otherwise distracts from the thing they're trying to watch. tl;dr: Why would I want wikipedia on my TV when I've got it on my phone?
dannyr 15y ago
I have a Google TV and I find the keyboard very useful. You're pretty confident to call the model 100% wrong. Have you used a Google TV for a substantial amount of time?
- mikeryan 15y ago
  I have and I've found it horrible - mostly from an ergonomic perspective. I can't sit on my couch with my feet on my coffee table and comfortably navigate my TV. I forced myself to use it for 2 weeks to see if I'd get over it and quickly switched back to my Logitech Harmony. This is in contrast to the Boxee remote which I like which is a normal remote but has a keyboard on the back. NOTE: I use the Logitech GoogleTV remote, not the Sony TV "Big Ass Playstation Controller" remote. The Sony one, theoretically, may be easier to use.
lftl 15y ago
The absolute best thing about Google TV is using my phone (iPhone, iPod, or Android Phone) as the remote. I never have to roam around the room looking for a remote any more: it's in my pocket. The phone also nicely includes a decent keyboard.
phlux 15y ago
In homes yes - in hospitals it is perfect.

I completely agree with that, too. Like what were they thinking? I won't even go into explaining why that's such a bad idea, because I think it's obvious to most people that was a stupid idea. They have Google Voice Search, and they didn't even use it for Google TV. They could use that for saying commands and doing the searches on Google by speaking to it.. But I don't even think that should be the main way to interact with Google TV. I know they've been working on Kinect-like stuff for Android and that they hired I believe the former tech lead from Kinect, so I think they should be using Kinect-like technology to allow you to use the Google TV interface with your hands. Would those 2 be the perfect interaction models for Google TV? I don't know. But I think it sounds a whole lot better than using a full QWERTY keyboard. I think the lack of content hurt Google TV, too. Did they even have Netflix at launch? I think they didn't. I know Hulu is up for sale. It might be a good idea to buy them. I also think video chatting on TV is pretty revolutionary and might be a huge thing in the future, so they should take advantage of that with GTalk. The only problem I see here is that people will have to buy cameras for their TV's, too, so adoption for that might be a little slow, but it would get there.

mikeryan 15y ago
Hulu is not up for sale, Yahoo may have made an unsolicited offer. Hulu also does not have long term content deals (which are their only real asset). Right now Hulu is mostly owned by the content owners which is why it gets content at all, if Google bought it a lot of the quality content they currently have would very likely go away. I do know that there are a bunch of people playing with the Kinect controller for navigating TV but I think you'll see this with a future Xbox rev first. Microsoft has TV platforms in the past (Media Center and traditional cable style guides etc). I think its much more likely to see this type of innovation come from MS in the Xbox, since they can do a lot of this with software and already have millions of boxes already hooked up in peoples living rooms.
johnyzee 15y ago
> I also think video chatting on TV is pretty revolutionary and might be a huge thing in the future, so they should take advantage of that with GTalk. The only problem I see here is that people will have to buy cameras for their TV's, too, so adoption for that might be a little slow, but it would get there. I just bought the add-on camera for my Sony flatscreen, which has a Skype application built in. It is in fact a very convenient way to video chat, compared with using a laptop. I am sure cams will be built into the TVs from the next generation or two.

sjs382 15y ago

Not for daily use, no. But for simple tasks like having a stats-box on-screen during a game or being able to "throw" content from your phone to your tv, it has potential.

csulok 15y ago

I do. "theory" busted. google tv failed because its extra value was extremely quickly killed by the content providers. if it didn't affect anyone, content providers wouldn't have lifted a finger

Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
OK, possibly that was an OTT statement but I think it's fair to say that it's questionable whether many people want another large box in their living room and whether a keyboard is something which adds value for them in that scenario.
- rmrm 15y ago
  I am one of those people that didnt want a box or a keyboard, Google TV integrated into the TV nicely worked as the solution. Pretty much every normal person who sees it in action, pause live tv, bring up wikipedia to look something up to answer a question, or pull up youtube to listen to the original of a song before listening to it on The Voice, pull up a Brian Wilson interview during a Giants game commercial -- all without changing context, just with this same little remote, to a person they have all said "I want this". But the SW just hasn't been fully baked as of yet, it crashes, it halts, it ignores inputs, and the UI is confusing for first time users. All of its problems and issues are primarily SW related. At least for the TV, the paradigm and design are very correct, I think, and quite powerful.
  - glhaynes 15y ago
    I haven't ever played with a Google TV device, but my first thought upon reading that is that I could and would rather do all those things today on my phone (or tablet), not on my TV. E.g. I can separately look up supplemental information on my handheld device and then, if there's something I want to share with the rest of the people in the room, I can: verbally share it, pass the device around, or (with Apple TV, which I'm fairly pleased with, but certainly isn't perfect) beam that info up to the big screen via AirPlay. I'd hate to subject my viewing-mates to watching me fiddle with a UI that overlays and takes screen space/otherwise distracts from the thing they're trying to watch. tl;dr: Why would I want wikipedia on my TV when I've got it on my phone?

dannyr 15y ago

I have a Google TV and I find the keyboard very useful. You're pretty confident to call the model 100% wrong. Have you used a Google TV for a substantial amount of time?

mikeryan 15y ago
I have and I've found it horrible - mostly from an ergonomic perspective. I can't sit on my couch with my feet on my coffee table and comfortably navigate my TV. I forced myself to use it for 2 weeks to see if I'd get over it and quickly switched back to my Logitech Harmony. This is in contrast to the Boxee remote which I like which is a normal remote but has a keyboard on the back. NOTE: I use the Logitech GoogleTV remote, not the Sony TV "Big Ass Playstation Controller" remote. The Sony one, theoretically, may be easier to use.

lftl 15y ago

The absolute best thing about Google TV is using my phone (iPhone, iPod, or Android Phone) as the remote. I never have to roam around the room looking for a remote any more: it's in my pocket. The phone also nicely includes a decent keyboard.

phlux 15y ago

In homes yes - in hospitals it is perfect.