4 ms·

I'm really sorry, but it won't. Not in its current form. Microsoft, intel, Sky(in the UK) and Google have been trying to promote this since the late 90's and t

I'm really sorry, but it won't. Not in its current form. Microsoft, intel, Sky(in the UK) and Google have been trying to promote this since the late 90's and they've failed. There is limited scope to have a few widgets on a dashboard. Thats about it. Think about it, when you sit down to watch TV, you want to be absorbed in the programme. You don't want to be distracted by silly popups asking you to "fill in this for to get x" or "wipe the screen to interact with this advert" We have lots of smart TVs in britian, and most of them are just used as TVs. They interfaces suck balls (I'm looking at you samsung with voice activations) There is a trend for "second screen" interfaces. Where a smartphone/tablet can receive content relevant to whats on TV. That is far more likley to take off. Its still equally useless and annoying for all but america's got talent and the like. If the TV content is good, then there is no need for second screen/twitter popups (Dangerous catch I'm looking at you, seriously, fishing is shit, and no amount of popups is going to make it more dramatic.) The one thing I am glad of in the UK is the BBC. American TV is so utterly broken its unbelievable. As a demonstration of this: go and find a UK edit of top gear, then compare it to the US. Top gear is full of content, but in the US it appears that this is bad, so they cut out half the stuff and replace it with plot spoilers and recaps every five minutes. The BBC did an edit of the first series of myth busters, they chopped it down to 25 minutes, just by getting rid of the stupid recaps. There is so much filler in american TV. TV is about content, and content discovery. Distractions are bad. unless they are more interesting than the TV you are watching (assuming the proliferation of antique hunting/storage unit buying programmes won't be too long)

anigbrowl 13y ago
Top gear is full of content, but in the US it appears that this is bad, so they cut out half the stuff and replace it with plot spoilers and recaps every five minutes. The BBC did an edit of the first series of myth busters, they chopped it down to 25 minutes, just by getting rid of the stupid recaps. There is so much filler in american TV. Quoted for truth. I am constantly embarrassed by how awful American TV formats are - most of the drama is just as bad, with a few startling exceptions.
aaronbrethorst 13y ago
Assuming the article's thesis is correct, I think that where the article says "The TV apps economy will be a $14bn business," you could just as well change it to say, "Apple is going to create a new $14bn P&L in the next few years." Here's why: Microsoft, intel, Sky(in the UK) and Google have been trying to promote this since the late 90's and they've failed. ... They[sic] interfaces suck balls (I'm looking at you samsung with voice activations) Apple didn't invent the smartphone, or the tablet, but they made them good. (I had a smartphone in 2002 and a tablet PC in 2003, and they were terrible! And they continued to be terrible until Apple came in and redefined the markets.) If anyone is going to win the 'smart TV' space and make second screen apps generally palatable to a broad base of consumers, it'll be Apple. One thing that's interesting to consider is that Apple can't be making much, if any, money on the Apple TV. They also can't be making a ton of money on iTunes-sold content, although they finally did admit recently that the iTunes Store is no longer a break-even business that exists solely to sell hardware. And Apple, traditionally, has loved having fat margins. So, where are they going to make money in this?
- wilfra 13y ago
  Apple or somebody capable of channeling Steve Jobs. Yes. Exactly. My Samsung "Smart" TV and AT&T Uverse (cable) are terrible at everything other than playing video once I've finally found it. Not because the hardware and data are crap - but because the software is a UX nightmare. That's a solvable problem. One which Samsung and AT&T are clearly not capable of solving, but solvable nonetheless.
  - thirdsun 13y ago
    I never understood why those hardware companies like Samsung won't bring in some talented or established external design team to work on the UI and general behavior of their software. I mean those guys have to realize that while software can be THE selling point of their devices, it will always fall short as long as it's just an afterthought.
    - aaronbrethorst 13y ago
zalew 13y ago
Ads and BS aside, Top Gear is legendary and they just get it right on so many levels that no licensed localized version can keep up with it (there is Australian and a Russian one). It's like if you tried to make an adaptation of Goodfellas only not by Scorsese and without Liotta, De Niro and Pesci.
- KaiserPro 13y ago
  100% and I am grateful for the likes of the simpsons, family guy, archer, 24, community, lost(well sortof) band of brother, CSI & big bang theory, just to mention a few I'm not implying the british TV is the only way. I'd actually forgotten about the US produced version of topgear. I think I lost interest at the after they started playing lots of heavy metal to try and jazz up the "drama".
  - zalew 13y ago
    sorry I edited out the bit about good tv series, noticed your post was more about the surrounding crap than the quality of the shows themselves :) I've recently watched some UK series and they're great: Hit&Miss, The Fall, Utopia, and some conspiracy one I forgot the title. too bad many of great UK shows aren't recapped (US usually exploits the franchise to death, the number of seasons of The Office as an example). to capture some bits about the difference on how British vs American tv works, check out 'Episodes' ;)
sc00ter 13y ago
> The BBC did an edit of the first series of myth busters, they chopped it down to 25 minutes, just by getting rid of the stupid recaps. Now there's a service I'd pay for! It wouldn't even have to sell the edited content, just an edit decision list that given the original video skips over all the dross on playback.

anigbrowl 13y ago

Top gear is full of content, but in the US it appears that this is bad, so they cut out half the stuff and replace it with plot spoilers and recaps every five minutes. The BBC did an edit of the first series of myth busters, they chopped it down to 25 minutes, just by getting rid of the stupid recaps. There is so much filler in american TV. Quoted for truth. I am constantly embarrassed by how awful American TV formats are - most of the drama is just as bad, with a few startling exceptions.

aaronbrethorst 13y ago

Assuming the article's thesis is correct, I think that where the article says "The TV apps economy will be a $14bn business," you could just as well change it to say, "Apple is going to create a new $14bn P&L in the next few years." Here's why: Microsoft, intel, Sky(in the UK) and Google have been trying to promote this since the late 90's and they've failed. ... They[sic] interfaces suck balls (I'm looking at you samsung with voice activations) Apple didn't invent the smartphone, or the tablet, but they made them good. (I had a smartphone in 2002 and a tablet PC in 2003, and they were terrible! And they continued to be terrible until Apple came in and redefined the markets.) If anyone is going to win the 'smart TV' space and make second screen apps generally palatable to a broad base of consumers, it'll be Apple. One thing that's interesting to consider is that Apple can't be making much, if any, money on the Apple TV. They also can't be making a ton of money on iTunes-sold content, although they finally did admit recently that the iTunes Store is no longer a break-even business that exists solely to sell hardware. And Apple, traditionally, has loved having fat margins. So, where are they going to make money in this?

wilfra 13y ago
Apple or somebody capable of channeling Steve Jobs. Yes. Exactly. My Samsung "Smart" TV and AT&T Uverse (cable) are terrible at everything other than playing video once I've finally found it. Not because the hardware and data are crap - but because the software is a UX nightmare. That's a solvable problem. One which Samsung and AT&T are clearly not capable of solving, but solvable nonetheless.
- thirdsun 13y ago
  I never understood why those hardware companies like Samsung won't bring in some talented or established external design team to work on the UI and general behavior of their software. I mean those guys have to realize that while software can be THE selling point of their devices, it will always fall short as long as it's just an afterthought.
  - aaronbrethorst 13y ago

zalew 13y ago

Ads and BS aside, Top Gear is legendary and they just get it right on so many levels that no licensed localized version can keep up with it (there is Australian and a Russian one). It's like if you tried to make an adaptation of Goodfellas only not by Scorsese and without Liotta, De Niro and Pesci.

KaiserPro 13y ago
100% and I am grateful for the likes of the simpsons, family guy, archer, 24, community, lost(well sortof) band of brother, CSI & big bang theory, just to mention a few I'm not implying the british TV is the only way. I'd actually forgotten about the US produced version of topgear. I think I lost interest at the after they started playing lots of heavy metal to try and jazz up the "drama".
- zalew 13y ago
  sorry I edited out the bit about good tv series, noticed your post was more about the surrounding crap than the quality of the shows themselves :) I've recently watched some UK series and they're great: Hit&Miss, The Fall, Utopia, and some conspiracy one I forgot the title. too bad many of great UK shows aren't recapped (US usually exploits the franchise to death, the number of seasons of The Office as an example). to capture some bits about the difference on how British vs American tv works, check out 'Episodes' ;)

sc00ter 13y ago

> The BBC did an edit of the first series of myth busters, they chopped it down to 25 minutes, just by getting rid of the stupid recaps. Now there's a service I'd pay for! It wouldn't even have to sell the edited content, just an edit decision list that given the original video skips over all the dross on playback.