The Invested Players
> In 1997, Microsoft bought WebTV - a set-top box connecting the TV to the Internet,
eliminating the need for a PC in the crowded home - for $425 million. Later rebranded as MSN TV before closing, it set up the foundation for Mediacenter and the Xbox.
> In 2001, Microsoft pushed through with the Xbox game console, losing almost $7 billion
to wedge themselves into the living room. It is now advertised as the "All-in-One Home Entertainment System."
> 30 years since WebTV, they have all the pieces set up: PCs, (phones), tablets, Xbox, as
well as Windows 10 - a ubiquitous OS that adapts to any screen; however, they have yet to establish a true platform in the living room beyond their game console.
> Google TV (Ver. 1&2) Slogan: "Web Meets TV. TV Meets Web." Yes, the broadcasting
companies and networks did deny Google TV access to their content, but with a controller nicknamed the "Ten Thousand Button Nightmare," there were other critical flaws.
> Chromecast: "Dumbed" down to do one thing: Screen sharing. Simple? Yes. Smart? No.
> In 2014, Google acquired Nest for $3.2billion, but hasn't shown respective results.
> Apple TV has been a "hobby" since its release in 2006 before becoming "an area of
intense interest" in 2012.
> In two accounts, (1) with Walt Mossberg and (2) with Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs has said,
"I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use... I finally
cracked it."
> "[The TV] would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud," Steve Jobs
put it. The ecosystem is all in place: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iTunes, the OS is offering more and more cross-platform features for a seamless experience; however, the living room potential has yet to be unleashed.
> Apple TV is a TV that Apple makes. Google TV is a TV that Google made. These
companies have the common decency to not call their TVs "smart." On the other hand, Samsung, LG, and the other TV manufacturers have been shamelessly selling their so-called "Smart TVs" under a grossly misleading marketing scheme that consequently adds costs onto the user in exchange for overly complicated, excruciatingly slow, astonishingly dull on-screen interfaces. This is equivalent to putting a cone on a horse's head and claiming it is a unicorn.
> 53% don't even know what's on their "Smart TVs" and 40% don't use any extra features
on "Smart TVs" and the only app(s) they do use are video streaming apps like Netflix.
> WIRED accurately refered to these "baffling [TV] interfaces" as "the literal, biblical devil."
> The current Amazon Fire TV, if looked at independently, can be bundled into the "hobby"
category of set-top boxes and dongles that offer easy access to limited digital video content; however, Amazon, not only has exclusive Amazon Prime streaming content, but also has an extended ecosystem, including their line of tablets, a (failed) attempt at smartphones, their own Fire OS, Echo, and, of course, the Amazon Online Retail Store.
UNDERLYING AMBITION
> All companies listed above are top tier tech companies.
> All companies have expressed interest in the untapped "living room" potential.
> All companies have acknowledged the UI predicament.
> All companies have yet to solve this enigma.
USERS
DEVELOPERS
USERS
Users have high expectations that have been raised by other comparable "smart" devices and simple user interfaces. The TV platform, not only has to match those expectations, but provide a new and better experience or else be met with the same skepticism that has plagued the market.
DEVELOPERS
One of the biggest pains for developers is fragmentation - whether its developing for separate OS platforms, catering to slightly varying user interfaces, or dealing with different standards and specifications - and while mobile devices (mainly Android) have experienced the consequences of such fragmentation after release, the TV platform has been fragmented even before it launched. But upon closer observation, the bigger issue is that there isn't even one properly made platform that could lead the pack.
