I wish I watched more TV. Then, I would have realized that there are many ways to optimize the idiot box. For starters, there is search. To jump from one channel to another, even on a set-top box, is a pain. The distance between two interesting channels is always too much. Second, there is no way for me, as a user, to find out where an interesting program is being beamed unless I check some papers or websites, which I will never do. Takes us back to what we do on the web daily, search. Now, had there been a way to directly search on the TV, the idiot box would become a smart box. Just provide a good search bar somewhere on the screen, damn it. But then, TV's don't have operating systems. So, why not create an O/S for TVs?
That's what Google TV is doing. No, Google will not make the hardware but will partner with TV makers like Sony to pre-install the O/S to make TV's smart. And Google will make small boxes (like set-top boxes) that can be hooked to existing TV's so programs can be made searchable. The Google TV then, will have a built-in browser (Chrome, or some mutant version of it) that will help the user easily navigate through the clutter of content, search through the programs to what the user wants to see, help enable them to record and play these programs later. We cant do this now, although we can record on DVRs and that is why Google TV looks so bloody promising. Where Apple failed, Google goes. While Apple TV was a great idea badly implemented, GTV looks like it will redefine the media business slowly but steadily.
Of course there is YouTube, owned by Google. Legions of people daily use this web video service to upload, and watch videos. Google TV will take advantage of this demographic, which is huge. YouTube is already making money, reportedly about $500 million in 2010. If GTV kicks off, this number will reach the sky because GTV will sync perfectly with YouTube, making watching videos even more easier. We dont have to start laptops and desktops to watch videos anymore. Then there are apps. Super cool apps are being built for Android every single day, and these apps will sit pretty in GTV and enhance and enrich the user's television viewing experience. Bottom line, television is finally going to marry Internet and its all coming together by 2011. Video is the fastest growing media on the Internet (check this: 178 million people watched 33.2 billion videos in just one month recently) and Google is neatly positioned to take advantage of that. In the end, watching television and searching for what we want to see is going to be redefined and very soon.
I wish I watched more TV, I probably would have thought about this whole search-bar-in-a-television business long back. I have my excuse, hope you have yours ;)
