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  • The Paradox of Consumer Choice
    A few years ago I read a book called The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More by Barry Schwartz. His anecdotes were insightful and pointed to truths about the amount of choice the free market has laid on us as consumers. Of course free markets and consumer choice should be good things, but there are certainly experiences I have had where the overwhelming sense of having too many options made it difficult to actually make a decision. I related to much of what the book was saying, particularly with the experience of picking out a DVD to watch from my massive collection. I recall staring at a wall of DVDs and having the most difficult time deciding what to watch. The decision-making process when faced with so many good choices was simply immobilizing.  
  • The Future of PC and Mobile Processors

    I've spent a lot of time with a number of hardware manufacturers recently, trying to get a glimpse into the next generation of processors and the ways in which they'll impact future gadgets and PCs. In all my meetings, one term has arisen time and again: SOC, or system-on-a-chip.

    Traditionally, chips have been created independently and then coupled together to provide multiple computing features. For example, a manufacturer would create a core processor like an Intel Centrino with a built-in Wi-Fi radio, and then attach that to a systems board, perhaps linking it together with a separate graphics co-processor, in order to deliver enhanced PC graphics. Another might take an ARM core processor and then add on additional features like extended graphics to enhance device functionality.

  • Apple's iPad: Live up the Hype? It Will....
    It was interesting to hear all the chatter after last week's iPad launch. Most reactions I heard from other analysts and media were lukewarm at best...which was what I expected. If you think about it, how can anything live up to the kind of hype leading up to this launch? But there was a lot missed in the media about the event and the product that I hope to share in order to maintain our perspective on not only the iPad but on Apple and their products.  
  • Innovation Abounds - CES 2010 Post Show Analysis

    This year's CES was very interesting. I had felt for the past few years that CES was sorely lacking in the innovation department. But this year it looks like things have changed in the technology industry. Technology companies have realized that to reach the consumer the pace of innovation needs to accelerate, and this year's CES was a start in that direction.  Several things stuck out that I'd like to highlight:  

Disruptive TV - How Streaming TV is Close at Hand

Written by Ben Bajarin Tuesday, 17 November 2009 15:51

In March of this year, I canceled my service with DISH Network to embark on a simple experiment. The question was did I need my television service provider, and the experiment was to see if streaming shows from the Internet could satisfy my television habits.

 

The TV shows they are a-streaming...

In the first few weeks of this experiment, I came to find out that 90% of the TV shows my wife and I watched on a regular basis were available online from either the networks' websites themselves or from Hulu.com. What suffered however was live sports and shows for our kids, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Since I am a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan, it was very difficult for me to not be able to watch a single game the entire season from the comfort of my own home. I tried connecting to hacked streams; I tried watching them through my dad's SlingBox; I even tried MLB.TV, but since I am in the Giants local market the games were blocked out. Nothing came close to watching the game in HD on my big screen. My conclusion with live events is that they still have a long way to go when it comes to an equally or more compelling offering through the Internet.   

 

For most other shows that were not available online I found that iTunes had season and individual episodes for sale. For example, things like Discovery channel episodes are not streamed, but were available in iTunes.  

 

One other observation was how cumbersome the process was to find the show we wanted to watch. Bookmarking each show's portal was the most efficient way to quickly watch each show. What is really missing in the world of online streaming is something akin to the guide or EPG provided by network service providers. Boxee made an attempt but I still found their user interface awkward and unintuitive. In both the online world of TV as well as the service provider world a more efficient way to quickly find what you want watch or discover something to watch is yet to be solved. Another frustration was that each new episode would appear online generally 24 hours after it aired and in some cases 48 hours -- which made talking about the latest episodes with my friends a little awkward since I wouldn't be able to chime in on the conversation until several days after it aired.

 

Connected TV and Streaming Services

One of the big trends we see coming to new TVs in 2010 is the integration of streaming services. We see momentum by TV manufacturers to integrate services like Netflix, Amazon "Unbox", Hulu, and more directly to the TV. These services may come in the way of applications or simply a "walled garden" portal with each service, but consumers will decide which services if any they choose to "install." This is of course extremely valuable to the content providers providing streaming services, but also to consumers who may already subscribe or pay for those services and want to enjoy that content on their TV as well as their PC or mobile device.  

 

Another element of connectivity coming to the PC is by way of "web apps" for lack of a better term. Things like Yahoo's Widget channel and even TV applications being developed by service providers like DirecTV are demonstrating what a simple application connected to the Internet for quick information can do for consumers. Quick access on your TV to things like sports scores, weather or stock information, as well as integration with applications like Flickr and Facebook can offer consumers "information snacking" with the services they are interested in without ever having to open a web browser or check them on a mobile phone. 

 

TV manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, LG and even Vizio are showing increased interest in adding more intelligence to their TV sets so that they can capitalize on connectivity and streaming services.  Several of these manufactures will have connected TV sets or Blu-Ray DVD players on shelves this holiday.   ABI Research forecasts that these Internet connected TV's could represent 69% of all TV sales by 2014.  We are seeing more and more very powerful CPU's getting integrated into these next generation TV sets that inevitably will move them from a simple dumb display into an intelligent screen in your home that can now be a platform to develop new and innovative services or applications.   

 

The Challenge Ahead

One of my key takeaways in exploring the world of Internet TV and streaming services was that the mainstream TV networks are at a major crossroads. Down one road they have their traditional distribution methods through the cable and satellite service providers who pay them large up-front sums of money for their network content. Down the other road is the world of Internet distribution through their own sites and in collaboration through Hulu.com. This road offers them a more direct relationship with their customers and the ability to benefit directly from the advertising spends, but has steep up-front costs associated with it. This is why there is speculation that Hulu.com will offer a paid service or a subscription model so that the networks can benefit from this model in a way similar to the service provider model where money changes hands up-front. This road, however, poses a challenge to their deeply vested service provider model and the networks are extremely cautious not to do anything that aggravates their service provider partners since they represent such a large chunk of their business.    

 

 Balancing this world of broadband vs. broadcast content will be one of the more interesting things to keep your eye on.   Whether or not a service like Hulu.com and the network content on that service can benefit from a freemium model is yet to be determined. However an interesting model presented by Epix HD could prove to be worth paying attention to.   In essence, Epix HD is a premium cable channel that will offer its subscribers free access to epixhd.com, where consumers can stream on-demand movies and other content offered by the service from any PC web browser. This model works because the online streaming service is a perk for being a subscriber to their premium channel. This model makes the likes of Comcast happy because they are getting revenue from their broadcast infrastructure as well as creating more demand for their broadband infrastructure.  

 

 We believe that we are at the very beginning of some shifting consumer behavior where the three screen, TV-PC-Mobile device, experience begin to blend and offer seamless entertainment experiences. Content owners are going to have to begin to experiment with what it means to offer both broadcast and broadband content and how that content may be complimentary and provide elements of convenience to consumers to discover and consume their content in ways they could not before. 

    

 

 

 

 

 

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