Google Postpones TV Because Of Weak Reception
Google (GOOG) has asked LG, Toshiba, and Sharp (SRP) not to launch their Google TV units at next month's Consumer Electronics Show because of weak early reviews. It's a good, humble move on Google's part, as the company and its affiliates must correct these missteps:
1. The Controller is Too Complex
The Google TV controller (it seems too complex to be called a remote control) is a joystick/keyboard hybrid. The chunky interface gives the user more options than the average remote, but Google is also going against a half century of simple interactivity.
As Nilay Patel of Engadget notes, the funky design is one of Google's (few) TV requirements:
Google's mandated that all Google TV devices include a QWERTY keyboard and some form of mouse control in addition to a standard arrow key layout, and there are a variety of first- and third-party iPhone and Android apps that can control GTV devices.
A more elegant solution would be creating a TiVo-style control: Keeping the remote the same size, but allowing text to be typed in via a joypad and onscreen icon. Consumers are already taking a risk buying a new television -- at least their remote can feel familiar. They could still opt to buy the full-sized joystick/keyboard, but it would be their choice. (Sony (SNE) already launched its stand-alone Google TV and Blu-Ray player in October, which could make a product revamp even more costly for the company.)
2. Google Has a Bad Relationship with the TV Networks
My BNet colleague Erik Sherman believes that NBC, CBS, and ABC are foolish for blocking their programming on Google TV. This is definitely true in the long view, but you also have to respect the massive sea change Google has created by removing the wall between TV and Internet:
- The price of premium television advertising may drop closer to cheaper web advertising levels
- A revamping of TV viewership measurements, as it may become more difficult to track television viewership via Nielsen and similar scales
- Television having more direct competition with the web and, more than likely, a drop in overall viewership
3. Time is the Biggest Asset
Google knows it only has one weapon in this fight: Time. The company needs time to implement the feedback given in the lukewarm reviews. It also needs time to massage a better relationship with the networks and for the networks to realize, as Netflix gets stronger and their Hulu becomes more important, the wall between the Internet and TV is fading fast. Google will have to be patient, as no matter how sophisticated Google TV may be, television still isn't television without the big three.
Photo courtesy of sam_churchill // CC 2.0
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