I think many critics of Google TV are missing what Google is truly trying to do with Google TV. Google TV isn’t meant for the viewer though the viewer will greatly benefit from its arrival. Creating an interface for the view will fail, it always has failed it always will fail. Google (I think) is creating something much more genius and they are thinking on a much bigger scale. They are creating a device to make TV (and by proxy internet video) ads more relevant to the viewer. This device will act as a trojan horse but on many fronts. I believe Google has just declared war on entertainment as we know it.
Trojan Horse to the Viewer
Ok as a geek I am itching to get an internet connected TV because I can’t stop seeing the benefits for myself. I mean just to be able to watch netflix and other internet media from the comfort of my living room couch without having to explain to my wife or anyone else how to set it up is brilliant all on its own. Hell I was looking at purchasing a Vizio Internet Apps TV just for the features it offered. But Google is taking that a step further.
Of course I want a Google TV device because of all they have pledged to do to converge the internet and the TV, so I and many others will usher this box into our houses with open arms and connect it to as many other devices as we can but lets stop and think about what all of this does.
You connect your Google TV to you network of course, as well as to your TV, Cable Box/DVR, DVD Player, and whatever else it can plug into. At the moment you finish setting everything up Google knows so many major things about you before you start viewing your first TV show. It knows what TV service you have (cable, sat, fios, uverse, or Overt The Air (OTA)). It knows what TV you have (if you have an IR Blaster then it know basically what TV you have just by entering in this info). It knows what brand of DVD player you have. It also knows about your internet activities.
This is where it gets interesting, see once you have hooked up a Google TV device onto your network it now is behind your firewall firewall. It can see all of the traffic that goes on within your network, its in! See before Google had to wait on you to invoke Google so it could learn about you, now your searches (from home) will become even more relevant, heck spookily relevant because google will know what your internet habits truly are. Do you play WoW (World of Warcraft) till the wee hours of the morning? Do you share music across your network, what music do you share? Do you play other online games via PS3 or XBox360?
With this information alone google will have a wealth of information and you don’t have to tell google anything, it could use your IP information to serve you relevant ads no matter if you use google account. But remember Google is going to offer you a better experience on your TV too… so you are going to be all to willing to give up your google account information to set up Google TV even further. Then boom, it takes what could be random information and attaches it to what it already knows about you (search history, email, ect..). Now google has a much better view of what you like and dislike, your habits, a wealth of information that it didn’t know about you and this is information that it of course will use to better target ads directly to you.
But they aren’t done, now you are also going to tell google about everything you like entertainment wise. It starts with just searching for TV shows, and movies, but also what type of youtube videos you like to watch, and what you like to do while your watching TV. I say this last thing because this is where third party developers come in.
Imagine how twitter will be when you can tweet or even group tweet based on input device, during a sporting event, a popular tv show, or even the news. Google may not have access to twitters “fire hose” but it would have access to any data sent from its devices and just from my recent usage of twitter I can tell you many people twitter and watch TV at the same time. Though I am sure that google will make this very easy to do using buzz and allowing you to link your buzzes and tweets together.
Now onto the issue of Google not knowing whats on your DVR because its using an IR blaster, I call BS. Google may not know whats on there currently but it will, because you are going to tell it when to record and what to record. I say this because if google does this correctly you won’t need to directly access your DVR you will use Google TV to program and playback your DVR programming, as well as to clear it off once it reaches capacity. Granted yes this could be better using bluetooth or wifi but Google has to start with the technology that’s currently available, give them some time!
Think about it, Google will make a much easier interface for navigating your DVR than what most already have, most of those are cumbersome interfaces. Google has the ability to make a unified interface so no matter what brand of DVR you have you already know how to program it. Now you can program your DVR while anywhere in the world just by going into your Google TV account and saying record this program. Google will handle all the interface stuff, behind the scenes and you don’t have to worry about anything else. Google will know the capacity of your DVR (because you told them) and can warn you if your nearing capacity, then even ask you if you would like to get rid of something thats already saved. It can also ad subtle reminders to your google calendar about when your favorite shows will be on and a small button to record. All the while google is gaining more insight to what makes you tick. When you like to view saved recordings and if you tweet about it (with the multiple user interface) who you like to watch it with.
Once Google gets this box in your house it will know almost everything about you… we only have a few months to wait till the first android car rolls off the lots. Just remember we will welcome this trojan horse with open arms. I just pray Google sticks to their “Do No Evil” mantra because they are going to have us by the short and curly’s with all the information we are about to willingly give over.
I think many critics of Google TV are missing what Google is truly trying to do with Google TV. Google TV isn’t meant for the viewer though the viewer will greatly benefit from its arrival. Creating an interface for the view will fail, it always has failed it always will fail. Google (I think) is creating something much more genius and they are thinking on a much bigger scale. They are creating a device to make TV (and by proxy internet video) ads more relevant to the viewer. This device will act as a trojan horse but on many fronts. I believe Google has just declared war on entertainment as we know it.
This was originally intended as one post but it got way too long so I broke it up a little, look forward to part 2 focusing on how it Google TV changes things for the Networks coming soon.
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