Internet TV: Not Quite The Big Hit

[engine]

Internet TV: Not Quite The Big Hit [money.cnn.com]

The long-promised and never delivered concept of bringing the Internet to the living room is finally here.

Sort of.

Internet-connected TVs made up 21% of all television sales in 2010, according to a recently released report by NPD Group's DisplaySearch. Sales are expected to more than double by 2014.

The only problem is hardly anyone is using them to surf the Internet. Just 45% of those who say they have an Internet-connected TV use that feature, DisplaySearch found.

"It's not something they're looking for, but it's there," said Paul Semenza, senior vice president of NPD Group's DisplaySearch. "It's being included more and more as a standard feature in high-end sets."

In other words, people are picking up Internet-connected TVs without knowing it or caring. It's kind of like buying a car with rain-sensing wipers.

[walrus]

hehe, I bet it is the same reason why facebook accounts for such massive search traffic, the average user can barely navigate google search let alone connect a usb and a stereo cable.

[wheel]

I'm looking to put a media computer in our gym this year so we can watch tv via internet. It doesn't yet seem like an easy task where I am, finding out what software to use, what to subscribe to, or even what's available.

[J_RaD]

hulu , zinc , T.E.D ,

lots of choices out there just gota get searching...i've had a computer attached to my TV for years now.

[engine]

For the vast majority of people, they plug in the TV and start watching. Most don't have a computer hooked up, only a recorder. Getting a computer or network connected isn't going to be easy for most folks, and then, it's the content when it is connected. Do they really need it? Well over 90% of what's on is already pretty weak, imho, so I really don't see the need to increase the percentage with more equipment.

[marketingmagic]

Once the TV manufacturers get smart and start packaging TVs with a wireless keyboard and mouse, it'll explode. Why they haven't yet is beyond me. Durrrr....

[dauction]

Bought a Vizio "Internet" TV last year.. The biggest issue is it really isn't a Internet TV but rather a TV with Internet "APPS" on it.

Vizio even has a nice remote with slide out qwerty keyboard but still pain in the rear trying to vavigate and type in anything


Mostly use it for Netflick


One other thing I notice is that when I am done working on the Computer ..I go to the TV to Relax and watch instead of wanting to participate with the TV.

could be because I am getting to be an old fart ;)

[incrediBILL]

I find the simplest solution to the problem already exists, it's here today and most already own one, it's called the Sony PlayStation 3.

Not only do you get a good gaming machine, a BlueRay DVD player, access to Netflix and Hulu Plus, but you can watch quite a bit of YouTube, etc. in their browser.

Problem I'm finding is the services really aren't ready for prime-time such as Netflix doesn't allow most TV series on DVD to be viewed instantly, nor many movies for that matter. There's a good amount of stuff, but it's pretty limiting if you've already seen most of it.

Then we have Hulu Minus, er Plus, which I just canceled after less than a month because almost everything I wanted to watch wasn't available on the TV, you have to go watch it on a computer - which is FREE! huh? Must be some licensing issues there still waiting to be resolved.

Until those services get better, buying an Internet TV is pretty much a waste of money IMO, over-hyped, under-delivered.

Save that money and get a PS3, much better deal for now and it's more fun too!

[gpilling]

I have a PS3 and a Logitech Revue (free gift from Google!) and the Revue is much simpler to use than the PS3 for websurfing etc. All I have to do now is wire the house for CAT5 so that it is not streaming over wireless. I got the Revue to develop apps for the upcoming GoogleTV apps store, which should make a big impact on the public perception of the product. Once people can play Angry Birds on their 42" widescreen it should change the (internet enabled tv) game. The Revue is running Android so I would expect to see a lot of porting of apps from the handset to the TV.

[J_RaD]

For the vast majority of people, they plug in the TV and start watching. Most don't have a computer hooked up, only a recorder. Getting a computer or network connected isn't going to be easy for most folks

if they can get their laptop on their home wifi why cant they plug a computer into a monitor and do the same? cat5 is even simplier...click, click. ok done.

at some point the masses are going to have get off snooze mode.

[HuskyPup]

Do I assume that the US is doing Internet TV stuff completely different from the UK?

Everyone in my house, and many friends for that matter, use wifi on laptops with the various channels iplayers/catch-up/on-demand/etc and live programmes and all for free.

I've more channels than I know what to do with!

Is this not happening in the US?

[incrediBILL]

Is this not happening in the US?

We have all that stuff, but we're talking dedicated internet TV devices, like the new TVs that have internet access built-in to view Hulu/Netflix/etc. without a netbook, laptop, PS3.

Problem with all these new internet TV devices is they're a PITA to configure and then you find the services are blocking certain content delivery to some, if not all, of these devices.

If they simply allowed us to change the user agent to say it's MSIE 8 or some such, the services currently blocking data for those devices would be easily defeated and Hulu would think my PS3 was a regular computer and I could watch anything on the big screen.

Of course I could just dedicate one of my PC's to being a media server for the big screen, but that's kind of a waste.

[coopster]

If you're serious about internet tv check out the hdhomerun. Awesome product. No internet tv required and any pc (any device, actually) attached to your network is now ready to stream.

[HuskyPup]

the new TVs that have internet access built-in to view Hulu/Netflix/etc

Ah, the stuff that lovefilm etc is doing here. Never tried it out yet since I've got my own source for films etc and, realistically, don't watch much tv except late at night in bed and even then it's usually me catching-up on documentaries etc!

[rogerd]

My latest home theater box from Samsung includes a bunch of Internet apps. I've use Pandora and Netflix a lot. Use as a web-surfing tool is too cumbersome for most purposes, IMO.

The only downside of web-enabled AV electronics is that now they are begging to download updates about as often as an Adobe software product.

[engine]

why cant they plug a computer into a monitor and do the same?

In most cases, the computer is not in the main TV viewing room and nor is it positioned so that the family can watch.

The link between the Internet and the TV is still not seamless. I had to mess with data cables to get the net running on mine. Was it worth it? No, it wasn't, as the content is not up to my standards.

[HuskyPup]

No, it wasn't, as the content is not up to my standards.

Yep plus that's why I still prefer to download my films from a much cheaper source and anyone can access with any device in the house including TVs!

[Brett_Tabke]

Our Wii machine had an excellent internet experience builtin with Opera Browser. I often surf the web from the couch. However, the other folks in the house often tell me to 'go grab a laptop if you want to surf'...