WEBVTT - What the heck is Google TV? 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.959 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:18.120 text style from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.479 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:23.439 and I am an editor here at how stuff works 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.320 dot Com. Sitting across from me, as he always does, 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:31.160 is senior writer Jonathan I want my, I want my 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.519 I want my Google TV. So do a lot of 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.440 other people. It's a very popular topic right now. Yeah, 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.320 because at the time that we're recording this podcast, the 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:45.400 announcement of Google TV is is pretty much fresh. It 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.000 just came out the week before we're sitting down to 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.159 record this. Now, by the time it publishes, obviously it 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.040 will be around a little bit longer than that. But 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.360 we want to talk about what Google TV is and 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.080 whether or not it has a chance of succeeding and 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:04.240 UH and why other attempts at bringing internet television uh 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:08.120 to to the consumer market have not really taken off. 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:09.720 And I guess the best way of doing this is 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.160 to kind of look at where internet TV has been 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:14.480 over the last several years. Okay, that sounds good to me. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.400 So internet TV is not anything new as anyone who 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:23.120 has visited the Consumer Electronics Showcase in the last uh oh, 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.280 I don't know, five ten years could tell you. Internet 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.240 TV has been a discussion point among multiple manufacturers for 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.640 several years. And in fact, there are some television's out 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:38.120 there that already incorporate some sort of of Internet or 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:42.119 web based um uh content you know that you can 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.600 you can access. Most of them are fairly limited, and 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.000 that might be the big reason why it hasn't really 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.280 taken off. Before the televisions and set top boxes were 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.320 on the scene, really, the only way you were going 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.800 to get anything on the Internet on your television was 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:00.880 by hooking your computer up to your TV. Oh, I 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:06.280 mean there's web TV the only good way to get Yeah, no, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.919 what's turned I just turned Jonathan's face a little green. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.919 I think No. I actually had a friend who had 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.520 web TV, and I uh, I was never intrigued by 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.800 the product, mainly because I already had, you know, a 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.359 computer that could access the web and uh and when 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.000 I looked at the product and use I I just 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.720 if I could tell it was not for me. Well, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:31.280 I will say though, that products like web TV, products 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:35.240 like DVRs, um they're all sort of factors in the 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.919 hype for Google TV, and then they're all sort of 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.680 in some way, um sort of a predecessor, you know, 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.600 or maybe a part of the concept behind short TV. 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.959 It's a unification of those things. Yeah, yeah, if you 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:54.519 will convergence, yeah yeah, it's it's definitely been an evolution. Uh. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.840 If you look back at the early the early solutions 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.000 besides hooking a computer up to your television, the biggest 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.720 problem with that is it's a barrier to the average consumer. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.920 Because we've talked about this before, there appears to be 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:12.600 a fundamentally intimidating factor of hooking your computer up to 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.880 your TV for most consumers. Now, for some of you 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.080 guys listening out there, you're probably thinking, Hey, I've had 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.520 a computer hotel to my TV for years. There's nothing 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.440 that's there's no real big deal about it. You just 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.560 get a couple of pieces of software, you get the 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.520 right cable, you hook it up, and you're ready to go. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.400 And that's true. But for the average consumer who's used 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.520 to having a television and maybe a couple of boxes 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.520 that hook up directly and do all the work for you, 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:44.720 it seems like it's a pretty intimidating, uh endeavor, especially 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.000 when you start thinking do I want to have to 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:49.320 sit down and watch my TV with a keyboard on 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.040 my lap in order to to see the things I 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.560 want to see? And a lot of consumers don't, which 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:56.800 may end up being a problem for Google TV. But 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:01.400 we'll get to that. So we move beyond the hooking 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.480 your computer up to your television television, which some people 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.560 would say is still the best option, and in fact, 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.320 I'm not going to disagree it's gonna be hooking a 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:11.960 computer up to your TV is probably going to give 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:16.880 you the widest array of options out of anything that's 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.200 currently on the market. Um, but again still has that 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.000 intimidation factor. If you move beyond that, then we start 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.360 looking at the products that have slowly begun to integrate 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:31.280 web based content into their into the system. So things 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.680 even like ti Vo has has this right right, Well, 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:40.840 I'm TiVo and other digital video recorders in general. Um, 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.839 even when they just got started, they offered you the 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:47.680 opportunity to record video, of course, but you also had 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.240 things like an electronic program guide. Um, you had the 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.720 ability in in some cases, especially with with ti Vo, 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.719 to set up subscriptions. So what it would have to 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:02.280 do would be to call in to the Tebow subscription, 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:04.800 at least in the earliest versions, that would actually make 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.279 a phone call with the modem to get the program 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.680 information to use on the electronic program guide, and you 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.200 could say, you know what, I want to watch every 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:14.640 new episode of Lost as soon as it comes on, 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.320 so the TVO would go out get the information about 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.719 when it was on. Say ABC changes it from Tuesday 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.359 night to Thursday night. I never watched Laws, so I 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.479 know I probably have gotten the dates wrong. But let's 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:29.840 just say they changed the show, whatever show it is, 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.440 from one night to the other. The electronic program GUDE 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.400 is going to be instantly updated when I instantly, but 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.559 when it calls in, it's gonna be updated. It's gonna 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.839 know when the show has changed. It's you know, it's changed, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:40.800 the date, it's changed the time slot. It can go 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:42.800 ahead and get that information for you. So it's far 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:47.040 more interactive than setting your TV for you know, every 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.200 Tuesday night at eight o'clock and then finding out, uh, 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:54.760 you know, via a paper guide manually and saying, oh man, 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.800 I missed Tuesday night's episode of my show because I 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.400 didn't realize that they had changed nights and time slots 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.200 on me and now I I'm stuck. This is far 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:08.279 more interactive. It it allows you uh some control over 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.080 these things without having to mess with it, but it's 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.040 still not accessing the Internet proper to get that information. Now, 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.880 later models of TVO and some of the other DVRs 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.880 actually do access the Internet, but if they're only accessing 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.760 it for the electronic program guide in the programming information 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.880 to get your TV shows, that's not really the same 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.240 as what Google TV is offering, right. And then you 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:34.760 have the devices like Roku or Apple TV, which give 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.880 you an access to a slice of content from the web, 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.720 but it's not it's not unfettered access to what's on 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.000 the web. So, for example, with Roku, you would have 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.400 these various channels that they've set up where you can 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.440 access content from those channels, and it's not channels in 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:53.680 the sense of a cable operator. It's more like a 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.880 content provider. So, for example, one of the channels, which 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:58.680 of course is this is something that you can find 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:03.640 across multiple devices now, is the Netflix Instant streaming channel. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.760 So if you are a Netflix subscriber and you have 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.520 access to the instant streaming service that they provide. You 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.920 can use a Roku box to access your instance streaming 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.040 que and and stream it to your television. So you 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.840 can watch this stuff that you know, Normally you might 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:21.800 think you'd have to watch it on a computer screen. 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.280 You can watch it on your big screen TV. Now 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:26.200 there are actually lots of different ways that you can 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.720 access Netflix streaming, which to me just says that Netflix 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.240 has got like the plan. If you're a content provider, 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:36.160 look at Netflix, because they are doing it right. They 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:39.080 you can find them across multiple platforms, including video game 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.440 consoles like the Xbox three sixty, the p S three, 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.360 and the wies, so they are going into more houses 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.000 than than pretty much any other content provider um and 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:53.600 other platforms as well. They have apps for uh, the 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.120 iPad and I believe the iPod and iPhone as well, 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.960 and you know other mobile devices, so they are they're 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.160 reaching out to those markets as well. So you could 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.760 we'll be waiting for the subway to watch your show 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.760 and still be able to access that. There's a there's 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:11.480 a Netflix app for Android as well, although the Android 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.360 app is is mainly being able to manage the que. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.160 Manage the que exactly it's not to watch the content, 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:18.800 it's to manage the Q which is probably a good 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.640 thing because I think trying to stream that content to 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.679 your mobile device, especially if you're on the move, would 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.880 be a pretty unsatisfying experience. You would either get a 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:31.280 really poor quality video and audio or it would take 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.480 forever for it to stream. Well, yeah, that and it's 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.959 going to tax the wireless network exactly. And if you yeah, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.439 that's the other problem. And I'm sure the network providers 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.240 don't want to see that. So at any rate, I'm 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:43.599 sorry you were going to say, I was going to 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.520 mention Apple TV, since you please. That's a little different 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.440 model because Apple TV um is a box that actually 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.679 has been on the market for quite some time. People 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.959 have I've been talking about the possibility that Apple may 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.080 kill the device because it doesn't seem like it's very popular. 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:01.320 Uh uh, you know, it's just one of those things 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.640 that it's a hey, wait, that's still for sale sort 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.760 of thing. But um, it's sort of an in between 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.440 two as far as the way it works, because you 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.400 might buy a show or subscribe to a show on 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.120 the iTunes store, have it downloaded to your Apple TV, 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.280 and then you connect that to your TV and watch 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.000 the content from there. But you're going show by show 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:28.960 and you know you're buying this and whatever is on iTunes, exactly, 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.320 you can't. You can't use it to access all the 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.960 video content that you can find across the web, which 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.960 is also true if the Netflix, right. Yeah, the Roku 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.320 box is the same way. The Roku Box you only 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.040 have access to the channels that Roku has made partnerships with, 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.280 so like major League Baseball would be another great example. 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.600 You'll be able to watch all these Baseball games that 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:51.840 are not in your local area U through the Roku Box. 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.160 Other boxes also have deals with Major League Baseball. So 0:09:56.400 --> 0:10:00.559 on the set top side, we have this kind limited 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.920 access to web content. On television's Meanwhile, there were some 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:08.240 televisions that had a little limited access to web content. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.000 Some of them only went with widgets, so you would 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.800 have a channel essentially on your TV where you could 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.480 go and access widgets to find things like the latest 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:20.600 news headlines, weather reports, stock tips, with that kind of stuff. 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.920 Things that we're useful, but again it was a very 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.559 narrow slice of all the content that's on the web. 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.760 Now this leads us to Google TV, which is a 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.800 much broader approach to getting content from the web onto 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:41.320 your television set. Google TV is built upon Android, the 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:45.400 Android operating system Android two point one to be specific. Uh. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.760 The web browser that it's using is the Chrome web browser, 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.040 So we're sticking with Google products here. That's not a 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:55.160 big surprise. And it's using the Intel Adom microprocessor to 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.160 generate the power it needs to both be able to 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:02.280 display video and to act as web content. So that's 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.640 that's where your your backbone is. That's your Android operating system, 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:10.920 Chrome web browser, Intel microprocessor. Uh. The idea behind Google 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.800 TV is that you would be able to access pretty 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.720 much all of the Web through your television in a 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:21.040 very in a simplified user interface, so that it looks 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.280 very familiar to anyone who's ever used the Chrome web browser, 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:29.400 and it integrates not just the web content, but your 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.120 television content as well, depending on how you're getting that 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.680 TV content. So let's say you're getting it via satellite 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.839 or cable and you want to search for a specific program, 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.600 you could go into Google TV on your television. You've 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.079 got a keyboard. This is one of the parts where 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.640 I'm saying that this might be a problem because again 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.280 consumers don't generally want to have to have a keyboard 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.559 in order to access their their television programming. This might 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.520 be the tipping point for that. It could, it could. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.120 This is this has been pretty intriguing, I think to 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.400 a lot of people in that regard. So things, Yeah, 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:05.720 they could search for a program on in a browser, 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.160 something that looks like the Chrome browser, and by searching 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:15.160 for that program, Google will search not just the the web, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:19.320 it will search your DVR, and it might search the 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:25.240 actual live broadcasts that are coming in through whatever content 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.640 provider you're using, whether it's satellite or cable or whatever, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.280 so that it will when the results that will come 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.800 up will include various options. So let's say that you 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.680 are three episodes behind on House and you want to 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.679 search for House. You can search for that, and it's 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.160 gonna bring up the next uh any any episodes that 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.200 you might have on your DVR. That will bring up 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.760 the result for whenever it's gonna show next live on TV, 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.080 and it may bring up something like Hulu where you 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.199 can watch the last few episodes on Hulu and m 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:02.839 and again, it's giving you access to essentially the entire web. 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:07.040 You're no longer looking at Little Pie slices. UM. Now, 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.200 that's truly revolutionary when it comes to web based content 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.560 on the Internet. If you don't, if you haven't taken 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.760 the step of connecting a computer to the TV. Because again, 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:18.720 if you have already done that, then you you pretty 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:20.319 much have access to all of this. It's just just 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:23.520 do it yourself project as opposed to it's all coming 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.640 in a package with a Google And Google is working 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.800 with some pretty big names to to bring some products 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.000 to market UM, possibly as early as faul. Yes, they've 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.760 already been talking with people like Sony and Logitech on 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.680 products and and uh, there's a probability to that. I 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.240 shouldn't even say it's a probability. It's uh, you won't 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.960 necessarily have to connect a box to your TV. They're 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.400 working on TVs. They'll have the necessary equipment inside so 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.040 that you will be able to do this without having 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.560 to hook up a second piece of equipment. Right, So 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:03.360 you would just hook the your your you know, however, 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:08.160 you're getting your your UM broadband service, so uh and 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.480 and some of the TVs may even have a WiFi 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.439 UH card in them so that you you know, they 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.920 wirelessly hook up to your home network, which is that's 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.120 always a good thing because you're thinking, well, good thing 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.560 in the sense that it's one less cable to have 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.520 to worry about. Of course, if you don't have a 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.640 very fast home network connection, then that's a problem. Or 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.280 if lots and lots of people are trying to access 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.720 a wireless network as you're running the demo for a 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.080 Google TV, apparently that is also a problem. Yeah, I watched, 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:40.480 so I guess you watched the key note where they 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.680 had multiple issues. Yeah, that's that's one of the problems 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.560 of any high tech keynote speech now is that everyone 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.800 who's in the audience is also trying to access the 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.080 same network you are using to give your demo. So 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.560 either you need a private network that no one else 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.240 has access to, or you need to have everything, uh 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.120 just run as a presentation as opposed to a live demo, 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.840 because it's just really hard to get through otherwise. Yeah. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.400 I don't think there's a tech company around that has 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.640 had a live that has never had a problem with 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.200 a live demonstration of some kind. I guess. I guess 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.760 they can be thankful that they didn't have any instances 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.720 of showing a website with a big box with a 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:23.520 question mark on it saying that it's lacking the proper 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:28.440 plug in order to display it. Apple. Yeah, and uh 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:33.080 so the going back to to the Google TV's plan here, 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:38.200 So I think what Google TV has really managed to do. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.560 I think what Google has managed to do is look 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:45.440 at how consumers have been getting used to accessing more 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.440 and more entertainment content via the web. Back when internet 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:53.000 TVs first started hitting the market, that was pretty much 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.440 a very niche audience. There are very few people comparatively speaking, 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.920 who were accessing entertainment online. For one thing, there weren't 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.360 a whole lot of official channels where you could access 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.520 entertainment online. So if you were accessing entertainment online, there 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.240 was a fair percentage that you were pirating it or 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.080 that you were going through some proxy site to view 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:20.160 UM television programs that were not authorized to be shown online. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:24.080 Uh And then you started to see partnerships with companies 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.240 like Hulu and various content providers where you had official 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:31.080 channels where you could watch real network programming or cable 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:35.800 programming that was authorized by the content provider UM. And 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.840 that's when people started to say, hey, you know what 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.760 I missed last night's episode, I didn't set the dvr, 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.200 um or there's this new show that I didn't even 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.240 know about, so I didn't even know to set the DVR. 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.080 But I can go to Hulu and I can watch it. 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.720 And more and more people I think have become comfortable 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.640 with watching stuff online, and they're they're even comfortable watching 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:59.880 it on a small form factor like a laptop, you know, 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.960 or uh in some cases even you know, an iPod 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:06.920 if they're getting it through iTunes. Um. But I think 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.760 if you ask any of them, hey, would you like 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.960 to have the freedom that you have accessing entertainment online 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:15.840 where you can look at things like the last five 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.480 episodes on Hulu of any particular show. Would you like 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.480 to have that freedom on your actual television where you're 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.679 no longer using your TV to access whatever the programming 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.480 is that the content providers are are allowing you to access, 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:34.520 and instead you're able to access a much larger pool 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:36.800 of content. I think most people would say, yeah, I 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.600 would love that. I just don't want a clunky interface 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.800 between me and the content. And that's Google TV's biggest hurdle, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.160 I think, is to make that that interface as smooth 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.399 and easy as possible and to try and minimize the 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.359 impact of Hey, you're gonna need a keyboard to be 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.439 able to use this completely. Um. Once they're able to 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.680 get to that point, I think that this product could 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:06.119 have huge success. Yeah. One other advantage that Google has 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.720 with doing Google TV is that it's using its Android 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.000 operating system, and uh third party providers are going to 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:16.560 be able to write applications for Google TV just as 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:22.399 they would for other Google Android operating system UH platforms, 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:26.639 So that's going to be an advantage to for them. Um. 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:32.119 Google will actually even have a YouTube interface um. Of 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.600 course Google's parent company for YouTube. UM, but there's it's 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.840 what it's called YouTube lean Back. It's and it's designed 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.800 to be couch ready, yes if you will, so you 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.760 don't have to go in and start searching for stuff 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.320 using a keyboard necessarily. And we'll have it'll have pre 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:55.080 selected videos that uh that you are supposedly going to 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:59.800 be predisposed to enjoying based upon your own behaviors online 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.399 on YouTube and what your friends enjoy watching. So it 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.400 also presupposes that your friends enjoy the same things you do, 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:09.960 which thinking of my friends means I'm in I'm in 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.480 store for some of the scariest videos that you have 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:16.240 ever seen online, because good lord, those guys are freaks. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:21.640 Hey guys, how you doing? Um? So yeah, I mean 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.000 I think Google TV is going to be an important 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:29.679 step in the evolution of TV and computer you know, 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.480 convergence with that word again, um. But you know, it 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.000 does require the participation of the content providers. You have 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.720 been traditionally a little reticent to share their information. I 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.440 think personally, I would say that's probably because a lot 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:51.000 of people associate digital with easy to copy and distribute 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.560 um without any regard for copyright, and that's not necessarily 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:59.640 true of different interfaces. And it's also associated with reduced 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.359 revenue because you're not getting the same amount of ad 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.159 revenue online as you are through television broadcast. But I 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.680 think Google's approach kind of circumvents that a little bit 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.680 because you're still getting content through your normal you know providers, 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.560 You're still getting content through cable and satellite. You're just 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.720 also able to access content on the web. It's not 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.440 it's not like Google's forcing content providers to to put 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.080 all of their stuff on the web. It's just allowing 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:28.400 customers to access the stuff that's on the web as 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.760 well as the stuff that's on their TV. And I 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.159 think that's the right approach because it's less threatening to 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:36.879 the content providers. Right. It's not saying, hey, if you 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.119 don't play our game, then you're gonna get left behind. 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.560 It's saying, we're giving customers more options and they still 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:45.680 want to watch your content. If it's good content, they're 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:48.160 gonna go and say, oh, it's eight o'clock, I need 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:51.439 to tune into MythBusters, which is an awesome show. You 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:53.920 know they're still gonna do that. It's not saying that 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.359 you need to put MythBusters online or else no one 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.800 will watch it, which I mean everyone knows that that's 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:05.199 not true because they're awesome. Well of course, um, but 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.679 actually that I think two. You can see signs of 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:13.920 that in the the partnerships developed are developing, I should say, 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:19.080 rather around the TV Everywhere initiatives, which are basically started 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:23.440 by Time Warner and by comcasts who basically are trying 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.760 to find ways to get content providers on board and 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:33.520 offer access to a subscriber's TV shows anywhere. Um. In 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:37.520 this case, a subscriber to the cable services of one 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.040 of those companies would be able to watch their favorite 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:43.679 shows on a TV or what they log in, you know, 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:48.160 the proper, proper credentials. They could watch it on their 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:50.640 laptop or on their desktop computer at work when they're 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:53.960 supposed to be doing something important. Um. But but you know, 0:21:54.200 --> 0:22:00.439 maybe they're on I never ever Thorty Rock. But perhaps 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:02.920 they're on the road. You have a busy executive who's 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:06.040 on the road, has a difficult time watching his or 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:10.400 her favorite shows and can tune in anywhere regardless of 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:13.240 where it is by using this initiative. And I think 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.520 that some of the content or fighters are going, oh, well, 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:20.040 if they're paying us via a subscription, and you know, 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:23.080 we can identify them as a paid subscriber, then maybe 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:27.119 that's not so bad. And also no, no, please continue, 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:29.960 I don't interrupt. Well no, no, Um there there's another 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:33.359 Dish network also has a TV Everywhere initiative that is 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:37.040 a little different because they a couple of years ago 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:41.119 purchased sling Media, which makes the Slingbox place shifting technology 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.879 that allows you to watch content from your DVR box 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:47.840