“Last year’s tablet feeding frenzy [at CES] points toward the future of TV,” Mike Elgan writes for Computerworld. “If you’re not Apple or Google, you’d better be one of those sucker fish that clings on. Within the next three years, everyone else is going to be lunch.”
“Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said last month that by the summer of this year, the majority of TVs available in stores will have Google TV ’embedded ‘It’s not exactly clear what Schmidt meant, or how accurate his prediction is likely to be. Google TV is a boob-tube specific version of its Android mobile platform running a special version of its Chrome browser. Regardless, Google is sinking its teeth into television, and it’s likely to keep chomping away until it gets its fill,” Elgan writes. “Google is a great white shark circling and thrashing around in clear view. But lurking out there somewhere is an even scarier creature — Apple. Landing content deals has been hard for Apple, according to insiders. After seeing what Apple did to the music industry, Hollywood executives are holding on to their wallets when Apple is around. Still, Apple’s mission, which appears to be becoming the content consumption conduit of the lucrative, profitable end of the market, combined with market power and billions in cash, will eventually win the day.”
MacDailyNews Take: The only thing Apple did to the music industry was to save it from oblivion.
Google and Apple’s “approaches mirror the open/fragmented, closed/integrated binary choice Google and Apple present to smartphone buyers,” Elgan writes. “Either way, all roads lead to Silicon Valley.”
“The future of television advertising is massively contextual. When Google advertises to you, it will target those ads based on your purchase history, interests, geographic location, social group and even possibly your web-searching history,” Elgan writes. “Before you cry “Big Brother,” be aware that people want contextual advertising whether they know it or not. The reason is that the TV will know what you want before you do, and offer it up on a silver platter. If you love sushi, and a TV commercial tells you about a new Japanese restaurant in your area (because the TV knows who you are and what you want), it’s a message you want to hear.”
Elgan writes, “Google and Apple are the two companies in the best position to fix what’s broken about television.”
Much more in the full article, including why today’s cable TV model is destined to go the way of the CD, here.
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