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Google TV Update – June 2011

Google TV has been around for more than a year already . . . wow, how time flies, but how is it doing? Has it lived up to the hype and expectations? There have been a lot of Google TV bashers about, but are they the people who actually have one? Obviously there’s room for improvement, show me any gadget or gismo where there isn’t, but did Google TV set forth into the world before it was ready . . . and what does the future hold?  Okay, so without the benefit of a crystal ball, what is the selling point of Google TV and how are they going to turn around the, let’s be honest, less than favorable reception by many gadgeteers.

• Google TV – Potential – check! It certainly had potential, but did it really do so badly? Some people think that Google simply launched the product too quickly, and whilst, of course, nobody expected it to be perfect, it now has pretty stiff competition from the likes of Apple TV which is selling pretty well.
• Google TV – Is There a Place For It – check! Of course there’s room for Google TV, well, in some living rooms anyway, but unfortunately for them they did get rather a lot of bad press and people don’t forget easily. Many people thought that Google TV had laid down and died, well it hasn’t, and we’ve been reliably informed that the clever people at Google are working hard to try and revive the service and regain their “rightful” place in the home entertainment market.
• Google TV – The Future – can it survive? Well, if any company has the brain power, the money and the know how to turn this around the Google boffins have, but changing consumer perception is not easy, people have long memories. One other point to make, if you please, is that you can’t expect millions of people to rush out and by the latest Google TV like they would a mobile phone or a laptop . . . it’s expensive and many people won’t even think about changing their TV until their old one has given up the ghost. It’s not a “must have” gadget, not for many households anyway, but give them time to get a strong market share.  It will take time but eventually more and more households will be looking more favorably towards replacing their existing sets with Google TV or similar. Rome wasn’t built in a day you know!