The Smu Reviews

For better or worse, television requires very little effort on the part of the user. Aside from changing the channel or looking at the onscreen TV guide, television is just “there.”

Connected devices, on the other hand, demand a lot more user effort. Viewers have to make conscious choices about what content they want to watch. This is fine if someone wants to watch a specific movie or TV show, but it can be less satisfying for the channel surfer. There is much less serendipity built into the current generation of connected devices.

As someone who has never had a satalite contract and has not had ‘TV’ for nearly a decade I am fascinated to see where ‘connected TV’ (as the article refers to it) goes over the next 5 years.

Ironically in the last 6 months I have moved back to FreeView and largely away from ‘connected TV’ due to various issues with broadband speeds, contracts and prices. Currently I am using a mi-fi unit – a very exciting piece of technology that I think may well change the face of Wi-Fi – and allthough the speed is fine the data cap is prohibitive.

I hate FreeView though because of everything ‘TV’ that it brings with it – the constant shouty adverts, the osmosis dripfeed of things and people I really don’t care about and the inherent lazy channel surfing that despite my best intentions I still end up doing.

It does sound however that for ‘connected TV’ to succeed it will end up taking on most of the characteristics (and evils) of regular TV – but that will only hold true I suspect of the major services like Hulu and integrated solutions like Google TV. I hope there will still always be those oasis’ of calm like the BBC iPlayer and 4OD out there.

As soon as I can afford to increase my Wi-Fi package I will gleefuly ditch the little black box and in the meantime try my very hardest to Switch Off My Television Set and Go Do Something Less Boring Instead..