Logitech CEO: Google TV a 'gigantic mistake'

To build a successful brand up from its bootstraps, pulling only your own weight is simply not enough. Google did not do enough. I have done brand building for my companies, and there are times when I have had to put out fires that weren't directly responsible for creating.

They bought Slim Devices, a Valley startup which developed a set of networked audio players. The Slim software and team seemed quite strong, but development of new players and software upgrades have really slowed down since the acquisition. And, there was a botched player release (I forget which unit it was, but it was the same deal as the Revue -- released before ready).

That would explain low customer satisfaction post-purchase but does not explain the terrible sales. People just didn't buy the thing.

I think the problem is Google TV attempts to give you a more awkward interface to things you would rather use a tablet or SmartPhone for. Who wants to browse the web on their TV? Post to Twitter from their TV? It's absurd really. No one wants to do that. People want to watch video on their TV and play games. Google TV played video but you had to pay $300, or about $200-$250 more than competing devices, and didn't play games. It cost as much as a modern gaming console. If it was $100 and had good integration with SmartPhones and tablets it would at least be a pretty good accessory for some people who didn't want a gaming console. Google didn't learn from Apple & Microsoft's mistakes.

However what logitech's response is demonstrating is that Google can't get the backing of their partners to endorse the product, which is a sure sign that it's not just logitech at fault here. Google should be looking out for the hurdles which will prevent the success of the product, many of which you've listed.

- Various file formats and the likelihood that these can't all be played, google can do more to sure up content providers, similar to how apple enticed youtube to cross convert videos to mpeg4. Google can't take the attitude that "it'll all be alright".

- Google are failing at signing up studios, the main content providers and the entire reason why the average consumer would be purchasing this product.

- Launching premature products, it's arguably an attempt at being in the race rather than having a genuine interest in studio content. This car has no wheels, and google lacks experience when dealing with content providers. (Not everything can be obtained by search.)

Some problems can be fixed with incremental software updates, but others are doomed by their lack of foresight. I'm all about releasing early and iterating, but at least understand the right time to pivot.

I wouldn't buy one of these things even if they did have content. Who knows if so-and-so would pull the plug after a year or two. The time for this kind of device was ten years ago. The ship has sailed because consumers have absolutely no trust in any of this shit, nor should they.

And I'd be quite satisfied with the whole spectacle if they weren't also dismantling civil rights and ruining the internet in the process.

A killer app has to be something unique that demonstrates the devices unique ability over other technology.

It's trivial to browse to a porn site on my phone, I can do it privately and without the universal access of what is essentially bookmarked porn sites on a machine located in arms reach of anyone who visits my home.

Who could seriously pitch a general consumer device which requires you to replace your remote with a full-sized keyboard?

I have a Boxee Box as well, but Google TV and Boxee occupy distinct (if somewhat overlapping) niches. I use Boxee primarily to playback media on my network -- Boxee's UI is horrible for playing back web content, it frequently fails either/both to get the content or to enlarge it to full screen. But for presenting an organized view of your library and playing back a file on the network it's perfect.

Google TV, on the other hand, handles Youtube and other web-based sources of video very well. And as of the new update, it does a really good job of presenting you with a comprehensive view of what's on TV. Not like the stale program guide that all STBs have -- it actually segregates currently playing shows and movies into genres. Supposedly it will be able to make recommendations too.

TL;DR -- I'm not at all dissatisfied with my Google TV.

I want my TV to do nothing else except display pictures. I can handle hooking other devices up to it to get my content.

The commercial failure of this device was predictable: The largest issue is that consumers will reject the devices if they don't have a wide and reliable range of content, this is something which google has less experience in, and it's why Apple secured some serious content before launching. (Again those Disney ties.)

The challenge Google face is that the video media industries are determined to keep their existing business models and are fearful of what happened to the music industry. (Where Apple/other digital distributors are now able to dictate better terms for consumers.) For example the movie industry still wants the consumer to go to the cinema, watch it in 3d, then later rent it, then sell it to a TV network for viewing, sell it again to you on it's own as a dvd, then later as a bluray disc, and then possibly 3D as well, finally again as special editions/1&2&3 bundle pack/ or extended edition. A single digital distribution takes away this ability to resell the exact same content again and again, and this is why they're fighting these kinds of distribution methods, they don't want a googleTV product which could become ubiquitous, forcing out all of the other ways they can resell content to you.