What Is Wrong With TV

This is both a question and a statement. We are well on the way to HD TV. The high-def DVD war has just come to an end. A large number of us have complex speaker systems on our TVs that rival that of a multiplex. But something is still wrong. I must admit I am a bit behind the curve. My 37" Sanyo is 5-6 years old. I am still watching DVDs and I have not sprung for the surround sound yet because I don't have convenient placed to put all that. But I am looking and eventually I imagine I will enter the 21st century.
But the problem is that for all the technology we do have there is still a lot we don't have. Why do I have to surf past channel's I will never, never, ever watch? Why do I have to buy a cable "package" with these channels in it? Why do I have to have a universal remote or have multiple remotes? Why is there a tangle of cords in the corner of my room?
The problem with TV is that it has lagged behind everything else in user interface. What has changed in the TV interface in the last 50 years? Nothing! I am hoping that we are on the cusp of a big change. The convergence of the computer and the TV has been brewing for 10-15 years so hopefully someone is getting ready to figure it out.
All we need is one company to innovate us into this revolution and the rest will follow. I think Apple may do it or it may be Google or HP. It is unlikely to be Dell and if you are betting on this change coming from the vicinity of Redmond you really need to put the crack pipe down and get into a rehab program. Today.
I just don't understand what is so difficult! All I need is a simple interface that I can customize. It shows me what I want to see and lets me control when and how I view the content. Can we not simply a have a screen with bay's in the back like a PC tower where we can put different components instead of having to pile up all this junk around the screen?
The biggest piece of all this is that someone has to pry the content provider's mummy-like claw off our throats and allow us to have a la cart control over what we get and pay for. Apple seems poise for this with it's Apple TV and iTunes service. I am concerned that the content providers will shy away from Apple simply from concern about one company having too much control over the industry. What would be nicest would be some kind of consortium that allowed end users to buy content from all producers using various devices and delivery methods.
Well, that is my prognostication for today. I am going to go save up for my next TV.

Jim Lynch over at Extremetech has an interesting article where he discusses the idea that Apple is going to do some kind of eText reader. This idea is dear to my heart and I must admit that I was crestfallen when Mr. Jobs stated at MacWorld, "No one reads anymore." But as Mr. Lynch points out, His Steveness has often downplayed things that are in the works. Most notably the iPhone. So I continue to hope. I still feel that if one company can pull of a really good eText reader device it would be Apple. The thing that has built the iPod is the software, hardware and interface all work so well and the reading device that will make people put down books will need this same magic. The other leg up that Cupertino has is the entrée they have in the educational marketplace.

I say this because I believe that any successful eText reader will have to make itself in the college classroom. First, who buys hundreds of dollars of books twice a year? College students. Who has to carry 20-30 lbs of books around all day from class to class? Right. Who would pay to have one small device that could hold all that and weigh in at 3-4 lbs? You guessed it. The problem in the past with Rocket and Sony was they were black and white so they could not portray pictures, graphs and charts in color that most books use today. Also, screen size was fine if compared to pulp novels but insufficient for textbooks. All this is changing now. Apple has the hardware in the iPod Touch and there are new bigger touch screens coming out; flash memory costs a fraction of what it did even 2 years ago; the iTunes store can easily accomodate book files.

So, while I don't think we will see an iBook this year, we could see one next year coming out in time for the 2009-10 school year. Having made that prediction, if anyone else wants to tackle the market they need to come to an agreement with Amazon and Google who control an awful lot digital content and distribution; they need a color screen with at least 8 x 5 inch dimensions; a touch interface and a price of $350-$400. Let's see what happens.