The Race To Be Your TV

Worry not. This is not the one-more-article reviewing the various TV products launched recently – Apple TV, Google TV and other already out there like TiVo.

A few years back somebody predicted that TV will die. Will it really? I say NO. At least not for the next 2 decades. Just see how much money is being put into TV – tens of billions of dollars. This is just the beginning! And none other is investing this money than Apple and Google just to name a few.

The question should be – Will Cable Die? I would say YES! The evidence is very simple – see the cable companies. Do they provide only TV cable to homes? No. They basically provide a fiber-optic cable, which can do a number of things besides cable TV. Do you sense something – Yes, it is called Transition. This may not be the paradigm shift but definitely it is a shift.

The time in the shift right now is critical, because the next few months or years will decide whether it actually is a shift or not. Lets not play the guessing game. The boom of number of TV products spell like a birth of a new era in TV history. This definitely is going to change the way we watch TV for a time being for sure.

Until now the TV used to define the type of content you viewed on it. If you wanted to watch a high definition, theatre experience movie you needed a TV like that. But now the content will define the type of TV you have. I am talking about the internet based TVs that will spring out in the market in the coming months. And believe me, a lot more companies will jump into this bandwagon shortly, because nobody wants to miss the show.

Think about this – Intel is investing billions for TV chipsets. Sony already has a Google TV Set out in the market that includes a HDTV itself and the Google TV product, which would stream the content from the internet.

The Era of Content

As I said above, the future of TV will be dictated by content. People will not just demand more content but also quality content, which can be tailored, to their needs. The market is too nascent at this stage to predict the right mix of the product. This is the time companies are trying a mix-n-match solution for their products, aiming or rather predicting the future based on their product mix. But definitely Content will be the King.

-iM

iM - The Apple Evangelist

Evangelist: (noun) Any Zealous Advocate of a cause.

Apple Evangelist: Mac(intosh) evangelist, Mac advocate or Apple fanboy: a promoter of the Apple Macintosh platform


Let me tell you outright, this is not a Mac-Windows debate. That is over for a long time now. I call myself an Apple Evangelist and this article is everything about Apple - yes only Apple.


Why should I even bother to write something about Microsoft or Windows or Android. I have been an obstinate fan of Apple products ever since I first started using them. I have read a lot about Apple Inc and how it evolved in the valley. You just cannot replace any other product or any other company with Apple or its products. It's that simple - there is no competition, at least not at where Apple is right now . I wonder why! Why don't people try to make as wonderful products as they do. There is no other consumer electronic manufacturer in the whole world that can even come close to Apple when it comes to product design and usability. Yes, there can be a one distinct match - Bose. But when you talk about Bose, it ends in Music. I do not call Bose a consumer electronic company, because their niche is only music appliances.


I believe, it is the founding principles, that can make the difference about how you think about your products and how people perceive them. This is philosophy. Apple is philosophy. BMW is philosophy. Leika Cameras are philosophy. It is not about making money. It is the happiness you want to see on the faces of people when they use your products. And when you try to earn money by doing so, there's nothing wrong in that. After all every company is responsible to its stake holders, whether its a public or a private company. Eventually that money is again invested in giving back another phenomenal product back to the people who appreciated the earlier one. Just see the list of these products - the product line from Apple in the last 10 years. What is the percentage of Apple products that failed to impress people. Starting from the iMac in 1998 to the most recent iPhone 4.


It is gibberish when people say that Apple products are expensive. In fact I would say that they are a full worth for what they are out there. As I said earlier, my intention is not to compare anything with Apple. In fact, there is very rarely that you can find a company that can even be compared to Apple's stature. When you have something beautiful to offer, every aspect of it has to be so appealing and charming that it would set itself apart from others already out there. If you do not do that it would either be lost in oblivion or it will garnish a negative publicity with people, because the people out there are waiting just for that. The moment you offer something awful, they will lash at it with full force. So when Apple offers something distinctively different so much so that you are awe stuck for the entire time you use the product.


You start loving the product. Did you ever think why you love some appliances and not others? Just ponder over why you like using some products more than others, though appliances are non-living objects. That is because they are faithful! You love your dog and children because they are faithful and will always obey what you desire and command them. The same psychological principal applies to appliances and products too. You will never like to part with these products.


More importantly, if you want to be an entrepreneur some day and sell some kind of product or service to people, you should, before waiting go ahead and buy and use one of the apple products. They are the best teachers on how you should go about conquering the market.


-iM