People used to ask, “What’s going to win, the PC or the TV?” The answer, clearly, is “both.” Gone are the days of trying to do the Web on TV. There is no single-box solution, because consumers don’t want it.
I talk daily with young consumers about how they are consuming media. They never sit down to watch TV without a laptop on their lap or a smart phone in their hand. Never. That’s because multitasking is the norm, and different devices are better at different things. If we understand consumer desires, we should be celebrating the differences, rather than trying to combine devices to the point of mediocrity.
Nonetheless, connected TVs and TV-connected-devices are a reality. In our Anytime/Anywhere Content Lab at the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Entertainment Technology Center, we have a slew of devices — TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, smart phones and the like — that all connect seamlessly to the Net. Twenty-five percent of TVs shipping today have Internet connections, and soon enough the figure will be close to 100 percent.
This doesn’t mean that people will want to browse the Web on TV; it means that smart content creators and distributors are going to use those connections in new ways to link content to consumers to information to social networks.
The next big battleground is how companies will connect consumers with content and with each other around content. It’s trending in that direction in a big way, and we’re working with all the major players to understand the implications and lay the groundwork for shared success. Single companies can innovate, but they often win the battle and lose the war. What we need to do is to work across industry lines to raise the water level for everyone. It will take a village.
David Wertheimer, executive director of the Entertainment Technology Center at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is an expert on digital content, Internet media consumption and the future of entertainment.