FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) cloud the bright future many predict for connected TVs, according to Jeremy Toeman, founding partner of consumer technology experience firm Stage Two.
"To the industry, these devices represent an opportunity to upsell consumers with added benefits and features. But to consumers, these connected televisions also introduce planned obsolescence into television life cycles," Toeman writes.
Fear of obsolescence (number three among five cautions Toeman lists) is something that actually works to the benefit of cable operators providing evergreen set-top boxes. Other reasons why connected TVs might not be the bonanza many at CES were predicting: the Internet on TV sounds confusing; the Internet on TV is confusing; customer support concerns; and poorly defined value proposition, Toeman concludes.
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