Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Why I love my TV more than my PDA
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 08:00 AM
http://www.brighthand.com/newsite/features/upgradepda.html
Steve Bush has put together an article that compares his TV set to his PDA, his camera, computer, etc. Give it a read.
"For some reason it never crosses my mind when I'm watching that TV or playing that stereo that there are newer models with better technology. It's not that I'm not aware of things like flat-screen technology or HDTV, it's just that I'm satisfied with the status quo. Someday I'd like to have that same mindset with all of my other electronic devices."
In my view, the reason why we don't upgrade our TVs as fast as we upgrade our computers or PDAs is that TV has had decades to evolve. I'm sure that back when TVs first came out, there was a fairly rapid upgrade cycle. Small, fish bowl black and white to small colour, large colour, projection to rear projection. At the beginning of its cycle, a product has a lot of headroom for improvement. As it matures, the changes become less drastic, and once it has reached a certain level of functionality consumers aren't swayed by new features.
These cycles can, and do, repeat. There was likely a decade of black and white TV sets where only minor improvements we made. In the same way, we're at a point now where many people have at least one TV set in their home that is 30" or larger, and no new TVs offer any major advantages. But we're approaching the start of another cycle: as flat panel technologies improve and come down in price, as HDTV signals become more common, and as hard-disk recording systems become more mainstream, we'll see the beginning of another upgrade cycle in this decade - but only if the changes are perceived as significant enough.
In the same way, Pocket PCs and PDAs in general are immature compared with televisions or even computers. Changes from one generation to another are quite significant. Yet in five to seven years, when every device has a low-power screen, fast CPUs, huge batteries, and integrated wireless, what will the new models have to offer? Will we feel such pressure to upgrade? When the changes in the software are as "minor" as moving from Office 97 to Office 2000, will we think "I really need that new software". I know I'll probably still upgrade, but what about you? Can you be satisfied with the current technology, or is there always something better around the corner?
A final thought: television is a limited paradigm with limited potential. Until something drastically different comes around (like holographic shows), it's going to remain basically the same. Computing technology is so vast and so broad that there are no limits. There will always be dramatic improvements, because things can always get smaller, lighter, cheaper, and faster. Agree or disagree?
Steve Bush has put together an article that compares his TV set to his PDA, his camera, computer, etc. Give it a read.
"For some reason it never crosses my mind when I'm watching that TV or playing that stereo that there are newer models with better technology. It's not that I'm not aware of things like flat-screen technology or HDTV, it's just that I'm satisfied with the status quo. Someday I'd like to have that same mindset with all of my other electronic devices."
In my view, the reason why we don't upgrade our TVs as fast as we upgrade our computers or PDAs is that TV has had decades to evolve. I'm sure that back when TVs first came out, there was a fairly rapid upgrade cycle. Small, fish bowl black and white to small colour, large colour, projection to rear projection. At the beginning of its cycle, a product has a lot of headroom for improvement. As it matures, the changes become less drastic, and once it has reached a certain level of functionality consumers aren't swayed by new features.
These cycles can, and do, repeat. There was likely a decade of black and white TV sets where only minor improvements we made. In the same way, we're at a point now where many people have at least one TV set in their home that is 30" or larger, and no new TVs offer any major advantages. But we're approaching the start of another cycle: as flat panel technologies improve and come down in price, as HDTV signals become more common, and as hard-disk recording systems become more mainstream, we'll see the beginning of another upgrade cycle in this decade - but only if the changes are perceived as significant enough.
In the same way, Pocket PCs and PDAs in general are immature compared with televisions or even computers. Changes from one generation to another are quite significant. Yet in five to seven years, when every device has a low-power screen, fast CPUs, huge batteries, and integrated wireless, what will the new models have to offer? Will we feel such pressure to upgrade? When the changes in the software are as "minor" as moving from Office 97 to Office 2000, will we think "I really need that new software". I know I'll probably still upgrade, but what about you? Can you be satisfied with the current technology, or is there always something better around the corner?
A final thought: television is a limited paradigm with limited potential. Until something drastically different comes around (like holographic shows), it's going to remain basically the same. Computing technology is so vast and so broad that there are no limits. There will always be dramatic improvements, because things can always get smaller, lighter, cheaper, and faster. Agree or disagree?
