SOCIAL BUSINESS

Requiem for the TV Remote

Salvatore Salamone | Date: 01-24-12 | Comments

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, held earlier this month in Las Vegas, was the funeral marking the end of the TV remote as we know it.

Couch potatoes of the world knew this day would eventually come: The TV remote control we have known and loved has outlived its usefulness and needs to be put out to pasture. At least that�s the impression you get considering recent news.

In a way, the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, held earlier this month in Las Vegas, was a funeral marking the end of the TV remote as we know it. But don�t worry. No one is proposing you actually get up and change channels manually.

(Source: Dave Croker, Wikimedia Commons)

The venerable TV remote has not changed much since its introduction in the 1950s. For years, the old standard was fine when we had limited viewing options available. But now we need a better way to interact with our televisions, which have morphed into high-end video entertainment systems.

In fact, there are two reasons why we need a new type of remote control.

First, the explosion in the number of channels and video options offered by cable TV, satellite, and broadband communications providers has made the standard TV remote control interface obsolete. Scanning a list of hundreds to thousands of stations is no longer practical. And that�s just part of the problem. These providers also offer on-demand video content and many of us have dozens of hours of content saved on DVRs that are integrated with our set-top boxes.

Compounding matters, Internet-enabled TVs bundled with widgets for accessing YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and other video services allow us to watch movies and TV episodes. So we�re viewing more video content�content that in the past was viewed on our computers�on our TVs.

Unfortunately, the standard TV remote control interface makes it impractical to search, select and view specific content from these different sources.

The second reason the traditional TV remote must be replaced is because television today is more interactive. Viewers are asked to vote on polls regarding reality show contestants, and programs encourage viewers to share their opinions via Twitter or Facebook.

Additionally, many of us watch TV while simultaneously surfing the Web. It is very common for a viewer to look up facts about TV shows and movies using services like IMDB or a Website provided by the show�s producer.

How pervasive is this trend? A 2011 Nielson study showed 70 percent of tablet owners and 68 percent of smartphone owners said they use their devices while watching television, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

In part two of this article, we�ll look at some of the new technologies introduced at CES and elsewhere to improve on the common, perhaps now short-lived, TV remote control. (Part two will run next week.)