Lidl TV Laptop vs. Small devices...
MS was quoted this week: "There is no doubt that the device market is evolving,” Peter Klein, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call. “Consumers and businesses are increasingly shifting their focus to touch and mobility.”
There is a famous cartoon of the 'tree swing' a.k.a. what the customer wanted. I may be alone here but IMHO there's a real disconnect between a tech-giant's view of reality and the users'. Personally, I don't want mobile. Instead I want tech-giants to invest in technology for large home-screen-cinema TV's. I'm fed up with the 'Zucks' trying to convince me that mobile is where its at with the 'user experience', when all they're seeing is the hype of advertising dollars! Fuck advertising, lets have some functionality lads! I'll pay for that! 'Home' Screen? No, no thanks!
For example, a pissy mobile phone albeit smartphone, is still a pissy smartphone with a small screen. Yes its handy to have while you wait on a train, but its not the mega-100-inch-TV + onboard-laptop that I crave for while waiting for that train. Now that's a user experience! Equally, I'm fed up with TV vendors trying to pass-off Smart TV's as laptop substitutes, when the onboard software is more awful than MS' ME/Vista offerings.
In short, I want to game on my large-screen TV, watch one of terabytes of movies and TV series that I have in my collection, or watch holiday videos using VLC and not some POS TV player that lacks the codecs. Moreover, I want to surf the net with the latest browser with AdBlock / NoScript, and not some stripped down browser. In short, what I don't want is some fixed onboard Pseudo-Smart-TV costing several grand! I'm not interested in touching my TV screen either, I have a 24" monitor at home that does exactly that, and it only leaves horrible marks. Furthermore, I don't want to be sold a Smart TV that needs its own expensive custom Mic and Webcam!
As I said I might be alone here, but I'd like to offer a vision of what I'd like to see in the marketplace. Some time ago, Lidl were flogging a stripped down netbook with no screen, that clipped onto the back of a TV and had a wireless remote keyboard. It was from Targa I think, but I didn't buy one. Why? Because the hardware was weak! But if MS, Intel and Samsung had come together to offer a quality device, I certainly would have jumped onboard! For me, a laptop is not a TV and vice versa. Personally I think its also better to have separate devices, albeit with close interaction. That way, if one breaks or needs to be upgraded etc, its easer to live with. So while a combined cooker / dishwasher may suit some compact kitchens, I don't want to lose both if one breaks down or needs replacement.
To sum up, I would like to point out to the Tech-Giants that not everybody with money to spend is following the Zucker-herd. I want utility, functionality and reliability- not fucking ads, and I am willing to pay for that! Right now I have plenty of gadgets, and could spend more. However all the current offerings are so lacklustre that I'll be sitting on the sidelines indefinitely! Why? Because the Tech-Giants are all parroting the same bullshit, whether its MS, Facebook, Google etc. The situation is this- your platforms and marketing are all filled with noise! Maybe I'm just too counter-culture, but the grand move to Mobile doesn't sum up my deepest desires. While I accept that in India or China there are billions of users coming online and mobile makes sense there, back home its not what I want!
But with all the noise towards mobile, I doubt the tech giants will see any problems with this strategy! For them, hype and advertising has firmly replaced utility and functionality... But for me their Execs are reading too many glossy in-flight magazines. This week, Facebook's 'Home' was unveiled by the media as a Second-Coming. Whereas to me, it was just the latest pathetic offering from a tireless self-promoter. Obsession with small devices = Tech-Giants Small Minds or cult-thinking IMHO!