I was intrigued to see the result that Americans now see the internet as more essential to their lives than TV. This doesn’t surprise me; I think it has been that way for me for a long time. But, in the words of Andy Grove, the advantage in the ‘Battle for Eyeballs’ has now switched to the IT geeks and the TV and broadcast industries, though connected TVs, are having to ensure that viewers are not dragged away from the main screen in the home.
I can see, there, an application for the iPad as an internet terminal to support TV viewing – and it might even have the resource to sort out the problem of remote controls for TVs. However, the iPad is missing an infrared transmitter (unlike my old Palm PDA, which could act as a remote) and it will be a while before Bluetooth becomes pervasive as a way to control TVs and consumer electronics, I think.
