Today's "Smart" TVs

So there's been a lot of talk about whether Apple is going to create a TV set. I'm too lazy to find links, but speculation generally falls into two camps:

1. Of course Apple is going to do it, DUH!
2. Why would Apple make a TV? How can they be profitable given they don't control the content and people don't buy TVs very often, etc…?

For the record, I happen to lean towards camp #1. I hear the people in camp #2 but I remind them that just because *you* can't imagine what Apple might do doesn't mean that Apple hasn't figured something out. And all the (very legitimate) roadblocks you cite (content availability, etc) are surely ones that Apple knows well. 

Before the iPhone debuted, many people hated their phones (myself included). They wanted Apple to release a phone because they wanted a phone they could love. Apple releases the iPhone, and people love their phones. I don't think there's nearly as much vitriol towards today's television sets (pre Apple) as there was with mobile phones. But that doesn't mean that today's TVs don't suck.

I don't mean they suck in what every TV before them did—displaying a picture. They do that very well. But they do suck when it comes to going beyond traditional television. Smart TVs are following in the wake of Smart phones as everything gets smartified. But like the smartphone market pre-iPhone, the Smart TV market pre-iTV just plain sucks.

The Samsung 51" television I bought less than a year ago is one of these TVs. It has apps and is hooked directly to my broadband connection. You can even upgrade the firmware. Here's how to do it:

1. First you are greeted with this prompt alerting you that an upgrade is available.

   

2. Then you have to realize that you can't actually access the upgrade from the TV set. You have to go to your computer ad visit the link mentioned in the prompt.
3. At your computer you have to find and download the software to your hard drive.
4. Then you have to copy the software from your hard drive to a USB stick.
5. Then you plug the USB stick into your TV.
6. Once the USB stick is plugged into your TV, you have to access the proper menu from the TV to initiate the upgrade which reads from the USB stick.

So, you can't tell me that there's no room for improvement here. Whether Apple will or won't come out with a TV is anyone's guess (they will), but don't be led to believe that today's Smart TVs are as good as it gets.

Update on 01 February 2012 by jschoenwald

So it seems that it is possible to access the software firmware upgrade from the TV's internet connection, though my point remains, since the message I received doesn't mention this at all. Add to that the fact that as I'm writing this, the online upgrade from the TV failed to find an upgrade, yet as I'm now talking to a Samsung representative she's telling me there is in fact an upgrade available and is going to email me the firmware that I can attempt to load onto my TV through a USB stick.

Come on people, we can do better than this.

Update on 01 February 2012 by jschoenwald

I finally was able to get my firmware updated. It turns out that the file you download is a .exe file which extracts itself into the proper set of files that the TV can understand. The problem is that I don't have a Windows machine, so my computer can't read the .exe to extract it, which means I had to get a friend to download the firmware, extract the .exe, and send then send me the files which I put on the USB stick which the TV was able to read. Don't you just love technology?