Tvmama

2 Comments Written by Atila on July 21, 2008 – 12:13 pm

Stock analysts are finally taking notice of the PC-TV convergence, and are starting to bet on which big CE, PC and networking companies will win out on the street.

This article suggests Cisco Systems Inc., Alcatel-Lucent and Juniper Networks, which make equipment that directs traffic over the Internet, because traffic will just grow and grow as downloads and streaming networks like Joost expand.

That’s the “sell them the jeans while they pan for gold model” that got giants such as Levi Strauss started. And it makes sense.

The article enumerates all of the other industry players, large and small, including, Apple, whose AppleTV is one of the first products out of the box, Sony and the others.

(Note to Alan: Write more on all of these companies and the others in future posts - TV Mama. Mama: OK. I will. Alan)

But it also quotes skeptics who say the average Joe just isn’t ready to plunk down even $100 for such equipment, yet, especially as each product out there has its limitations (AppleTV, for instance, is limited to what you can buy on iTunes, unless you’re a real hacker, and now YouTube, and that’s $300-$400.)

The article quotes Forrester analyst James McQuivey as saying it will take years for the technology to be accepted, just as digital video recorders built momentum over time.

“Eventually downloadable video will be as common as e-mail. The problem is that all the current models either require too much money, or too much know-how, or they are just plain confusing for the consumer,” McQuivey is quoted as saying.

McQuivey is right in one thing: as long as PC-TV convergence devices are the province of geeks and require somewhat fewer than 10 thumbs to program, install and manage, and until they can provide an environment as simple to use as Cable TV and a remote, the masses will not turn to these devices.