20 May 2010

Control-Alt-Delete for your Telly

So on the way in to work this morning I read the following bit in Stephen Seow's book "Designing and Engineering Time" (page 28), discussing users' perceptions of reliability and stability of products:
A television set, for example, does not come with a reset or refresh button for the end user because it is regarded as an appliance that just works.
That's from 2008; well and good. But then not six hours later, over lunch, I read in the NY Times that Google is partnering up with makers of television sets so that
Devices running Google TV will also be able to run applications written for Android phones, and will feature Google's Chrome web browser, which would allow consumers to surf the web from their television sets.
Yup.

A nickel says your next telly will indeed be sporting a reset button.