Game Changer.

Apple made a half-hearted stab at cracking into the living room with the AppleTV. It was great in theory but in practice Apple couldn't (or didn't want to) make a usable interface for their iTunes store that worked on a large format TV. You can still buy an AppleTV today, connect it to your TV and watch your content purchased via iTunes. It doesn't really innovate the TV experience, it just changes where the content comes from. You buy the shows from Apple via iTunes instead of buying them from your cable/satellite provider whether it be by monthly subscription or on demand. It seemed that when the iPhone came out Apple made a very conscious decision to let AppleTV twist in the wind and focus on the mobile platform. That choice certainly hasn't hurt Apple financially.

Now along comes Google which announced today their Google TV platform. The only similarity between AppleTV and Google TV is that you will buy a box that connects to your television. The Google box will connect IN BETWEEN your cable/satellite box and your television. The box will then be connected to your internet connection and allow you to overlay the Internet on top of your TV signal or vice versa. Think of it has having picture in picture with the TV and the Internet. You can pull content from online providers like Hulu and watch shows streamed from the Internet or services like Netflix.

For me this is just awesome. I usually browse the Internet on a laptop while watching TV so this just combines that into one simple interface. The implications could be huge.