The Software Problem

My recent encounters with Android TV materialized inside the Philips PUS7150 tv set have reinforced the point: software is a hard problem. Especially for hardware vendors.

Via the Android TV operating system Google brings an enormous value to consumer electronic manufacturers. It almost solves their problem. Consumers today expect a TV would behave like a computer, only on a bigger screen. Rubber remote? No thank you... Limited number of apps running on the big screen? Why oh why? Context continuity? Why isn't it available?

TV makers can either spend millions billions on developing their own OS or license one that is ready. They still want to make their product special and try hard adding something. For example Philips is adding their own MyRemote companion App. Which simply said is hopeless. Looks like put together by a bunch of kids during an afternoon hackaton session. Google's Android TV Remote Control app is not perfect either, but is usable. And BTW, Google still has lots to do to catch up with Android TV - one of the first things it should offer the TV version of the Photos app. Or Facebook may be faster?

The bottom line is the complexity of software running inside today's hardware is huge. And it does not have to be a tv set. Even a simple light bulb today requires probably some 20 man-years investment to achieve decent basic functionality, that includes good security and over the air upgrades. Adding some more fancy stuff like managed beacons and indoor location ups the effort to 100 man-years easily.

Hardware companies simply cannot afford that. Neither in their budgets nor they have time to spare. In the new world where everything is software - defined, hardware companies have to partner with specialized software houses. Otherwise they will fall far behind the leaders who do so.