TELEVISIONS ARE NO LONGER PIECES OF FURNITURE
WHY BEHAVIOR CHANGE LIMITS OUR TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION
How many televisions do you have in your house? My guess is more than is necessary.
I still recall accompanying my parents to Crazy Eddie’s the appliance and electronics store at 86th Street and 3rd Avenue in New York City to purchase a new Television in 1981. The Zenith TV we finally decided on was impressive. It had a remote control, a zoom function and a nice wood trimmed cabinet. I recall my parents debating if the wood trim would match the décor of our apartment.
The Zenith we bought on that day was delivered by truck and placed in our living room via hand truck. It did not move from its location for about 15 years until we finally replaced it. Over the years we bought other TVs for other rooms and as I bought and furnished my first house I did the same. Embarrassingly, today I have seven TVs in my house. Over the years the cathode ray tube TVs have been replaced by sleek LED/LCD and Plasma models that are much thinner and lighter.
So why do I have seven TVs in my house? Because a TV is a piece of furniture not to be moved between rooms, or at least that has been my paradigm. We have a TV in the guest bedroom, one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, one in the living room, one in our daughters room, one in the workout room and even one in the bathroom. With only three people living in our house, why would we ever need more than three TVs and how often do we watch more than one at a time? Almost never.
I have come to two conclusions.
We have so many TVs because we still think of them as the big wood trimmed boxes that were to heavy to move.
Current TVs require at least two cables to work. A power cord and a cable cord (maybe even a set top box).
A Samsung UN32EH5300 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz Smart LED HDTV with the stand weight 14.3 lbs and the super thin versionSamsung UN32F5500 32-Inch 1080p 60Hz Slim Smart LED HDTV weighs 13.4 lbs. That is not much more than a laptop, which we cart around the house and to, and from work. There is no good reason why I should have more than three TVs in my house. Yes I understand the big screen in the living room for Sunday Football and movie night, but for the bedrooms, kitchen, den and bathroom, why not just bring the TV into the room when it is needed? Research has shown that the average number of televisions per US household continues to grow even as the weight of televisions drops.
I am stuck in the paradigm of the TV as furniture and the TV manufacturers have done little to change my views.
Imagine if the TV manufacturers created dockable TVs. Each TV would come with two or three docks. The docks could be plugged into power and cable in each room. The screen itself would dock similar to an iPad or other tablet.
While new technologies are great, changing consumer behavior remains the biggest hurdle for tech companies. I am looking forward to the day when the major technology companies recognize the issues with consumer behavior and tailor their products to our changing needs.
urious to hear your thoughts on this topic