So at last year’s CES, 3D TV was the hot item. Tons of new sets got rolled out, the revolution was upon us. But the revolution didn’t happen. The TVs were expensive, the goggles were cumbersome and also expensive and took batteries, people didn’t want to wear goggles in their own dang living room, and a show that sucks will still suck in 3D. So now you can get a 3D set a lot cheaper but you wouldn’t want to. So THIS YEAR the big thing is “smart TVs”, sets that have apps in them. The WSJ reports on this big push for TVs that will let you surf the web, do your shopping, and pull video from online (despite how badly Google muffed that one). The sets will cost more than a regular TV and there are questions about how much a manufacturer will want to support a platform wherein it would be the app developers who would seem to profit the most. The biggest question, of course, is whether people WANT their TV to do all those things or if that’s what your dang laptop is for and you just want your TV to shut up and show you The Mentalist.
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