COUCH POTATOES! NOW IT'S SMART TV The marriage oftelcrision's images and personal computers' brains is giving binh 1o dazzling offspring that could rm-olutionizc both industries. - November 20, 19...
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`COUCH POTATOES! NOW IT'S SMART TV The
`marriage of television's images and personal
`computers' brains is giving birth to dazzling
`offspring that could revolutionize both
`industries,
`By Brenton R. Schlender REPORTER ASSOCIATE J. B. Blank
`November 20, 1939
`{FORTUNE Magazine) — IF YOU THINK TV sets and computers
`dominate our lives already, wait till you see Andy Hertzfeld's new toy. The impish computer hacker,
`pictured here with his latest creation, is best known as a key software designer for Apple's innovative
`Macintosh personal computer. Now he works for a Silicon Valley startup company called Frox. He is one of
`a group of engineers who have built a prototype of what he calls "an information center for your house
`that also happens to be the world's greatest TV and stereo." Frox's home entertainment system is clever
`enough to read the TV listings and pick out and record programs Hertzfeld might want to watch later --
`and it can edit out the commercials to boot. It also catalogues and plays his 00s on command and shows
`on the TV screen the cover art and liner notes for each disc. The TV is the focal point of the system, but
`what makes it all work is a built-in computer as powerful as an engineering workstation. Soon the machine
`will simultaneously monitor electronic databases for news or other information of particular interest, answer
`the telephone, watch for incoming electronic mail, and control additional home appliances even as it runs
`the TV or stereo. In essence, the Frox machine is an ambitious effort to give the boob tube some real
`smarts. Don't rush out to buy one for Christmas. The Frox system isn't supposed to make it to market for
`two years.
`If and when it does, at first it will probably cost -- gasp -- $10,000. (As with most electronic
`marvels, the price is sure to head downward if it catches on.) It's a harbinger of a whole new genre of
`electronic devices arriving in the next few years that will blend the realistic, compelling moving imagery of
`TV with the brains of computers. Already, titans of both the computer and consumer electronics industries
`-- as well as hungry smaller companies like Frox -- are plotting what shapes these new machines will take.
`The big lure is the prospect that the new hybrid technology will bring powerful computers into the home at
`long last. Like Frox. other consumer electronics companies, most of them Japanese, are working on ways
`to make TVs more intelligent and versatile so the viewer can take better advantage of the plethora of
`programming available through the airwaves, over cable, and on tape and laser disk. Both IBM and Apple,
`the PC kings, are already touting "multimedia" .- the combination of text, sound, and graphics -- as the
`wave of the future in personal computers. They are working on the TV-PC matchup from the opposite
`direction by putting full- motion digital video into their already brainy machines in order to make them more
`engaging and entertaining. The goal: desktop video computers that users interact with, not merely another
`box for couch potatoes to sit and stare at. These video computers would usher in video encyclopedias and
`other interactive educational and training tools. They could read and display patterns of stock price quotes,
`and would make possible hundreds of new and elaborate computer games. Ultimately just about anybody
`will be able to create electronic productions that mix snippets of moving video and sound with conventional
`text and computer graphics. FOR EXAMPLE. you could write your mother a letter including video
`highlights of your daughtel’s birthday party or your trip to Europe, with commentary dubbed in. You would
`mail it to her on a single computer disk -- or, better yet, transmit it to her computer almost instantly over
`telephone lines. One day, video computers may even act as the futuristic "videophones" that
`telecommunications companies have promised for decades but never really delivered. "It's time to change
`the face of information in the home," declares Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Media Laboratory at
`the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Media Lab, the world leader in research on the technology
`of mixed media,
`is organizing an American, European, and Japanese consortium of big-name computer,
`consumer electronics. and telecommunications concerns to set standards for the television of tomorrow.
`Says Negroponte: "Our ultimate goal is to make personal computers and televisions as one."
`
`Plenty of technological and marketing hurdles must be jumped for Negroponte to realize his grand vision,
`or for IBM, Apple, and the TV makers to carry out their more modest plans. For one thing, the nature of
`video imagery requires vast amounts of data storage space, computing power, and memory. That means
`video computers or smart TVs will be frighteningly expensive at first, and hence will probably be aimed
`initially at business and education rather than home users. Moreover, many experts aren't so sure that
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`COUCH POTATOES! NOW [T‘S SMART TV The marriage of television‘s images and personal computers' brains is giving him: to dawjibg offspring that could m-olutionixc both industries. — November 20, 1')...
`
`ordinary people can master the exacting techniques necessary to put together a comprehensible video
`program, even if it's just an edited home movie. Indeed, some contend that most people would really only
`need or want a "multimedia player' —— a TV or computer that allows them more control over prerecorded,
`professionally produced interactive video programming. Despite the technical obstacles and marketing
`debates, manufacturers are pressing ahead. IBM and Apple are already sniping at each other over what
`form desktop video will take. Big Blue contends that people mainly want players for preprogrammed
`material, while Apple believes that computer users will want to "roll their own." IBM, which entered the PC
`business only after Apple pioneered it, badly wants to be first out of the chute with PCs that offer digital
`video. Analysts expect the company to unveil a production model as soon as next summer. Big Blue isn't
`discussing its plans for a multimedia computer in any detail yet but concedes it is working closely with Intel
`Corp., maker of the microprocessor chips that are the brains of IBM's previous PCs, and Microsoft Corp.,
`designer of the operating system software that controls them. The initial goal, according to Intel and
`Microsoft officials, is to build a computer costing less than $3,000 that functions as a conventional PC but
`incorporates color graphics, stereo sound, and loads of memory. It would include a special disk drive that
`can read CD— ROMs —— compact discs permanently etched with sound, still images, or ordinary words and
`numbers. Intel is also developing a technology called DUI, for Digital Video Interactive, that will allow IBM's
`computers to convert video images from cameras, tapes, or laser disks into digital data that can be
`speedily edited, enhanced, and manipulated. It will be added late next year, or as soon as Intel gets costs
`down and performance up. THIS MEANS that at first the IBM machine will be primarily a player of
`interactive media, allowing the viewer to choose among programming from many sources but not to
`produce his own. It will display only still images, but the user will be able to make them expand, contract,
`move across the screen, and generally do visual cartvvheels. "People will find that they couldn't care less
`about full—motion video, and that still video images will give them a lot to work with," insists William Spaller,
`director of advanced planning for IBM's entry systems division and the man in charge of developing the
`new machines. Consequently, he says, at the outset full—motion video will be optional. The dawn of this
`new industry shows IBM and Apple awakening to oddly unfamiliar roles. IBM has the home as much as
`the ofi'ice in mind as the primary mamet for its new machines. That's something of a switch, given the
`company's original name and historical orientation. Conversely, Apple, which started out building PCs for
`hobbyists, sees desktop video as strictly for business and schools, at least until late in the 1990s, mainly
`because of cost. EVEN THEN, Apple officials don't seem quite so optimistic as IBM's that video computers
`will displace conventional TVs. "The desktop video computers will require a completely new media form
`that is very different from passive TV," says Apple Chairman John Sculley. He adds, however, that the
`marriage of computers and TV could give television "a second chance to live up to its potential." Apple
`remains skeptical that digital video technology in its present form is particularly useful. "We don't want to
`make the equivalent of a miss army knife with nifty, underpowered features that can't do any real work,"
`says Jean—Louis Gassee, president of Apple's product division. "We'll give people an affordable way to
`send Mom a video letter, but not until the technology is good enough." The trick to making digital video
`work in a personal computer is a technique called video compression. The process relies on complex
`mathematical formulas and special high—powered processor chips that reduce the amount of raw data
`needed to draw video images. Compression systems look at video pictures frame by frame to identify
`consistent shapes and patches of uniform color that don't move much, and then ignore the redundant data
`in each frame. ‘Nithout compression a standard compact disc, which holds 75 minutes of music or 30,000
`pages of text, can store only seven minutes of full—motion video. A floppy disk holds only a fraction of that.
`‘Nithout compression, too, most PC memories would choke while processing only a few seconds of video.
`"Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words didn't know how right he was," says Nolan Bushnell,
`the roller coaster high—tech entrepreneur who founded Atari Corp. Bushnell now heads privately held Aapps
`Corp., which makes $400 add—on boards enabling Macintosh computers to display live television images.
`Intel's DVI technology uses one form of compression; Apple is working with Sony and other companies to
`develop another. To get what Intel calls "presentation quality" video out of a DVI—equipped PC, the user
`must send his original videotapes to Intel to be compressed into digital form compact enough for the
`desktop video computer to edit. The process takes three or four days. (In a year or so, the DVI boards for
`PCs will do it all themselves, Intel ofiicials promise.) Apple hopes that its approach, still under
`development, will yield faster, tighter compression. One of the biggest skeptics about digital video
`computing is Steven P. Jobs, the Apple co-founder who now is chairman of Next Inc., a womstation
`maker. Says he: "In order to compress and manipulate video images you have to throw away a bunch of
`data, and with it much of the picture quality." That leaves the images fuzzy and jerky. "As regular TV
`viewers," Jobs argues, "we all have high standards for what this stulf should look like. So unless you solve
`the compression issue in a serious way, it's all just fluff." WHILE THEY WAIT for compression technology
`to evolve, companies like Apple and Commodore, maker of the Amiga personal computer, are devising
`ways to connect their computers to laser disk players. That makes possible interactive viewing of
`prerecorded video through a conventional TV monitor without first converting the data into digital form.
`These systems don't allow editing on the computer, but they make good multimedia players for use in
`instruction. ) At Apple's multimedia laboratory in San Francisco, researchers have developed an
`elementary—school teaching aid called the Visual Almanac, an interactive encyclopedia illustrated with both
`still pictures and moving video clips. Students can browse through the almanac at their own pace, jumping
`instantly from subject to subject. The system isn't cheap. It requires a computer, a separate television
`monitor, a laser disk player, stereo speakers, and a large hard disk —— for a total cost of more than $6,000.
`(Commodore sells something similar for around $4,000.) IN JAPAN, Fujitsu is a leading experimenter with
`multimedia. This year the company started selling the FM Towns computer. Like the forthcoming IBM
`multimedia PC, it has a built—in CD—ROM drive for displaying still images. The machine is available only in
`Japan. So far the consumer electronics industry's move into smart TV isn't as well focused as the PC
`industry's. The various manufacturers seem content to add one feature at a time to their existing TV sets.
`Now, for example, VCR manufacturers are building in circuits that will allow PCs to control them.
`
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`COUCH POTATOES! NOW IT‘S SMART TV The marriage of television‘s images and personal coulputers' brains is giving birth to dazzling offspring that could revolutionize both industries. - November 20, 1'9...
`
`Magnavox, a brand of N.V, Philips, the Dutch electronics conglomerate, has a TV that allows viewers to
`display a small black-and-white version of a broadcast or cable TV program in one corner of the screen
`while playing a tape or laser disk recording in full color on the rest of the screen. Sony is experimenting
`with a computerized home entertainment system called Avina that controls a roomful of audio-visual
`equipment. Because the consumer electronics companies' efforts are so diffuse, video technology experts
`think the PC makers have the inside track on making truly intelligent and interactive video devices. “The
`challenge isn’t making smart televisions, but how to create an environment that allows people to
`manipulate images as easily as words," says Kristina Hooper, a former MIT Media Lab researcher who
`now heads Apple's multimedia laboratory, "It's one of the great business issues for both the PC and
`consumer electronics industries.
`I‘m betting the PC companies will figure it out first, mainly because we
`know so much more about what makes computers easier for people to use. After all, how easy is it even
`today to program a VCR?" BECAUSE ITS ROOTS are in the computer business, Frox thinks it can
`provide the know-how the consumer electronics industry lacks. Frox was founded last year by Hartmut
`Esslinger, a West German whose Frogdesign firm helped devise the striking ergonomic look of most of
`Apple's personal computers and the Next machine. He hatched the plans for Frox a couple of years ago;
`the privately held company is backed by Frogdesign and several other European investors. Steve Jobs
`helped Esslinger refine the idea last year but had to back out to devote full time to Next. Esslinger
`continued on his own. To build the prototype he enlisted the help of Andreas Bechtolsheim, one of Sun
`Microsystems‘ founders; Peter Costello, another top Sun engineer, and Hertzfeld. Despite all that
`impressive engineering talent, so far Esslinger has been unable to win financial backing from an American
`computer or electronics company. Now he is attempting to market the technology himself but may have to
`try to interest foreign manufacturers as partners. "It has been very frustrating," he says. "We wanted to
`help America reinvent the consumer electronics business, and they treat us like donkeys.“ MIT‘s
`Negroponte sees technological nationalism and the fractiousness of the consumer electronics.
`telecommunications, and computer industries as the biggest obstacles to realizing the promise of smarter
`televisions and video computers. ”These industries and technologies have been moving toward each other
`for more than two decades, and the closer they get, the bigger the stakes become,“ he observes. With the
`backing of his main sponsor, the government‘s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Negroponte
`is trying to impose some order on the blending of the technologies, partly by encouraging agreement on
`standards. He's not finding it easy. While the big names and big industries duke it out, some little guys are
`discovering ways to bring video and computers together on the cheap. A good example: Bushnell, the Atari
`founder, ”This new market is a mishmash of lots of old markets and carries with it all that extra baggage,
`so introducing the new technology seems kind of like herding ducks,“ Bushnell says. Even so, he adds,
`"this is one of those special moments when several pieces of technology have gotten good enough all at
`the same time to make a quantum leap at affordable prices." Just like when Atari introduced Pong, the first
`videogame -- and look at the lasting impact mere videogames have had. Smart TVs and video computers,
`by contrast, will be useful tools as well as playthings. They may take a few years to get established in the
`marketplace, but once they do they aren't likely to pass quickly from the scene. They‘ll probably be among
`the most important innovations of the 1990s, simply because they are the ofispnng of two of the most
`pervasive and powerful electronic technologies man has yet devised.
`
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