My Cart - With such a wide range of television sets available, offering such a varied array of functions, it begs the question of where the line between television and PC becomes blurred. Everything from posh new HD TVs to used and graded televisions can provide you with the PC experience, usually at a fraction of the cost.
Internet Capabilities
TVs are developing increased internet capabilities. The humble Teletext seems a million pixelated, misspelt pages away, with advances from the ‘red button’ to gaming online, all via the television. The step on from innovations such as early XBOX Live – where it was about game play and being able to chat with other gamers – was to make streaming sites available; channels like 4OD and BBC iPlayer becoming initially available on advanced versions of Freeview boxes. This eliminated the need to be on a PC or a laptop to view the usually online-exclusive content. This capability has spread to other systems, such as the PlayStation and XBOX.
Chromecast
With the introduction of Google’s Chromecast, every TV with HDMI capability can become a web browser. This essentially enables a TV to become a computer; all for under £30. Google seemingly ‘borrowed’ this idea from other companies, such as Intel, which does the same thing but with Windows 8.1 installed; meaning the television can run Windows.
Blurring the Lines between PC and TV
A PC is defined as a ‘personal computer’, so with the capability of giving a TV the ability to do the tasks that only a PC formerly could, maybe TVs could be argued as the next stage in the evolutionary chain. If we’re talking about the traditional PC as it is currently known – a tower/laptop, mouse, keyboard and a monitor – then there appears to always be a place for them in industry.
Computer use does seem to lend itself more to word processing, databases, spreadsheets, etc, while televisions seem to be competing fairly convincingly with the entertainment and media aspects that that a PC provides. Currently there is room for them to co-exist but should televisions become slicker to business needs – with regards to word processing, etc – then the PC as we know it will need to evolve… that is unless you include the evolution of the television into a PC as also the evolution of the PC; the line is becoming blurred.
The competing advances between televisions and PCs are excellent for the consumer and technology as a whole, with advances necessary to remain relevant within their field. To speak to one of our team of friendly professionals about experiencing these advances first hand and grabbing yourself a top TV to make your PC jealous, contact us on 0121 327 3273.
