T- commerce - the Big Screen Makes a Comeback

My early memories of TV involved black and white screens and rabbit ear antennae. Three main TV networks - NBC, CBS and ABC - let advertisers reach 90 percent of U.S. audiences. With the advent of cable, channels proliferated and audiences fragmented. Later, VCRs and TiVo gave viewers more control over their entertainment making TV advertising an expensive and unpredictable way to deliver a message.

The internet enabled advertisers to target groups and individuals more effectively. Digital signage completed this picture for retail spaces and public places. The small screen - laptops and companion devices - began to compete very successfully with the big screen - TV - for the viewers' attention.

Faced with this competition, home TVs became bigger, more interactive and engaging. Small screens responded by becoming even smaller, more mobile and richer in features and functionality. The two markets dramatically diverged.

With internet TV through the TV, this picture shifts once again. Thanks to the cloud, technology is becoming device agnostic. Regardless of what device we use we will soon have the same options. The big difference will be that the big screen will be easier to see and we will be able to appreciate the graphic and interactive experiences more easily, while the smaller screen will offer the same functionality but be more mobile.

Glasses will be provided for those who choose mobility!

Microsoft's Xbox 360 will offer Hulu through Xbox LIVE as a Kinect-enabled experience this spring. As with Netflix, subscribers will be able to use controller-free motion and voice capabilities to instantly watch full-screen popular TV shows anytime in HD.  Kinect represents a game changing shift in the technology of user interfaces and the potential for the TV to become front and center of our entertainment world again.

This has profound implications for the way we deliver financial services.

Up until now the device itself has been the vehicle that has attracted attention. But that is becoming less important as we need to focus less on the device and more on the underlying technology which will soon deliver through any device.

Instead of thinking about mobile banking as the way of the future, we should be thinking about continuous banking that is screen and device agnostic but constantly available wherever we are and whenever we want it.

The key point is that the home becomes a new channel beyond the laptop, and could become the most important channel of all. T-commerce could rival ecommerce as the marketplace's next iteration.

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 26, 2011
  Interesting perspective. Hadn't thought of it that way. Does the iPad become less important? There is a pay button planned for the TV I believe which brings ecommerce into the picture. I suppose we will be able to do all our banking from home now, including paying in checks by taking a picture on our smart phone. I guess the only problem now is cash.Not sure if I want banks in my living room though.