Should we be booking holidays from our TVs by now?

IFA GPC 2016, Hong Kong: 47% of TVs are connected to the internet, so why aren’t they being used for booking trips and communicating?

The smart TV was supposed to change everything. Have some FaceTime with your friend, or your granny, halfway across the world? Why not? Book a holiday through the TV? Err …
 

Online in the living room

Some interesting facts have come out of GfK’s presentations in Hong Kong this week, not least of which is the startling statement that 47% of the world’s TVs are connected to the internet. And 38% of homes connect a STB or games console to the web.

Two billion connected TVs

Moreover, in 2018 there will be two billion connected TV devices, a billion of them flat TVs. So why are smart TVs not the tablets of today? “Think about what kind of apps you have on your smartphone,” said Juergen Boyny, Global Director Consumer Electronics, GfK Retail to a room full of journalists at Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, overlooking Victoria Harbour. “Very few are about communication … very soon your TV will be a page of apps, perhaps with access to your magazines and newspapers and favourite sports club.”

Book a holiday from your TV?

“Why is it not a place you can book a holiday, and why does it not link to your kid’s schools where they could join a classroom through the big screen?” asked Boyny. “Why is the TV at home not connected to a healthcare centre or a hospital?” But the questions belied Boyny’s belief; the TV soon will do all of those things. Why? Because Amazon wants to sell us things via the TV screen – and that should be more than enough to encourage a change in how we all book holidays and more.
IFA 2016 will take place from 2-7 September 2016 in Berlin