Comment by science_police | Hacker News Reader

Comment by science_police | Hacker News Reader

Blaming their failure on Google is just Bullshit. Logitech's Support for the Revue is abysmal. They are rude in the forums to their users and constantly take the approach of "it's the software" and "that's google's responsibility" however their system is closed and the don't allow developers to make modifications if necessary. It's been three weeks and I still haven't had my 3.1 Honeycomb update appear as an option to upgrade. (something Logitech should just have as a download on their site)

The revue/gtv was supposed to be the new (original) Xbox. The perfect media device, not only will it play all your movies, you can browse the internet on it. The Logitech Media player doesn't play particular formats, sucks at search, needs to reconnect constantly over wifi and is generally just plagued with issues.

Here is what they need to do to save the Revue.

1. Samba & DLNA (no samba was an epic mistake, the original xbox had samba ffs) 2. Make it open so users can hack it and modify it for their needs. If you hack it, no warranty or support from Logitech (just like Microsoft and the Xbox). Make it near impossible to brick. If I fuck it up, I should be able to restore easily. 3. Update the Media Player and have it use VLC so it plays all videos (or something of that nature)

Here is what they should be demanding from Google 1. Don't assume I live in America. 2. Allow the community to help out in the development and testing of the revue and have a release cycle similar to Chrome.

I use my Revue as a Media Centre and while I love it, it isn't perfect and I think both Logitech and Google have made mistakes. But step up, admit it, fix the issues, listen to the community.

/rant

Logitech's Support for the Revue is abysmal

That would explain low customer satisfaction post-purchase but does not explain the terrible sales. People just didn't buy the thing.

I think the problem is Google TV attempts to give you a more awkward interface to things you would rather use a tablet or SmartPhone for. Who wants to browse the web on their TV? Post to Twitter from their TV? It's absurd really. No one wants to do that. People want to watch video on their TV and play games. Google TV played video but you had to pay $300, or about $200-$250 more than competing devices, and didn't play games. It cost as much as a modern gaming console. If it was $100 and had good integration with SmartPhones and tablets it would at least be a pretty good accessory for some people who didn't want a gaming console. Google didn't learn from Apple & Microsoft's mistakes.

Aside from the low sales (they never truly explained the benefit of it), my friend from Best Buy also noted that it had an astronomical return rate. No ordinary consumers made it past the setup phase. And, in certain Comcast markets, Google TV isn't compatible (read: cannot be used with) the default Comcast cable boxes.

Does this really browse the web? Has WebTV taught us nothing?

> Who wants to browse the web on their TV?

There's a lot of tv content , available on the web for free.

It's good for viewers(short term) , and it also helps pressure the studios. Long term (since this platform is controlled by google) , it helps the studios and google.

The TV is the one place where the web can compete with (non-game) apps easily. Look at Clicker.tv. It's as good as any TV app I've ever used.

That is the type of thing Google wanted the Revenue to usher in. They failed though. They naively thought ABC and NBC were going to create new sites for TV navigation and it never happened, because those channels don't want you watching web content on televisions, they want you watching (the much more profitable) television content.

I have a revue (and it's a piece of shit in my opinion), to not partly blame Google is ridiculous. Sure, Logitech should be responsible for supporting their hardware however Google hasn't done much in the way of damage control. If they wanted to do Google TV justice, then they would have dealt with the problem whether or not it was their responsibility. Instead they let the Logitech Revue tarnish it.

To build a successful brand up from its bootstraps, pulling only your own weight is simply not enough. Google did not do enough. I have done brand building for my companies, and there are times when I have had to put out fires that weren't directly responsible for creating.

Logitech's ability to develop solid software for other products hasn't been that strong.

They bought Slim Devices, a Valley startup which developed a set of networked audio players. The Slim software and team seemed quite strong, but development of new players and software upgrades have really slowed down since the acquisition. And, there was a botched player release (I forget which unit it was, but it was the same deal as the Revue -- released before ready).

I have one of their bazillion-dollar programmable remotes. The hardware is great, top notch quality. The software, ugh, was abysmal. Clunky, slow, sort of a web browser, but not. Required bizarre hoops to be jumped through to program correctly.

When I emailed Logitech and told them they should open source it so the community could fix it, the rep got mad at me. :-)

I think you're correct in that blaming google isn't the answer, clearly there is much wrong with the device which compromised it's commercial success.

However what logitech's response is demonstrating is that Google can't get the backing of their partners to endorse the product, which is a sure sign that it's not just logitech at fault here. Google should be looking out for the hurdles which will prevent the success of the product, many of which you've listed.

- Various file formats and the likelihood that these can't all be played, google can do more to sure up content providers, similar to how apple enticed youtube to cross convert videos to mpeg4. Google can't take the attitude that "it'll all be alright".

- Google are failing at signing up studios, the main content providers and the entire reason why the average consumer would be purchasing this product.

- Launching premature products, it's arguably an attempt at being in the race rather than having a genuine interest in studio content. This car has no wheels, and google lacks experience when dealing with content providers. (Not everything can be obtained by search.)

Though I agree with you, what's to say that Google (as a proxy for their content suppliers) didn't nix the idea of an open system?

If this is the case, then say so. Still doesn't excuse no Samba (build it in to Logitech Media Player) or Logitech Media player being so poor regarding playback.

Sounds like you want a Boxee box.

I have Boxee through the Apple TV, however I want to be able to search the Internet at command, Picture in Picture out while changing settings etc.

GoogleTV and Revue got so close, just never followed through.

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