Are the popular smart TVs facing alienation from the younger generation?

In the middle of the year, promotional activities of major e-commerce companies began again. As a senior member of the shopping addict, I naturally want to buy some new equipment. As for what to buy, after much thought, it seems that there is no urgent need.

By the way, many smart TV manufacturers have recently released new products. When I tried them, I felt that the appearance, sound, picture quality and functions were all very cool, making me want to take them home. So I decided to change the TV at home. After all, the TV in the living room has been in service for more than four years and is still non-smart. In recent years, TVs have been updated rapidly. Smart TVs have long dominated the market. We should keep up with the trend.

Unexpectedly, my proposal was rejected outright by my mother. The reason for the rejection was simple and crude: no one in the family watches TV at all.

If I think about it carefully, when I went home for the Dragon Boat Festival, I didn't think the TV in the living room was turned on even once in the three days.

Once upon a time, as long as there were people at home, the TV at home would always be turned on. The family would often gather together to watch TV, and occasionally there would even be a small battle for the remote control. At that time, one of my wishes was that the TV could have more channels and a bigger screen. After all, for me, it was a window into the world.

In recent years, from ULED to OLED, from 4K to HDR, from curved TV to laser TV... the development of technology has subverted traditional TV time and time again, but the increasingly larger screens, clearer picture quality, and more abundant channels still cannot cover up the fact that TV is gradually becoming a living room decoration. People can't help but ask, Mr. TV, what's wrong with you?

An embarrassing reality is that although televisions are becoming more and more high-end and classy, ​​the younger generation is gradually moving away from television.

In fact, for most people, television has only three functions: obtaining information, killing time and family entertainment. With the development of the times, these functions of television are all weakened.

In terms of obtaining information, in the era when information was relatively closed, television was the main way for people to obtain information. However, in recent years, the popularity of the Internet and smart phones has undoubtedly brought about a subversion of this way. Compared with obtaining information from TV, people are more inclined to obtain the information they need by browsing the web. After all, in terms of information dissemination, whether in terms of timeliness or perspective, the Internet has a clear advantage and can better meet everyone's needs. Even for sports events, people who have no requirements for clarity will choose online videos instead of TV. The only thing left on traditional TV is high-definition live sports events.

For those who like to watch videos to kill time, variety shows and TV series are the ones they pay more attention to on a daily basis. With TV as the viewing medium, the timeliness of variety shows, the stability of TV series, and the early broadcast can all be guaranteed. But the reality is that as the pace of life continues to accelerate, modern people have less and less time to sit quietly in front of the TV, and what we need to kill is more fragmented time. In this case, the advantages of mobile video devices, which are portable and not restricted by time and space, are revealed. In addition, the interactivity of mobile video devices is generally higher than that of TV. For young people who have been immersed in the Internet for many years, the fun of watching videos while posting screen bullets and telling jokes has even exceeded watching the video itself. It is really difficult to get this group of people to sit in front of the TV and watch TV quietly.

Of course, there are times when television cannot be replaced, such as New Year's Eve, when the whole family gathers together. Eating New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala have become a routine activity for traditional families at the end of the year. The embarrassing thing is that at this time, television is more of a background. As for whether the programs are good or not, who cares! On the contrary, the jokes about the Spring Festival Gala on Weibo are quite interesting, and shaking WeChat to grab red envelopes is also quite fun.

When it comes to the home entertainment function of TV, it is nothing more than games, karaoke, etc. When I was a child, my favorite game was Super Mario. A Subor game console, a game card and a TV set almost made a perfect summer. Unfortunately, a ban in 2000 made playing games on TV a thing of the past, and the TV game market suddenly cooled down. In recent years, relevant policies have been relaxed, and many game manufacturers have set their sights on TV, a new blue ocean of home entertainment. However, industry insiders revealed that due to factors such as technology, policies and return on investment, large-screen games still have a long way to go before they can compete with mobile games.

As for TV karaoke, I noticed that recently released TV products, such as Hisense VIDAA TV, Kanshang CANTV Super TV, Haier Ali II TV, etc., all have built-in Tianlai karaoke applications, microphones and other supporting equipment, and the experience is also good, and the effect can even be comparable to KTV. However, I always think of another thing. When VCD and DVD were popular a few years ago, my father who loved music also followed the trend and bought a DVD. He sang a song from time to time, but after the novelty wore off, DVD gradually became a music player and was turned over less and less frequently. Later, with the emergence of computers and smart phones that can play music at will, DVD was directly relegated to the cold palace.

Therefore, although major manufacturers are emphasizing the huge potential of the large-screen entertainment market, there is still a lot to be done to stimulate this potential and truly reflect it in the living rooms of users.

Is it true that smart TV is just a hyped concept? Industry veterans disagree. In their view, although there are constant voices criticizing smart TVs, as long as there is a stable user base, it is not impossible for smart TVs to become the next hot spot.

With the rapid development of science and technology, the lives of our generation of young people have been closely linked to the Internet and smart products: watching TV series with mobile video-enabled mobile phones/PADs, reading books with KINDEL, charging and learning with online education, and traveling with Uber and Didi... Life is becoming more and more colorful and convenient, but while enjoying these conveniences, I wonder if anyone has noticed such a group: they are trying hard to keep up with the times, but the Internet is like a black hole to them - far away and untouchable. However, when smart TVs entered the family living room, they found that this situation of being out of touch with the outside world may have a turnaround.

Therefore, while the generation that grew up with the Internet is dismissive of smart TVs, this generation that missed the Internet may become the most stable user group of smart TVs.

This group of people has some common characteristics: they are between 45 and 60 years old, have plenty of free time, like to watch TV series, are keen on TV shopping and health care, have children and even grandchildren, and have a need to communicate.

Some people would say that now every family has at least one computer, and every person has an electronic device such as a smartphone. Can't this meet the needs of this group?

The answer is obviously no. Middle-aged and elderly people generally lack computer operation experience. Compared with televisions, computer operation has a higher threshold. Except for some people who are curious and always enthusiastic about new things, most middle-aged and elderly people are still accustomed to the traditional way of obtaining information through television. Moreover, compared with sitting in front of the computer desk for a long time to watch videos, they prefer to watch TV comfortably on the sofa and take a nap from time to time.

So can the demand be met by using a Pad or a mobile phone with a relatively low operating threshold?

The answer is not optimistic either. Smartphone screens are small, and the video viewing experience is not good enough for middle-aged and elderly people. The iPad, which offers a slightly better experience, is not cheap enough, so there is resistance to purchase.

I have talked to several elderly people around me. Although they have had smartphones for a long time, they admit that the most commonly used functions are making calls and using WeChat. They rarely use functions such as shopping, watching videos, and playing games. One elderly person said that in his free time, he is still used to watching TV. This habit has lasted for decades and he cannot change it.

Only with comparison can the advantages be revealed. As a must-have household appliance, TV has a natural advantage in user acceptance. Compared with the mouse, the operation of the remote control is relatively intuitive. Now the remote control of smart TV is not only simple and elegant in appearance, but also adds functions such as voice control and gesture control. The operating experience is far better than that of computers and small-screen devices, and is very suitable for middle-aged and elderly people who are not good at operating electronic devices.

In terms of content, the functions launched by smart TVs, such as large-screen shopping, living room medical care, video calls, and real-time bus inquiries, are not new to young people who are familiar with online shopping, video calls, and handheld medical care, but for the middle-aged and elderly groups, it has opened a door to the world of the Internet.

Although there are constant voices criticizing smart TVs, and some even predict that TVs will become antiques gathering dust in a corner of the home in the near future like the three major appliances they once were, it has to be admitted that smart TVs with the addition of Internet elements have given middle-aged and elderly people a truly usable Internet portal, and the needs of this group of people have naturally been stimulated. Where there is demand, there is a market. As for how big this market is, it is really hard to say.

[Postscript] Although my mother thought there was no need to change the TV, I was so stubborn that I resolutely started the shopping mode and bought a new TV for my family. When I called her the night before yesterday, she didn't go to square dance, but was watching TV at home. My mother said that she wanted to watch a TV series for a long time, but the TV station had not broadcast it. When she was fixing the new TV yesterday, she actually found it. It's too hot to go out to square dance, so it's better to watch TV comfortably at home! Finally, my mother said: This TV can also be used for shopping, right? I heard that it can be operated with a remote control. I will learn it someday, so that I don't have to find you every time I want to buy something...

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.