Steve Jobs, Net TV UI and Boxee

Check out this video (4min) of Steve Jobs on innovation in the TV market. A lot of coverage focused on Jobs’ jokey suggestion to “ask Google in a few months” whether people want to buy another set-up box. But one of the most insightful observations — one that you’ll miss if you’re not listening closely — is that building a consistent UI is a key element of success. Today, each box presents a new interface for us users to learn. In Boxee — which I love — it’s even worse: each content provider offers a UI of its own. But Boxee seems to be finding its way, with the unified home screen design and uniform interface around traditional TV programming. Now Boxee just needs to figure out that critical go-to-market piece. If it were me I’d be looking for a way to get baked into boxes that people are already buying: TVs, blu-ray players etc. There’s already precedent for baking network software into these devices. The key is to become the standard across enough of them to get some real momentum.