Earlier today, a co-worker of mine shows me this ...
Yes, it's this small.
Micro-USB charging port and USB port.
HDMI-out port.
"Remote" and THE device.
If you're into this kind of thing ... you may already know what this is and for you this post may simply be the musings of a kid in a candy store who's just discovered how good pretzel M&M's are.
However ...
If you're NOT into this kind of thing ... let me explain what it is that I was holding in my hands earlier today. It can actually be summarized in the following simple two words:
"The ... Future."
More specifically this is an Android 4.1 Dual-Core Cortex A9 1GB DDR3 4GB ROM Mini PC with Wi-Fi and HDMI.
You read that correctly my friend ... this is a computer.
Rather than me explain to you how it works, let's just say ... we found a screen that had an HDMI input, plugged it in ... made sure the device was powered (see image 2) and this is what ensued:
Now, you might be wondering how much does such a device (excluding the remote) cost? Well ... here: Device and remote. You do the math. Yes this site imports the goods from China but you will notice shipping to Canada is free so ... again ... you do the math.
I did the math. It's a little over $70. In words that's: s-e-v-e-n-t-y d-o-l-l-a-r-s.
If you re-arrange the words seventy dollars it spells: DISRUPTION.
Well. You get the idea.
Ok, enough of these one sentence game-changing lines, let me actually tell you three ways in which this single device could bring about a new future for consumers:
- Your media everywhere - Android is Google and Google is pervasive. This device is so small that it can be carried anywhere and plugged into anything with an HDMI input. You literally have a movie player, gaming console and general entertainment center with you in your pocket. Yes, I realize I could have just describe a smartphone; however, this device is not meant to replace a smartphone, it is meant to complement it.
- An app ecosystem - My co-worker also showed me how he could be working from his laptop, hop over to the Google play store, download an app and have the app load on to his "TV" (mini-computer) and then next time he plugs in his mini-computer ... it's there!
- A single entertainment source - Think about the generation that is growing up today, the pre-teens who derive a whole lot of their entertainment from YouTube. To them the cloud is intuitive. To them this device may make immediate sense, because really this device can be everywhere and can contain everything they need from an entertainment standpoint. Just imagine what will happen once YouTube original content hits the tipping point.
i haven't even talked about the marketing/advertising implications around this but I am more interested in how Google will market this product. This is not a mainstream product yet, in fact I would argue is it at the fringes of the adoption-innovation curve. If Google decides to keep this price point low, this device fits almost perfectly into Clay Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation.
It will be so interesting to see how a device like this brings about new ways to actually view the content on this device. Will we see micro-projectors become mainstream? Will we see, big display TV's become much simpler with lower price points and simply just contain HDMI inputs as their functionality?
I am so excited for what this future holds. Go #disruption.
