Google TV Executive: Consumers Still Care About the Smart TV, Not the TVOS

More than a decade into the mainstream adoption of video streaming, the operating software platform consumers use to watch their movies and shows is still a commodity-driven decision based primarily on the TV they're buying.

This is according to Rob Caruso, director of product management for UX at Google TV, who spoke on a panel at Questex's amply attended StreamTV Show in Denver last week. (Questex pub StreamTV Insider covered the event.)

“I don’t think consumers care about the OS,” Caruso said. “I think for the most part, what still drives TV purchasing … is size and price.”

Like Roku, Samsung, Amazon and numerous other technology companies, Google is trying to control the "gateway" experience to the global living room with a TVOS platform that offers simpler, more elegant search and discovery, greater app support, more FAST channels and other features.

But the consumer decision, according to Caruso, is still driven by TV price and display size. Good to know!