Sure, I don't know Rishi Chandra, but I can't help but feel a kinship to him if only because he's leading us into a new kick-ass world even if it's not ready for primetime.
Sorry - I couldn't help that.
On a recent visit to Google's offices in Mountain View, I sat down with Chandra and one of the Logitech boxes to see how it worked. He pulled out a very lightweight keyboard connected to the TV and pressed a button. A search box appeared on the screen.Listen (and read) in full down at NPR.
"Anyone who understands the web understands this notion of being able to type in where you want to go, and we'll help you get there," he says as he types out a search for the spoof newspaper The Onion — one of Chandra's favorites. "The Onion actually has a great set of video content online," he tells me.
Chandra clicks on the link, and a list of Onion videos pops up. He clicks on one, and a mock-serious newscaster fills the 40-inch screen. Chandra and I sit back on comfortable chairs and laugh as the announcer says, "Just ahead, The Huffington Post has launched a new print edition featuring articles torn out of other newspapers."
Other fans of online video may find, as I did, that this is a vast improvement over sitting at a desk chair hunched over a computer. Of course, I was just getting a show from a Google employee.
