How Close Are We To Seamless Digital Commerce?

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

For all the “smarts” of our smart devices—think phones, tablets, and TVs—our consumption of digital content and our digital interaction with brands and our peers still happen in a surprisingly disjointed way.

My bemused interest in this year’s political landscape offers a pointed example of the disparity I’m referring to. During the recently-wrapped primary debate season, I found myself at once watching the debates on my television and using my smartphone to monitor the near-real-time public reaction to the debates on social media. It was a cumbersome exercise—my eyes and mind toggling between the TV screen and the entertaining commentary unfolding on Twitter.

I could watch the debates on the small screen of my device, but enjoying the wit and wisdom of the crowd on Twitter would require bouncing between two separate apps. And of course, there are applications for Twitter on TV, but I’m not sure my TV is smart enough to leverage them. Should I choose to contribute to the social dialog, doing so via the little buttons on my remote doesn’t appeal to me at all.