Katarzyna Petru
In the world of consumer electronics, where devices age faster than open milk, NVIDIA Shield TV has achieved the impossible. The set-top box, which debuted in May 2015, has just surpassed the milestone of ten years of regular technical support. This is a result that not only inspires admiration but practically shames the manufacturers of the most expensive flagship smartphones.
Product created out of... selfishness?
The most interesting thing about the history of Shield TV is how it even made it to the market. It turns out that it wasn't based on a complicated market analysis, but rather the creators' desire to have decent equipment for themselves. In an extensive piece by Ars Technica dedicated to the background of 10 years of support for Shield TV, one of the project leaders, Ali Bell, candidly admitted:
"Somewhat selfishly, we built Shield for ourselves. We really wanted a good, high-quality, and efficient player that wouldn't necessarily belong to the Apple ecosystem. We created prototypes, and it inspired us so much... that [CEO Jensen Huang] asked, 'Why not release it and sell it to people?'
This approach is evident in every aspect of the device. Since the engineers built the hardware for themselves, they didn't compromise in ways that typically undermine the durability of cheap electronics.
Why is Shield TV supported for so long?
The key was the custom processor Tegra X1. By designing its own chip, NVIDIA became independent of external suppliers. In most cases, support for Android devices ends when the chip manufacturer (e.g., Qualcomm or Mediatek) stops releasing driver updates. NVIDIA is a manufacturer itself, so it could update the Shield for as long as it wanted. As a result, hardware from 2015 can today smoothly handle cloud gaming in the GeForce NOW service, supports the latest video codecs, and offers image scaling to 4K using artificial intelligence.
Lesson for the entire industry: longevity pays off
The success of ChooseTV is a powerful argument against the culture of "disposables." NVIDIA has proven that if a product is well thought out and the manufacturer cares about customer loyalty, then hardware can serve the user for a whole decade. In an era of fighting e-waste and rising electronics prices, the ten-year journey of ChooseTV is a model that other manufacturers are just beginning to shyly aspire to.
Source: Ars Technica
