Last year Panasonic ran up against a wall when it came out with its first dedicated "net TV set" for the domestic market. Though TVs had entered the Internet age years before, this new "smart" model in the home electronics giant's Viera line was an all-in-one device. It hooked up to the Internet directly and basically acted as a computer monitor, so users could stream movies from on-demand services, watch YouTube videos, mirror their PCs and tablets, whatever, while also enjoying the usual offerings of terrestrial and satellite broadcasting.

Smart TVs were already available overseas, so in a sense Panasonic was playing catch-up, but it ran into opposition from the broadcast industry, which, perhaps justifiably, believed smart TVs bypassed advertisers, so at least one station refused to run commercials for the new Viera model, thinking the ads would make other advertisers uncomfortable. Eventually, the station changed its mind and started accepting the CMs, but the resistance is indicative of not only the media's mindset, but that of the home electronics industry in general.

Some might call it a sympton of Galapagos syndrome, but the fact is Japanese manufacturers are in the smart TV race overseas. Panasonic and Sony both make smart TVs for the American and European markets, and they are available in Japan but are barely promoted. Given that Japan's reputation as the world standard for television sets and home electronics in general has suffered in the last decade, it's surprising that this sort of vanguard technology is being overlooked on the domestic front, but maybe it's simply a matter of perception. According to an article published last summer in the New York Times, smart TVs are popular among younger consumers in Japan, but the TVs they are buying are not made by Panasonic or Sony. They're made by LG, a South Korean company.