So tell me again why you bought that Smart TV?

You can be forgiven if you recently purchased a television and came home with what is now called a "smart TV." After all, that's the market trend, and you will be hard pressed to find a boob tube without Internet capability. Honestly, I, for one, am just happy that the industry seems to have stopped trying to force 3D on what looks to me like a most unwilling audience.

Now comes this report -- NPD claims "that nearly six out of ten consumers who own a connected HDTV are accessing Over-the-Top (OTT) video services through the device". OTT means an external device -- any external device, such as a Blu-ray player, DVR, game console or other device. Even those like Roku, Google TV and Boxee.

John Buffone, author of the report, goes on to make his assumptions as to the reason for this figure. "The decision is not for want of application choice, but rather seems to be focused on how consumers are used to interacting with their TV. HDTVs, gaming consoles, Blu-ray Disc players, and other connected devices offer an array of applications, ranging from Twitter and Facebook to web browsing". He also identifies "throwing" -- the ability to send content from smartphones and tablets to TVs and other hardware. That is a LOT of factors standing in the way of TV makers' latest plan to sell us all new hardware.

There are, of course, other factors at play here. For one, these devices are new and NPD estimates that only 15 percent of TVs currently in homes are what we would call "smart TVs".

Sadly, I can say that, based on personal experience, this is likely accurate. I, a former IT guy and current tech writer, have a smart TV. It was fun for a day or two, but then old habits kicked in. I love my DirecTV DVR, which has some "smart" apps, as does my Blu-ray player. I also love my NeoTV and, especially my HTPC. I just cannot break the habit of using them.

Of course, all of this is likely to change over time. It just takes some getting used to. Having the ability of an HTPC or a Roku right on our TV, sans external sources, is still just a bit alien. We are, after all, creatures of habit.

For now, we all feel like we just bought HDTV's that are still perfectly fine; 3D didn't sell us and, apparently so far, this has not done so either. Give it time though. Soon that thought of not needing another device will take hold.

Photo Credit: Mikael Damkier/Shutterstock