Last week saw the release of the Amazon Fire TV. It is by all accounts a capable box with a slick interface and a fast processor.

In short, it allows you to put most anything you can find on the Internet onto your TV — except live TV. And this is where the Fire TV looks a whole lot like every other smart TV and Internet TV box already on the market.

Back in the day, it seemed that services or programming came first and then the hardware to support it was developed. Take, for example, HDTV or even encrypted cable services. The service came first and then over a period of time, the consumer devices (CPE) were made available in order to support the service.

In most historical cases, it was clear that egg (the service or system) came before the chicken (the customer premises hardware). Today, everyone is so convinced that there will soon be a basket full of eggs (maybe we should call this Easter dreams), they are racing to roll out the best chicken (the device or set-top box) in advance.

Of course, you need both the chicken and the egg to create a new ecosystem and build a sustainable business, but so far we have a whole lot of chickens and few high-quality eggs.

All of these great smart TVs, set-tops and HDMI sticks still face one major challenge. They all can extend a whole lot of Web content on to your big-screen TV in the living room, but they all lack the programming that most of us watch the most.

Live, linear television networks (and the VOD and streaming content that comes along with a subscription to them) still deliver, by far, the most popular content in the U.S. And entertainment has always been about content, with features and devices being seen as truly secondary (if not tertiary).

Content is king and will be for the foreseeable future. It doesn't matter whether you are looking at radio, feature films, television or video games. The best quality, accessibility, graphics, etc., are always trumped by great content. In the smart TV space, the best device is still an interesting distraction (or perhaps a proof of concept) until the content is available to make customers want to use the device.

Yes, many of these devices will support some of the most popular "TV everywhere" services like HBO Go and Watch ESPN. However, this programming is only available as an add-on to a basic subscription to a cable or satellite TV service.

As such, these devices may be somewhat useful to add another screen when you don't want a full-fledged set top, but they have yet to show themselves as a real game-changer or cost-saver. The real question is when will real volume and quality of programming be available to these devices as a primary service as opposed to a TV everywhere add on?

Many of the new Internet TV devices are certainly impressive pieces of technology (Chromecast and the other "stick devices" are still my favorite), but they are certainly the chicken before the egg (or the cart before the horse, if you prefer).

Just as both chickens and eggs are needed, services and content are needed in order to make these new devices really valuable. When the programming becomes available, it will be great to be in the device business — if, of course, you have the right device.