There's an interesting speculation on the real use for TV in an article by the science writer Robert Cringley. I a nutshell he believes the lack of an on/off switch on the device coupled with its 40G internal drive means it can be part of a vast torrent network for the iTunes movie downloads. Imagine, he says, when there are a million or more of these devices sitting in living rooms all over the country, and you order a movie and it streams to your computer from hundreds or thousands of torrents. He sees Apple positioning itself as a TV network rivaling cabel; a network where you choose what's broadcast into your home, and only pay for what you watch.
The way you describe is never going to hold because of content protection. But what is interesting is the fact you can watch what you want and only pay for what you watch.
Hey... waite a moment... we already have that! Think digital TV (via cable or broadband via IPTV). I can watch what i want whenever i want on my hard disk (80 Gigs!!!) decoder box for a selected amount of shows for a fixed price. I can even rent movies/TV shows/ whatever for a small amount whenever i want. It is called digital TV, yes it exists. It is provided by good ol' cable/phone companies. Why would apple mess with them?
But the biggest problem is if they do see themselves as some type of TV network, and never add in the ability to record straight from cable/satellite.
This makes more sense if you think of Apple TV replacing your cable and allowing you to watch essentially anything at any time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louzer
I just can't imagine there's that big of a market of people who don't have cable/satellite but have wide-screen TVs that would be buying an AppleTV just to get the TV content that's not even taking advantage of their TV's capabilities.....
Most of the people that would switch to an Apple TV subscription plan probably are current cable/satellite customers, which is what makes Apple as a competitor such a scary proposition.
I just can't imagine there's that big of a market of people who don't have cable/satellite but have wide-screen TVs that would be buying an AppleTV just to get the TV content that's not even taking advantage of their TV's capabilities.....
Apple has dropped hints that Apple TV will do more than only stream iTunes content to the TV.
We have to have patience, there is still alot of missing pieces. What will Leopard bring? Will iLife interface with Apple TV? What new features will Front Row 2.0 have?
[QUOTE=samurai1999;1045518]- so far, I'm in the camp that thinks that iTV is interesting, but not quite useful enough to be worth buying
\ QUOTE]
Well to me it's interesting enough. I'm adding a 4-port SATA PCI card, four 400GB Seagate drives (800GB mirrored RAID) to my G4 tower. I'm importing all my music at high bit rate AAC, my movies as Mpeg-4/H.264 and having Shoebox.com scan all my family photos to high res images. For the first time I will have a true media server sending all my content to my HDTV in an easy organized fashion.
As far as potential acquisitions, I would love to see Apple acquire 37signals and incorporate some of their tools into .Mac
While I can't think of any one peripheral manufacturer I would like to see Apple acquire, I would definitely like to see Apple making more peripherals...
I think Apple TV will be more of a competitor to NetFlix and BlockBuster.
Heres how I think it will work
You Buy an AppleTV $299
You sign up for the AppleTV subscription movie service for ~$19.99 /month
From you Mac or PC running iTunes, you create a list of movies you want to see.
Your AppleTV begins downloading the top 5 movies in your queue.
You can now watch those 5 movies as many times as you want and keep them for as long as you want.
Once you choose to "return"(delete) a movie, the next movie in your queue starts downloading.
You can even watch movie previews on your TV and decide to "rent" a movie without using a computer.
This is very similar to the NetFlix model, however...
-movies are never out of stock
-the movies will arrive the same day
-as soon as you return one, the next one is on the way
-Apple has no physical inventory or warehouses to manage, just some servers.
-If it uses a BitTorrent model, popular movies and new releases will require almost no bandwidth from Apple.
As much as I like that model for iTunes, I don't think Apple will move to a subscription model. Steve insists that people want to own their content, and even though "owning" an iTunes movie is a bit of a stretch (since you cannot burn to a DVD), I think they will continue along the purchase-only route, while Netflix and the others will continue to improve their services. Perhaps you'll be able to rent Netflix... or Joost... movies through iTunes one day, with some kind of revenue-sharing program in place.
As much as I like that model for iTunes, I don't think Apple will move to a subscription model. Steve insists that people want to own their content, and even though "owning" an iTunes movie is a bit of a stretch (since you cannot burn to a DVD), I think they will continue along the purchase-only route, while Netflix and the others will continue to improve their services. Perhaps you'll be able to rent Netflix... or Joost... movies through iTunes one day, with some kind of revenue-sharing program in place.
Steve also said that no one wants to watch video on a tiny portable screen.
Then when he had a device to sell that did just that, he changed his tune.
Steve is saying people want to buy their content because that is all he can sell right now.
Once he has enough Apple TVs in place to launch his network, his tune will change again.
They expect to sell more phones at Apple Stores. They have have to be joking. Apple stores are in select locations, Cingular stores are damn near on every corner.
They expect to sell more phones at Apple Stores. They have have to be joking. Apple stores are in select locations, Cingular stores are damn near on every corner.
Going to the Apple Store is like being a kid in a candy store.
I'm sure most consumers who are about to plunk down $500+ are willing to go a little out of their way to get to an Apple Store.
Do you really think the Cingular sales drones are really going to know what they are talking about?
hay guys some weeks ago apple bought a media company I FORGET The COMPANY NAME but im sure they would play a part in the apple tv issue
You are probably thinking of Proximity and that has more to do with Final Cut Pro.
But it is possible they could create an iLife app based on Proximity's ArtBox to manage your digital video clips. This app could in turn feed the AppleTV with your own content.
In the meantime, Apple said it "doesn’t expect to broadly proliferate into any new categories for a while," and will instead focus on its four existing product categories..
So in other words after that while has past they will expand into other catagories. One of which being wireless streaming TV's.
Apple should acquire Autodesk and get into the architectural software arena. If I'm not mistaken, I believe AutoCAD is the leading software used by architects, and it's only available for Windows. That strikes me as a fitting move for Apple.
The decision to cut out the vast majority of users who don't have HDTV sets is even stranger when you consider that video content from the iTunes Store would actually look good on a standard definition TV set. On an HDTV, the quality, compared to an HD signal, is sorely lacking.
"In the meantime, Apple said it "doesn?t expect to broadly proliferate into any new categories for a while," and will instead focus on its four existing product categories in Macs, iPods, iPhone and Apple TV."
QUOTE]
I was under the impression that Apple was coming out with a lot of new products this year that were not the traditional products (iPod, Mac,etc). The statement above would seem to state that for the most part they are just going to concentrate in producing new and improved Macs, iPods, iPhones and Apple TV.
Nothing wrong with that, but I was under the impression they were broadening further and into new consumer products.
I guess what I heard was wrong.
Read that quote carefully. "Broadly proliferate".
That doesn't read like they don't intend to not do something. It sounds like they aren't going to come up with a number of new products in new catagories. It stops short of saying that they won't come out with ANYTHING in a new catagory.
The decision to cut out the vast majority of users who don't have HDTV sets is even stranger when you consider that video content from the iTunes Store would actually look good on a standard definition TV set. On an HDTV, the quality, compared to an HD signal, is sorely lacking.
I'm not so sure you're correct.
Last year,for the first time, LCD sets outsold CRT sets. SD is running out of time. More people are buying large screen sets.
This will works with a monitor as well, all are high def these days.
either use a monitor with component input. Mine has that as well as VGA. Or get a cheap HDMI splitter to turn the HDMI output to DVI and audio.
By the end of this year, most tv sales will be high def of some sort.
As usual, Apple is a bit ahead of the curve. I wouldn't be surprised if people go out and buy a hi def monitor just so that they can use their computer and the Tv.
Comments
There's an interesting speculation on the real use for TV in an article by the science writer Robert Cringley. I a nutshell he believes the lack of an on/off switch on the device coupled with its 40G internal drive means it can be part of a vast torrent network for the iTunes movie downloads. Imagine, he says, when there are a million or more of these devices sitting in living rooms all over the country, and you order a movie and it streams to your computer from hundreds or thousands of torrents. He sees Apple positioning itself as a TV network rivaling cabel; a network where you choose what's broadcast into your home, and only pay for what you watch.
The way you describe is never going to hold because of content protection. But what is interesting is the fact you can watch what you want and only pay for what you watch.
Hey... waite a moment... we already have that! Think digital TV (via cable or broadband via IPTV). I can watch what i want whenever i want on my hard disk (80 Gigs!!!) decoder box for a selected amount of shows for a fixed price. I can even rent movies/TV shows/ whatever for a small amount whenever i want. It is called digital TV, yes it exists. It is provided by good ol' cable/phone companies. Why would apple mess with them?
But the biggest problem is if they do see themselves as some type of TV network, and never add in the ability to record straight from cable/satellite.
This makes more sense if you think of Apple TV replacing your cable and allowing you to watch essentially anything at any time.
I just can't imagine there's that big of a market of people who don't have cable/satellite but have wide-screen TVs that would be buying an AppleTV just to get the TV content that's not even taking advantage of their TV's capabilities.....
Most of the people that would switch to an Apple TV subscription plan probably are current cable/satellite customers, which is what makes Apple as a competitor such a scary proposition.
I just can't imagine there's that big of a market of people who don't have cable/satellite but have wide-screen TVs that would be buying an AppleTV just to get the TV content that's not even taking advantage of their TV's capabilities.....
Apple has dropped hints that Apple TV will do more than only stream iTunes content to the TV.
We have to have patience, there is still alot of missing pieces. What will Leopard bring? Will iLife interface with Apple TV? What new features will Front Row 2.0 have?
Well to me it's interesting enough. I'm adding a 4-port SATA PCI card, four 400GB Seagate drives (800GB mirrored RAID) to my G4 tower. I'm importing all my music at high bit rate AAC, my movies as Mpeg-4/H.264 and having Shoebox.com scan all my family photos to high res images. For the first time I will have a true media server sending all my content to my HDTV in an easy organized fashion.
sorry
Heres how I think it will work
You Buy an AppleTV $299
You sign up for the AppleTV subscription movie service for ~$19.99 /month
From you Mac or PC running iTunes, you create a list of movies you want to see.
Your AppleTV begins downloading the top 5 movies in your queue.
You can now watch those 5 movies as many times as you want and keep them for as long as you want.
Once you choose to "return"(delete) a movie, the next movie in your queue starts downloading.
You can even watch movie previews on your TV and decide to "rent" a movie without using a computer.
This is very similar to the NetFlix model, however...
-movies are never out of stock
-the movies will arrive the same day
-as soon as you return one, the next one is on the way
-Apple has no physical inventory or warehouses to manage, just some servers.
-If it uses a BitTorrent model, popular movies and new releases will require almost no bandwidth from Apple.
While I can't think of any one peripheral manufacturer I would like to see Apple acquire, I would definitely like to see Apple making more peripherals...
keyboards, mice, notebook docks
more MacMini form factor peripherals
laptop bags, furniture, headsets, microphones, displays
scanner, digital camera, pda...blah, blah, blah
I think Apple TV will be more of a competitor to NetFlix and BlockBuster.
Heres how I think it will work
You Buy an AppleTV $299
You sign up for the AppleTV subscription movie service for ~$19.99 /month
From you Mac or PC running iTunes, you create a list of movies you want to see.
Your AppleTV begins downloading the top 5 movies in your queue.
You can now watch those 5 movies as many times as you want and keep them for as long as you want.
Once you choose to "return"(delete) a movie, the next movie in your queue starts downloading.
You can even watch movie previews on your TV and decide to "rent" a movie without using a computer.
This is very similar to the NetFlix model, however...
-movies are never out of stock
-the movies will arrive the same day
-as soon as you return one, the next one is on the way
-Apple has no physical inventory or warehouses to manage, just some servers.
-If it uses a BitTorrent model, popular movies and new releases will require almost no bandwidth from Apple.
As much as I like that model for iTunes, I don't think Apple will move to a subscription model. Steve insists that people want to own their content, and even though "owning" an iTunes movie is a bit of a stretch (since you cannot burn to a DVD), I think they will continue along the purchase-only route, while Netflix and the others will continue to improve their services. Perhaps you'll be able to rent Netflix... or Joost... movies through iTunes one day, with some kind of revenue-sharing program in place.
As much as I like that model for iTunes, I don't think Apple will move to a subscription model. Steve insists that people want to own their content, and even though "owning" an iTunes movie is a bit of a stretch (since you cannot burn to a DVD), I think they will continue along the purchase-only route, while Netflix and the others will continue to improve their services. Perhaps you'll be able to rent Netflix... or Joost... movies through iTunes one day, with some kind of revenue-sharing program in place.
Steve also said that no one wants to watch video on a tiny portable screen.
Then when he had a device to sell that did just that, he changed his tune.
Steve is saying people want to buy their content because that is all he can sell right now.
Once he has enough Apple TVs in place to launch his network, his tune will change again.
They expect to sell more phones at Apple Stores. They have have to be joking. Apple stores are in select locations, Cingular stores are damn near on every corner.
Going to the Apple Store is like being a kid in a candy store.
I'm sure most consumers who are about to plunk down $500+ are willing to go a little out of their way to get to an Apple Store.
Do you really think the Cingular sales drones are really going to know what they are talking about?
hay guys some weeks ago apple bought a media company I FORGET The COMPANY NAME but im sure they would play a part in the apple tv issue
You are probably thinking of Proximity and that has more to do with Final Cut Pro.
But it is possible they could create an iLife app based on Proximity's ArtBox to manage your digital video clips. This app could in turn feed the AppleTV with your own content.
In the meantime, Apple said it "doesn’t expect to broadly proliferate into any new categories for a while," and will instead focus on its four existing product categories..
So in other words after that while has past they will expand into other catagories. One of which being wireless streaming TV's.
Apple could easily turn iTV into a set-top box.
"In the meantime, Apple said it "doesn?t expect to broadly proliferate into any new categories for a while," and will instead focus on its four existing product categories in Macs, iPods, iPhone and Apple TV."
QUOTE]
I was under the impression that Apple was coming out with a lot of new products this year that were not the traditional products (iPod, Mac,etc). The statement above would seem to state that for the most part they are just going to concentrate in producing new and improved Macs, iPods, iPhones and Apple TV.
Nothing wrong with that, but I was under the impression they were broadening further and into new consumer products.
I guess what I heard was wrong.
Read that quote carefully. "Broadly proliferate".
That doesn't read like they don't intend to not do something. It sounds like they aren't going to come up with a number of new products in new catagories. It stops short of saying that they won't come out with ANYTHING in a new catagory.
The decision to cut out the vast majority of users who don't have HDTV sets is even stranger when you consider that video content from the iTunes Store would actually look good on a standard definition TV set. On an HDTV, the quality, compared to an HD signal, is sorely lacking.
I'm not so sure you're correct.
Last year,for the first time, LCD sets outsold CRT sets. SD is running out of time. More people are buying large screen sets.
This will works with a monitor as well, all are high def these days.
either use a monitor with component input. Mine has that as well as VGA. Or get a cheap HDMI splitter to turn the HDMI output to DVI and audio.
By the end of this year, most tv sales will be high def of some sort.
As usual, Apple is a bit ahead of the curve. I wouldn't be surprised if people go out and buy a hi def monitor just so that they can use their computer and the Tv.