The one thing I want from my TV is to remember what shows I watch and what streaming channels I watch them on. I don't have cable, but I subscribe to a LOT of streaming channels (in alpha order): Amazon Prime, Apple+, BritBox, Disney+, HBOMax, Hulu, Paramount+ and occasionally Showtime. I'm constantly annoyed that I need to remember what show is offered on what service... shouldn't my smart TV be smart enough to do that for me?
If Apple can put all my music into a single interface (regardless is whether I bought the single, or the album or streamed it), can’t they do the same for TV?
This exactly. Source shouldn’t matter. It’s all going to evolve/devolve to individual show or episode. Owners (Netflix, Hulu, showtime, etc) would all get paid behind the scenes just like artists of music get paid on Spotify. I also wish I could have “list of shows I follow” and get a notification in the list when there is a new episode. I don’t want to remember which app to go check!
[emphasis added]
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Apple clearly wanted it to work out this way, where an episode = a song and a show = an album. The problem is, music is a different type of content: I can (and have) listened to complete albums a hundred times or more (individual songs too), but I struggle to watch any movie more than a dozen times. Partly this is due to the length of the experience, partly it is due to the attention required, partly it is due to the cost of production, partly it is due to the value gleaned from a repeated experience.
We already complain about the quality of music, and have for decades since the commercial aspects started to dominate the artistic aspects. Subscriptions make sense because the individual can cheaply search for music that meets that person's tastes, but the revenue for the suppliers has fallen dramatically because the content has now been aggregated into a commodity product. Highly-differentiated music is now battling the business model of the recording studios and publishing labels in addition to the taste of the general public - once it gets into the supply chain it does well, but it's an even riskier bet now when compared to twenty years ago because even massive hits aren't pulling in the sort of revenue they did back then.
TV shows and movies are in a different space. Commercial aspects are certainly present but I submit that they are not as dominant as in the music world. Video demands more attention from the consumer, and therefore the suppliers have paid more heed to the "attention economy" in deciding what gets produced. The higher cost of production is also a factor; where an album of music can be generated for $100k and be considered as having exceptional production values, in the movie world you need to spend at least 100x that for the same perception from consumers (and even then, it's not guaranteed). There is more care taken to ensure return on investment, which means a much lower incidence of "commodity" movies and TV shows. Because the movie and TV industry saw what happened to the music industry they have even more reason to resist becoming a commodity service that gets aggregated; I doubt it's ever going to happen.
I've never had trouble remembering which TV channel or which streaming service I need to use to find the shows I like to watch: if I didn't care enough about a show to remember those details, then it wasn't important enough to chase down. Even if you spend six hours a day watching TV that's a dozen different shows at most, and in the unlikely situation that you watch a completely different set of shows every day of the week, that's 84 shows that would realistically be grouped into five or six channels/streamers. If keeping track of that is a problem that the services haven't solved, the level of effort to manage it yourself is not onerous - a minute or two to add the details to a new recurring calendar event on your phone, perhaps a minute to select the channel or streaming service each time you're ready to watch.
Absolutely horrible idea. the TV.app on Apple TV is one of the worst experiences on that whole AppleTV box. I absolutely hate it, when every second button I press tries to upsell me into a different service. Why do I even get shown stuff that I don't own in the TV.app. Dear Apple: I DON'T CARE ABOUT THINGS I HAVEN'T BOUGHT (sorry for crying out that loud.) I wan't a player app that shows me things I already have access to, stick all the other stuff in a separate place where the sun doesn't shine and let me out of that.
It seems this was about the first sign of Apple's new direction when it comes to services. No longer serve the customer by delivering a great user experience (at a premium prize), but try to squeeze every possible cent out of the customer base (but keep the premium pricing). 'Upsell, Upsell, UPSELL!' What a horrible disaster. Everytime I try to use this stupid app (and I use it only for AppleTV+ content) I'm getting closer and closer to just stop my AppleTV+ subsciption so that I no longer have to deal with this monstrosity.
Now you want that as the main experience on the AppleTV device. NO WAY. That'll be the day I stop the automatic update process and might as well migrate to the cheaper competitors on the next hardware upgrade. Yes they might be as bad, but why should I pay premium for a similarliy shitty user experience, that puts upsell profit over user experience. That's no longer the Apple I care about.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,…" 1
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
These quotes from the former President express my opinion of this editorial and its author.
Apple Music and Apple TV are lame, hopefully the next CEO will cut back and focus on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch computer software and hardware which is where Apple makes the big bucks leave content to the outside creatives, all the online Apple stores need UI overhauls for readability, search and just general browsing.
Apple TV is not lame lol. High quality programming all formatted in Dolby Vision and Atmos , if you love quality , you will like Apple TV . But I do agree it doesn’t have enough programming to stand on its own yet
Apple Music lossless and Atmos is better than anything quality wise other than Tidal. Way bette than garbage like Spotify. Think Hyundai be BMW
This site continues its descent into MacRumors-like madness, starting with the race of morons and idiots to be the first negative comment in every thread, to a changing editorial team more bent on criticising Apple for being Apple than on facilitating actual exchange of ideas related to Apple products - what a shame.
I can select a TV based upon picture quality alone. The OS of the TV is irrelevant to me, because ATV provides my switching and program selection. It is typically faster and more stable than the Roku interface we used previously, most likely due both to better coding and increased memory availability. One HDMI cable with eARC input and I have everything I need.
Also important to me: The financial calculation used by Samsung, LG, et al is to sell my viewing data as an income stream for them. Likewise Roku, which makes no bones about the fact they will monitor everything the viewer watches and sell that data to marketers. ATV does a much better job of maintaining my privacy.
So clean interface, fast response, better stability, and greater privacy—how is this product a disappointment?
Apple Music and Apple TV are lame, hopefully the next CEO will cut back and focus on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch computer software and hardware which is where Apple makes the big bucks leave content to the outside creatives, all the online Apple stores need UI overhauls for readability, search and just general browsing.
100 Million tracks compared to Spotify's 80 Million and a bunch of original Content on Apple TV+ with numerous awards is lame? The Apple TV hardware is second to none and the only hardware that comes close is the Shield Pro and even that doesn't come close. So ... Yea ...
Yes, there is a local electronics shop selling a device that will allow streaming various international tvs for free. Does AppleTV do this?
yea, a magic device that streams international content from a local electronics shop is probably not the most legal thing in the world. To answer your question, Yes, I can stream not just Live American channels but a large selection of international channels as well. There are plenty of IPTV Services and Apps. I use Perfect IPTV app because it a better interface then most of the others, and that allows me to add the credentials from whatever IPTV service I choose.
Comments
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Apple clearly wanted it to work out this way, where an episode = a song and a show = an album. The problem is, music is a different type of content: I can (and have) listened to complete albums a hundred times or more (individual songs too), but I struggle to watch any movie more than a dozen times. Partly this is due to the length of the experience, partly it is due to the attention required, partly it is due to the cost of production, partly it is due to the value gleaned from a repeated experience.
We already complain about the quality of music, and have for decades since the commercial aspects started to dominate the artistic aspects. Subscriptions make sense because the individual can cheaply search for music that meets that person's tastes, but the revenue for the suppliers has fallen dramatically because the content has now been aggregated into a commodity product. Highly-differentiated music is now battling the business model of the recording studios and publishing labels in addition to the taste of the general public - once it gets into the supply chain it does well, but it's an even riskier bet now when compared to twenty years ago because even massive hits aren't pulling in the sort of revenue they did back then.
TV shows and movies are in a different space. Commercial aspects are certainly present but I submit that they are not as dominant as in the music world. Video demands more attention from the consumer, and therefore the suppliers have paid more heed to the "attention economy" in deciding what gets produced. The higher cost of production is also a factor; where an album of music can be generated for $100k and be considered as having exceptional production values, in the movie world you need to spend at least 100x that for the same perception from consumers (and even then, it's not guaranteed). There is more care taken to ensure return on investment, which means a much lower incidence of "commodity" movies and TV shows. Because the movie and TV industry saw what happened to the music industry they have even more reason to resist becoming a commodity service that gets aggregated; I doubt it's ever going to happen.
I've never had trouble remembering which TV channel or which streaming service I need to use to find the shows I like to watch: if I didn't care enough about a show to remember those details, then it wasn't important enough to chase down. Even if you spend six hours a day watching TV that's a dozen different shows at most, and in the unlikely situation that you watch a completely different set of shows every day of the week, that's 84 shows that would realistically be grouped into five or six channels/streamers. If keeping track of that is a problem that the services haven't solved, the level of effort to manage it yourself is not onerous - a minute or two to add the details to a new recurring calendar event on your phone, perhaps a minute to select the channel or streaming service each time you're ready to watch.
It seems this was about the first sign of Apple's new direction when it comes to services. No longer serve the customer by delivering a great user experience (at a premium prize), but try to squeeze every possible cent out of the customer base (but keep the premium pricing). 'Upsell, Upsell, UPSELL!' What a horrible disaster. Everytime I try to use this stupid app (and I use it only for AppleTV+ content) I'm getting closer and closer to just stop my AppleTV+ subsciption so that I no longer have to deal with this monstrosity.
Now you want that as the main experience on the AppleTV device. NO WAY. That'll be the day I stop the automatic update process and might as well migrate to the cheaper competitors on the next hardware upgrade. Yes they might be as bad, but why should I pay premium for a similarliy shitty user experience, that puts upsell profit over user experience. That's no longer the Apple I care about.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,…" 1
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
These quotes from the former President express my opinion of this editorial and its author.
I can select a TV based upon picture quality alone. The OS of the TV is irrelevant to me, because ATV provides my switching and program selection. It is typically faster and more stable than the Roku interface we used previously, most likely due both to better coding and increased memory availability. One HDMI cable with eARC input and I have everything I need.