Posted on 08/16/2012 10:00:23 AM PDT by Swordmaker
It looks like Apple’s mysterious ‘AppleTV’ project may not be so revolutionary — or disruptive — after all.
After months of speculation that Apple will upend the TV business, allowing consumers to ‘cut the cord’ and buy TV channels a la carte, the latest word is that Apple will not threaten cable operators and their media giant partners. (Related Link: Ready for Apple TV?)
The Wall Street Journal reports the tech giant is in talks with cable operators to use its device as a set top box. If this is true, cable and media moguls must be breathing a huge sigh of relief. (Related Link: Apple in Talks With Cable TV Networks - Report.)
The Journal says that talks are about using “an Apple device as a set-top box for live television and other content.” Though nothing has been settled, Apple would offer a service from the cable operators, likely charging them a fee — it takes 30 percent of much of the content it sells. Ultimately Apple would offer a cool interface to seamlessly navigate TV and web content.
(If this is true) Bottom line: Apple is focusing on the box and not the delivery system because the content creation and delivery companies are just far too entrenched to be disrupted. The largest media company and the largest distribution company Comcast struck a ten year distribution deal earlier this year. That means it’s going to be virtually impossible for Apple to offer channels a la carte. These two giants (and their rivals) are committed to maintaining the status quo — selling huge bundles of channels. Even if Apple offered a huge amount of money for, say, just Disney Channel, or ESPN, they would be unlikely to break the model. Selling individual channels would mean a huge hit to both companies’ bottom lines.
The media giants and distribution companies say it’s not just in their best interest — it’s also in customers best interest — to maintain bundles. By paying for channels they don’t watch customers are subsidizing the smaller channels that not everyone would select. Disney CEO Bob Iger has explained to me, if everyone only paid for the 10 channels they thought they wanted, smaller channels wouldn’t have the financial support survive, and no one would get all the channels they wanted. Both Iger and Time Warner [TWX 42.60 -0.09 (-0.21%) ] CEO Jeff Bewkes have stressed to me that customers really want the choice of dozens or hundreds of channels and don’t realize just how narrow choices would become without bundles supporting the system.
Yes, an Apple TV could eat into cable carriers business — people could buy more video-on-demand through Apple, and perhaps less VOD from Comcast, DirecTV or Time Warner Cable. But media companies are wary of giving too much control to Apple — look at the disaster that befell the music industry when Steve Jobs controlled all transactions.
So we can expect media companies to drive a hard bargain with Apple, to prevent it from securing a monopoly on video on demand, and to protect their lucrative relationship with cable carriers.
You should check out putting the XBMC platform with navi-X on your unit. Ebay sells the software and instructions. Or you can send it to be done as well. It really powers up the AT2. Take care.
Funny thing is, they have consistently failed, for 50 years that I know of, to ask their customers for their opinion!
I for one, however, view Apple's entry into the industry as an unmitigated disaster. The hallmark of Apple has always been to gouge the user. Without exception. Up til now, the public has always had at least one alternative choice.
Their entry into competing with the cable company cartel, from the customers' viewpoint is the choice of being eaten by a regular very large hungry shark, or a Great White.
Oh joy!
This seems like a rare education moment. What is the difference and the interaction between "media company" and "distribution company?"
Congress has made periodic feeble (over the last 40 years) attempts to break the monopolies which create the cable/media mafia; RICO material.
But magically, every time it goes nowhere.
I am just amazed that no one has managed to unravel the money paths to the payoff of the politicians. Pulitzer Prize material.
This seems like a rare education moment. What is the difference and the interaction between "media company" and "distribution company?"
Congress has made periodic feeble (over the last 40 years) attempts to break the monopolies which create the cable/media mafia; RICO material.
But magically, every time it goes nowhere.
I am just amazed that no one has managed to unravel the money paths to the payoff of the politicians. Pulitzer Prize material.
Oh yeah.
Evangelical, shopping, gay channels, Al Gore channel, BET and the Oprah channels...
Just follow instructions carefully. I think you need a micro usb to usb computer to itunes. It might of changed.
Attendance at Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim has never been higher than this summer.
I have to be careful about what I hear. Thanks.
While that is true, theme parks aren't where the major profits come from. I do believe the single most profitable division of the whole empire is ESPN.
Netflix is commercial-free. However, I believe the major advantage of iTunes or Hulu over Netflix would be that new episodes are available the day after they originally air, whereas on Netflix, you wait until they're available on DVD.
So, if you're trying to keep current on stuff that's showing right now, you're better off going the iTunes or Hulu route, but for catching up on older shows, Netflix is the better option.
For me, when my current commitment with DirectTV expires, I plan on cutting off cable/satellite altogether and going with some form of iTunes/Netflix/Hulu plus of course, my own DVD library. Looking at the current options, either the AppleTV or Roku would likely serve, but I'm still far enough away from actually doing anything that there's no point making detailed plans yet.
You can do the same thing with your Blue Ray Player, or your Game System, or dedicated devices by users like ROKU etc... Again, Apple TV makes no sense to me.
Netflix have no commercials, and cost $8 or whatever it is a month unlimited.
Oh I am sure they are making money off it, it doesn’t do much, and after after 5+ YEARS in the marketplace, yes Apple TV started shipping in March 2007 it still is basically a glorified BRICK, there is no real reason to own this device, unless you are just an apple fanboy and need everything apple makes.
Nothing it does doesn’t exist on countless other hardware, with perhaps the tie into iTunes store, that’s about it... Everything else it does you can do on any game console, most Blue Ray Players, tons of other and cheaper set top boxes and anymore many TV’s offer all this functionality. This is a piece of hardware that literally makes no sense in the grand scheme of things.
I would be willing to accept your long game scenario, IF there was one, but after 5+ years, its just another set top box that really offers nothing distinctive other than itunes integration, which at iTunes pricing, isn’t much to get excited over.
I view this thing as Job’s illegitimate kid from a drunken one night stand that lives in Europe. Really doesn’t have any real ties to anything, but can’t bring themselves to kill it.
Oh I am sure they are making money off it, it doesn’t do much, and after after 5+ YEARS in the marketplace, yes Apple TV started shipping in March 2007 it still is basically a glorified BRICK, there is no real reason to own this device, unless you are just an apple fanboy and need everything apple makes.
Nothing it does doesn’t exist on countless other hardware, with perhaps the tie into iTunes store, that’s about it... Everything else it does you can do on any game console, most Blue Ray Players, tons of other and cheaper set top boxes and anymore many TV’s offer all this functionality. This is a piece of hardware that literally makes no sense in the grand scheme of things.
I would be willing to accept your long game scenario, IF there was one, but after 5+ years, its just another set top box that really offers nothing distinctive other than itunes integration, which at iTunes pricing, isn’t much to get excited over.
I view this thing as Job’s illegitimate kid from a drunken one night stand that lives in Europe. Really doesn’t have any real ties to anything, but can’t bring themselves to kill it.
You can get NETFLIX right in your TV, or your Blue Ray Player, or a Roku box for 1/2 the cost or some TV’s built in, or other devices. This product has nothing unique or distinctive, Its a silly Me Too that really other than Itunes integration brings nothing distinctive to the table.
I really view this as nothing more than a FanBoy product. I’m sure they make money off it, because parts inside it maybe add up to 20-30 bucks, but its a commodity item that offers nothing meaningful other than its got an apple logo on it.
5+ years after its introduction it really offers nothing that isn’t a commodity and available in dozens of other places other than the itunes integration.
Well, there's also AirPlay, but somehow from your tone I doubt you have the other devices necessary to take advantage of that.
Don’t be so presumptive, I am a software developer I own apple products and write Apps for Apple products and Android products I have several Apple products in my home, I get a deposit in my bank account every month from Apple for products I write and sell for their platform, that doesn’t mean however that I’m a blind fanboy who thinks Apple can do no wrong.
Airplay is another nonsensical thing, I can share video, photos and all that from my iPhone on my TV through my cable box with an APP and countless other ways as well from computers etc. Again, nothing new here, same old same old. This product doesn’t have a real distinct reason to exist.. Its not a class leader, and brings little to the table. This sort of feature is just a commodity, its not a game changer.
Like I said, I view this as an apple fanboy product. It may have been at one time envisioned as more, but all its got is mostly me too-ism, with the sole exception of iTunes integration there is nothing distict or remarkable, at least at this point.
Apple’s probably making a few bucks per unit sold since the hardware in it is nothing more than a few bucks, but there is nothing unique about this product to justify the selection of it over dozens of other offerings, most with the functionality of this device built in with other hardware (game systems, blue ray players, dedicated streaming players etc). 5 years into its life cycle and it really is and never has been anything noteworthy.
Apple may have plans, but after 5 years on the shelves this thing is still completely unremarkable. Its pretty obvious whatever their original plans were for it, they didn’t work out, so maybe they are trying a different tac and something will come in the future that will make it distinct, but at present its just a fan boy device.
AirPlay is just Apple’s version of DLNA, which most bluray players already support, and has free software for most devices you might have content on. As of Jan 2011 9000 devices are DLNA certified with 440 million estimated out in the field. And I don’t think those numbers include the fact that you can install DLNA on any computer. Now none of the DLNA software I’ve seen is as sexy as AirPlay, but that’s the Apple way, take something already out there, give it a cooler name and a sexier UI and trust a whole bunch of people to conveniently forget the previous version owned by somebody else.
AirPlay also allows apps to display themselves on the AirPlay server device -- because of the sandboxing model, one app can't allow a second app to display remotely, it has to be something the app builds in. So, it's not "nothing new", there is value to AirPlay beyond existing apps. The particular value of that feature is debatable, of course.
The ATV is roughly equivalent to the Roku -- the Roku has more "channels", ATV has iTunes store integration. And they're about the same price (and a lot less than Google's TV attempt) for a full 1080p model. There are a lot of hints that with iOS6, we'll see a more open set of "apps" for ATV, but for now, that's just rumor; if true, however, expect to see ATV catch Roku in terms of "channels" within a year or so, while still having the iTunes integration and AirPlay advantages.
It always amazes me when people buy set top boxes like Apple TV etc. when you can go to tigerdirect and get a desktop computer box with one of the latest CPU chips that will hook directly to your HD input of your HD TV and allows you to watch Hulu Netflix youtube and all the Network Internet channels in HD and it costs about 350 bucks. Plus you can play all the latest games and if you are knowledgeable in wares and such you can record most of these things and store them on your hard drive.
You also get the latest in Dolby Digital Sound if you have the proper sound system to hook it to and if you want blu-ray you can get the box with a blu-ray dvd player in it for about 30 bucks more.
And if you watch you can get the same thing for less than 300 when the put them on sale a few times a year.
We love our Computer Box that is hooked to our entertainment system. I am using it right now to make this post. FR looks good on a 58 inch screen!
Right now I have one 1.5 Terrabyte HD in my machine and we are going to get another soon and put all our home movies and pics on it as well as our favorite DVDs. I've already got most of my music on this HD.
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