+1 for people buying a TV just because it has an Apple logo on it
But I'm really curious what all that television will do once they get it home...
People who cut the cord and buy shows from iTunes will love the new Apple Television. It will have an amazing interface and access to all that programming.
But MOST people subscribe to cable or satellite and have a DVR box... which will then be plugged into
Input 1 on the back of this beautiful TV. At that point it won't make much difference which brand of TV you have... you're still at the mercy of the Comcast on-screen menus.
So... if you can live in the iTunes/Netflix/Hulu ecosystem... I think an Apple Television will be great.
But there are 100 million cable/satellite subscribers in the US... what will an Apple Television do for them?
If it's a 4K TV set, I'm all for it. I am ready to put 1080p TVs behind me even if the content isn't there yet. If it's just a 1080p, Apple-branded TV set, it's going to be a big yawn. I don't care how intuitive the touchscreen remote control is, and I still don't think Siri will work for changing channels.
Which is why I think Apple is going the STB route, not the TV route. If they bring content to your TV a la carte on demand without ads or schedules, that will very easily obsolete the existing television model. Look at what they did to music, making it available to you wherever, whenever, on a track-by-track basis. Music labels hated it, they wanted to sell physical albums, and sell you filler tracks you don't care about. They wanted DRM, they wanted restrictions on devices. Apple has, for the most part, convinced them now that there's a better way. Music was changed forever.
TV needs a similar shake-up. We should throw in movies, too, and why not? People are already not going to the movie theater as often as they used to. It should be relegated to the same crowd who likes going out to hear bands perform live at concerts, a special event, rather than everyday music listening. I think most people are happier watching new releases in the comfort of their own homes. So let's say all TV, all movies, it's all just video content created by a handful of major studios. Let's also accept the fact that everyone now uses DVRs and skips over ads, and even before then, they were leaving the room to urinate, get snacks, or sat around talking with their friends and family, rather than watching ads. The ad-supported television model has been broken for many, many years. It's make-believe, and while the studios have done a good job convincing advertisers that they're providing eyeballs with their video content, it's just not true. They need to adjust their model to either viewer-supported or product placement.
We all know what the future is going to be. Just as music piracy showed that music consumers weren't happy with the state of affairs in the recording industry, TV and movie piracy spurred on by faster and faster internet speeds, shows that video consumers aren't happy with the state of affairs in the television industry. Just as Apple was able to revolutionize the way people buy and listen to music, they can do the same with video. Apple already sells video, but it's not that good. Content is slow to arrive, and it's hardly complete. I know tons of people who use iTunes for music, I don't think I know anyone who uses it seriously for video.
Now, maybe Apple is going to bring out a TV set with a big hard drive in there and a fancy remote and UI, complete with wifi, airplay, all that stuff. But if the Apple TV is remarkable, it's going to be because of the service on the backend. If it's an easy subscription service that gives you unlimited access to all video content under the sun, kind of like a Netflix but with TV shows as they are made and movies as they're released, rather than delayed or restricted, it's going to be good. There can't be ads, because ads suck and I don't think Apple wants to sell ads again. You get the content you want, when you want it, on any device you want, streamed in 1080p for a flat monthly rate. That's great. Alternatively, you buy only what you want and you own it and can watch it how and where you like, and all that content is immediately available as soon as it's available anywhere else.
The point is, the physical TV Apple might sell is just an iPod, and an iPod isn't worth much without iTunes.