It is already on Roku.
I just don't get it, why is it always a big deal with Apple? This is like this whole deal with iTunes Match, were Apple went through everyone and their mama while both Amazon and Google already launched their cloud services, and then did what Apple did a couple of months later on their own terms, not the recording industry terms. What did Apple get? Praises from the music industry for 'doing it right'?
Roku has Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Amazon Cloud Player, Spotify, Pandora, Flex, Crackle, ESPN, and hundreds of international and content channels, plus the ability to stream any content from any PC, and the higher end model has a USB port downloaded content. Why is Apple TV so behind?
Because, in general, Apple wants to dictate very strict terms while the other guys are generally more cooperative. Apple wants to completely own decisions like price- as if one piece of media is equal to all other similar pieces of media. Is William Shatner's version of Space Oddity at $1.29 really equal in value to David Bowie's original? How about ****'s Rocket Man vs. Elton John's original?
A partner like Netflix lays out big coin up front to woo video players to play ball. Apple generally wants to woo solely on the revenue
potential of a cut
AFTER Apple takes it's cut first. I've seen decision-maker executives on the video side comment that they'd love to do a deal with Apple but "Apple wants everything" (meaning extraordinarily good deal for Apple but little-to-nothing for 'us').
And, all of the video players have seen what happens when you help Apple gain heavy domination over an industry. They don't want to find themselves in the same type of spot as their music industry cousins. Apple wouldn't even allow owners/creators of music to set their own prices of their own products. The video guys (and music guys too) would rather feel some pain by helping many other players be successful instead of just handing it all over to Apple.
Lastly, in Roku's case,
that's their primary business. They are focused on making that as appealing as possible. They are not distracted by iDevices and computers and proprietary connectors and lawsuits, etc. Instead, they are focused on trying to do this kind of thing as right as they can do it. Apple refers to
TV as a "hobby" (even 6 years on since releasing the first one) and they keep "pulling the string to see where it takes us" rather than getting very serious about it.
Apple easily has the resources to put at least as many human resources on forging deals as a much smaller company like Roku does. Apple easily has the cash resources to out-spend Netflix to "grease the wheels" with industry players to get major content deals done. IMO, it's mostly a lack of focus on this part of the whole. And too bad if true, as I think the whole market is theirs for the taking if they would just get very serious about going after it.
I suspect they are fixated on trying to make the (very pro-Apple) music deal again in a changed world where the next big target can clearly see the flaws in that deal for the Studios. Even the music industry hasn't allowed Apple to roll out any kind of Pandora-like subscription option yet, in spite of that rumor flying for what: 4+ years now? Why is that so hard to get done? Perhaps because Apple is a tough partner and the content owner's side of a "win:win" doesn't have enough win in it vs. doing such deals with others.