Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Lesser Evets

macrumors 68040
Jan 7, 2006
3,527
1,294
Considering we are in a golden age of quality television, a lot of people.

The amount of quality television today is absolutely staggering.
That's a joke, right? TV these days is written like little-girl fan fiction, acted by un-enigmatic cardboard, and filmed by blind men. It's the least engrossing time in all TV history. And it is mostly propaganda.
 

barkomatic

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2008
4,518
2,821
Manhattan
That's a joke, right? TV these days is written like little-girl fan fiction, acted by un-enigmatic cardboard, and filmed by blind men. It's the least engrossing time in all TV history. And it is mostly propaganda.

So what would you consider the high point--Leave it to Beaver?
 

spcdust

macrumors 65816
May 6, 2008
1,087
162
London, UK
Apple need to look beyond the US market and get some local content on the AppleTV. Here in the UK they would make the Apple TV a no brainer for many l if they allowed access to our main channels free VOD services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Player. 4OD, 5OD. Other companies have managed it such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung etc. so why Apple seem totally unable to negotiate these kind of local content deals is beyond me.
 

ifij775

macrumors regular
Nov 6, 2012
154
0
Boston, MA
That's a joke, right? TV these days is written like little-girl fan fiction, acted by un-enigmatic cardboard, and filmed by blind men. It's the least engrossing time in all TV history. And it is mostly propaganda.

Don't forget the pointless "reality" shows that have no creative value.
Ugh
 

Porco

macrumors 68040
Mar 28, 2005
3,314
6,908
I'm sure this is mildly encouraging for some people, but at this pace I think most of us will have died before TV and the internet are sensibly utilised together*.

*legally.
 

Tiger8

macrumors 68020
May 23, 2011
2,479
649
Catch up!

spotify would be so sweet :eek:

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?
 

JHankwitz

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2005
1,911
58
Wisconsin
This would be exciting, except I already get HBO on my TV...

...by turning on my TV and cable box. :rolleyes:

There's a heck of a lot of us that are not willing to spend $80+ per month to have access to hundreds of worthless commercial-ridden broadcasts. Being able to subscribe to only the programming we want would make it worthwhile and cost effective.
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
You don't understand what HBOGO is then. But since you are a HBO subscriber you get if for free anyway. HBOGO is like HBO on Demand on steroids.

Just go to http://www.hbogo.com and login with your cable subscriber account. Or download the app from the app store.

At this moment HBOGO has something like 261 Movies, 43 complete series, 43 comedy programs, 85 sports programs, 95 documentaries and 25 Late Night (adult) shows that you can immediately stream either on the web or on your device (iPad etc...) anywhere. HBOGO also has extras for series like Game of Thrones, Boardwalk empire like behind the scenes, interviews and interactive features.


So I wonder if Apple would allow HBO's skinemax on the Apple TV. We all know how much Apple likes to be the porn police, if you can call that stuff porn. Not that I've ever watched it or anything........ :p
 

huffcw

macrumors member
Mar 5, 2012
34
0
I personally would also like to see a "season pass" option for current HBO and Showtime shows.
 

wovel

macrumors 68000
Mar 15, 2010
1,839
161
America(s)!
Great benefit to current cable subscribers, but just another app icon to waste precious screen space on my TV if I can't access it. The ability to delete icons off my Apple TV screen would be a huge plus; or, let me buy a subscription to HBO Go independent of cable.

----------



Completely agree. Time Warner's cable box is the worst. I just recently switched to TiVO since I could no longer take the lousy interface and dropped recordings, and because I got tired of waiting on Apple's move into the television market. It's a great improvement, but I'll drop TiVO like a hot potato as soon as something even better comes along.

You can already remove icons from your Apple TV....

----------

So I wonder if Apple would allow HBO's skinemax on the Apple TV. We all know how much Apple likes to be the porn police, if you can call that stuff porn. Not that I've ever watched it or anything........ :p

The Max App is on the iPad and the iPhone. I am not sure why they would decide against allowing it on the Apple TV.

----------

I'm sure this is mildly encouraging for some people, but at this pace I think most of us will have died before TV and the internet are sensibly utilised together*.

*legally.

I am really surprised HBO has not gone for a direct sales channel. It is short-sighted management at Time Warner. I know they are trying to protect their own cable subscription base, but I think there is more money to be made in direct sales.

Maybe if we had not allowed all the Cable content to be bought up by cable companies, this mess would be over already.
 

edwurtle

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2010
86
43
There's a heck of a lot of us that are not willing to spend $80+ per month to have access to hundreds of worthless commercial-ridden broadcasts. Being able to subscribe to only the programming we want would make it worthwhile and cost effective.

RTFA. You will still have to have cable subscription in order for it to work.
 

iMike208

macrumors newbie
Aug 13, 2012
15
0
People keep talking about there being no benefit. There is PLENTY of benefit for current HBO subscribers. With HBO Go, there is access to not just current but ALL episodes of ALL HBO's original programming (plus access to current run movies, etc...). I don't know about you, but while I have seen a lot of the stuff while it airs, there are some things I missed and would love to catch up on. While it is possible for me to sit and stare at my iPad or iPhone for hours on end and catch up, it's not ideal when you actually have more than one person wanting to catch up and watch. Yes, imagine that. My wife and I like to watch the same shows at the same time.

Anyway, I can see why people who want to cut the cord are complaining, but for current subscribers there is immense benefit to having this on a TV device. When I caught up on THE WIRE, I had to run a 100ft HDMI cable from my Mac to my TV so that I could take advantage of HBO Go, and it didn't look so great. Meanwhile, iOS got airplay which didn't work for HBO Go (I'm seeing some people say it does now. I didn't think so, but I'll have to try it). I have a PS3, but the XBOX got exclusive rights instead. Then the Mac got airplay mirroring, but my Mac didn't make the cutoff with Mountain Lion. And since I have an Apple TV, I refuse to buy a Roku box. So, I'm patiently waiting for this to be available on some device I own!
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,799
The Black Country, England
Apple need to look beyond the US market and get some local content on the AppleTV. Here in the UK they would make the Apple TV a no brainer for many l if they allowed access to our main channels free VOD services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Player. 4OD, 5OD. Other companies have managed it such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung etc. so why Apple seem totally unable to negotiate these kind of local content deals is beyond me.

Apple only seem to be interested in adding subscription players, maybe they receive some form of compensation from these companies?

The UK VOD players you've listed are all from free to air channels so Apple probably doesn't see an opportunity of profiting from hosting them. We do of course, because we think it would make the Apple TV a lot more desirable to the UK market so they could sell a lot more.

Just a thought.
 
Last edited:

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
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 :apple: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.
 
Last edited:

xforce11

macrumors member
Jul 22, 2008
34
0
North Carolina
I would gladly cut the cord if I could subscribe to my local channels (and PBS stations) and 15 or so other networks. Maybe Apple can get HBO Go to no HBO cable subscribers that would be a plus and the start of independence from cable lock-ins.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.