Apple Aims to 'Erase Distinction Between Live and On-Demand' TV Content

[ShiftyPig]

The fundamental problem is that the television/cable industry saw what happened to the music industry and is resolved to not go down the same road.

The music industry was getting killed by piracy and needed anything to save itself. They gave into Apple and there was no turning back.

The TV/cable industry *isn't* getting killed by piracy and is making money hand over fist. They don't need the game to be changed, so they have zero incentive to talk. Apple is trying to weasel its way into a slice of the pie but the content owners are the ones who will have the final say.

 

[ixodes]

I can live with just watching even less television content.

I concur.

Personally if I'm going to take some "down time" I prefer to read or listen to some good music.

If I want to watch something, that's what I bought my huge Samsung Smart TV for. It's in my home theater, where I only show movies for family and friends.

That's why I made the comment about Apple's TV project being interesting to follow. No matter what it ends of being or doing, that's one Apple product I have no plan to buy. And I doubt that will change.

 

[Tilpots]

I hope they buy a satellite provider. **** the cable companies up the goat ass.

 

[somethingelsefl]

Alright, we get it! Every "source" is reporting that Apple wants to make TV that is super-better-than-anything-else-in-the-whole-world...

The question is HOW? Show me software! Show me hardware!

 

[dmsmith]

Hmmm.... How does this work with an antenna? I currently get 45 channels, far more than I can watch, for free.

Once OTA digital came around, the picture became perfect and satisfied the reason I had cable at all.

Regarding DVR. My Mac Mini fills the need with an attached tuner.

 

[Born Again]

This is it. This is what Steve Jobs ment when he said he "finally cracked it."

Thought he was talking about a nut

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

what on earth has a set top box got to do with traffic jams?!?!!!!

I think breaks in prime time television programming leads to many people running quick errands at the same time. All these people running their quick errands causes brief traffic jams. I'm not saying it's the cause of all traffic jams, but a higher amount than you might think.

I worked as a bagger for three years with a view of many major roads from a storefront. This is what I thought of during those 3 years whenever telling myself bagging was just like tetris wasn't working.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Can't beat them, so join them.

Can't beat them, so buy them ...

U.S only I bet.

Well they have to start somewhere. It's purely convenience really. They'll probably go international at some point, after trying it out in America first.

That's actually my fear too. Sounds first great but designed for mainly US. I'm sure out in the countries the offer will be less exciting. Same as with Hulu in Japan. Relative old stuff to see. This license business needs to get changed first. Why I can't see the Simpsons everywhere in the world as long I pay ?

 

[RalfTheDog]

"Americans may be undereducated, lazy and disorganized, but they do one thing better than any people on the face of the Earth, and that is watch television."

-- Neil Stevenson

 

[Boston007]

Like they did with RAISING ebook prices?

NO THANKS

 

[tbrinkma]

Actually, they can.
True, Apple may not have the brains to engineer a high quality TV screen like the companies you've mentioned, but they can cover up their TV's defect by using a smaller TV screen size. That's what they did with the iphone's sub-HD resolution; they used a smaller screen to cover up its low resolution.

I expect a 19" Apple TV to have the same PPI and image quality as a 45" Samsung TV. I'm sure it'll be a huge success.

A 19" TV with "the same PPI...as a 45" SamsungTV" would clock in at just under 50ppi (~48.95), giving it a resolution of 810x455. This would require Apple to buy specially made *LOW* grade displays, an idea which is contrary on its face to Apple's behavior since the release of the iPhone 4. And yet you attempt to justify this statement by claiming that the iPhone (4 & up), which had the highest resolution screen in its class, was a low-quality or low-resolution display?

You really don't understand what resolution is, do you? That's the only option here that makes sense, unless you're trolling.

----------

Like they did with RAISING ebook prices?

NO THANKS

So far, the public data on e-book pricing shows that prices have stayed the same, or dropped slightly. (The only exception to this is a sub-set of best-selling titles which are still in their hard-bound, dead-tree phase.)

 

[Born Again]

Jimminy willikers! by golly gee i solved it!

 

[tbrinkma]

The fundamental problem is that the television/cable industry saw what happened to the music industry and is resolved to not go down the same road.

The music industry was getting killed by piracy and needed anything to save itself. They gave into Apple and there was no turning back.

The TV/cable industry *isn't* getting killed by piracy and is making money hand over fist. They don't need the game to be changed, so they have zero incentive to talk. Apple is trying to weasel its way into a slice of the pie but the content owners are the ones who will have the final say.

There's no credible evidence that shows the music industry was "getting killed by piracy". Their profits (by year) correlate very strongly with the number of albums released in a given year, and not at all with their claimed piracy rates (or even the piracy rates measured by independent analysts).

 

[linkgx1]

The fundamental problem is that the television/cable industry saw what happened to the music industry and is resolved to not go down the same road.

The music industry was getting killed by piracy and needed anything to save itself. They gave into Apple and there was no turning back.

The TV/cable industry *isn't* getting killed by piracy and is making money hand over fist. They don't need the game to be changed, so they have zero incentive to talk. Apple is trying to weasel its way into a slice of the pie but the content owners are the ones who will have the final say.

I coulda sworn game of thrones was the most pirated show last year.....

 

[Boston007]

So far, the public data on e-book pricing shows that prices have stayed the same, or dropped slightly. (The only exception to this is a sub-set of best-selling titles which are still in their hard-bound, dead-tree phase.)

COMPLETE BS. I buy ebooks.

Jul 2010 Game Of Thrones a book of ice and fire, I paid $4.15 ebook.
Today it is $8.99.

It's a fact before Apple stepped in ebooks were reasonably priced compared to their paperbooks. That is not the case today.

 

[G4DP]

This won't really fit in in the UK market.

Cable providers already offer a on-demand service of sorts through there own boxes, as do SKY. Seems Apple are a long way behind the curve if this is to be believed. Even the F.T.A channels already have online on demand services. Where you can watch programmes just after they have aired on the television.

 

[knewsom]

You know what this means... ads you can't skip! Yaaay!


Wait a sec, I think that was the reality distortion field talking.... I mean BOOOOOOO!

 

[battlefieldfan1]

A 19" TV with "the same PPI...as a 45" SamsungTV" would clock in at just under 50ppi (~48.95), giving it a resolution of 810x455. This would require Apple to buy specially made *LOW* grade displays, an idea which is contrary on its face to Apple's behavior since the release of the iPhone 4. And yet you attempt to justify this statement by claiming that the iPhone (4 & up), which had the highest resolution screen in its class, was a low-quality or low-resolution display?

You really don't understand what resolution is, do you? That's the only option here that makes sense, unless you're trolling.

I wouldn't be surprised. Apple needs to keep their profit margins high.

Apple products ARE low resolution. It's sub-HD.
The reason why Apple doesn't opt for 4"+ screens is because in order to get 300+ ppi on a 4.5-.8" screen, you'd need a 720p resolution, which would be expensive and Apple would never want to harm their profit margins. They're using cheap, 6-year-old tech screen with low resolution and covering this defect by using a small screen.

Tell me, if they're so "high quality," why are their profit margins so high? You'd think that high-quality products would be more expensive to assemble, yet the cost to assemble an iphone costs the same as a 3-year-old Samsung phone.

 

[Rogifan]

Another month, another Apple TV Rumor. Yawn.

 

[Eduardo1971]

I wonder who is the source that's releasing these ideas to the media?
What's their angle by releasing this information at this particular point?

 

[avanpelt]

I suspect this type of STB might support a sort of "reverse AirPlay" where you could seamlessly watch content from it on your Macs, iPhone, and iPad. It would also likely have to support the "start on one device, pause, resume on another device" technology that is becoming more and more prevalent with whole-home DVR setups.

I'll be excited to see what Steve and company had finally "cracked"!

 

[lilo777]

Another month, another Apple TV Rumor. Yawn.

But it's getting more and more exciting. First it was 42" TV set, now it's a cable box, what's next? Apple entering TV cable connectors market?

 

[DrumApple]

HA! Good luck, Apple. You might be able to change the tech business, but broadcasting is a different world. They'd never allow it.

 

[huntermaclean]

I'm sorry for anyone who still has to deal with this.
It's called bit torrent and it has solve a lot of my problems.

 

[ideal.dreams]

I'm sorry for anyone who still has to deal with this.
It's called bit torrent and it has solve a lot of my problems.

It's also not allowed to be discussed on MR.