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Apple Edging Further Into the Living Room by Cooperating with TV Content Providers
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I currently have both hulu and netflix for 14.99 usd. I'll be adding my locals shortly with cloud dvr svc for 8.99 once it gets offered later this yr. For most my sports I've just been going to p2p sites and downloading them after they've aired. Or you can setup proxy which companies do so you can watch BBC Sports for free even though you live in states but it make it look like yours in the UK somewhere.
Exactly my setup w/ 50/mbps download for $40/month. Idk why I didn't do this earlier.
They can add all the channels they want but the only way i personally will be interested is if its on demand at a monthly fee where i can watch what i want when i want, really don't care for live streaming unless its news but even that i would like to watch when i get home late from work or early in the morning to catch up on what happened yesterday.
As far as cable tv i do not have it for 5 years already and really do not miss it whats so ever.
As far as cable tv i do not have it for 5 years already and really do not miss it whats so ever.
Provided you don't watch any of the programming available only on cable.
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Yes, there's a point: doing away with the clunky, space and power-wasting cable box with the lousy interface.
Co-sign! I think that's really the gap. I am a cable-cutter so I watch free channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc..) since 80% of the shows I watch are there, and have Netflix (and tried Hulu before). It would be great if there is a 'premium' Netflix version like you said, with current TV seasons and a wider library of new movies.
I too have cut the cable when it comes to TV. I have Concast for internet only. Unbundled it is a little more, but total outlay is less. One option they offer is $99/mo. That would give me many HD channels, HBO and Internet.
But since I am not a channel flipper and can not guarantee I will have access to the shows to watch them live, I would prefer to buy them on iTunes.
I'm saving about $40/mo or $480 per year. Thats 13 season passes at around $35 each. I can watch when I want and get to keep them.
If I had a higher tier package, the cost could be even higher with just more options but again, I hate channel flipping. So I picked up an HD antenna and can get NBC and PBS for local news and info and pay $7.95 for Hulu Plus and get plenty of shows. Also an Amazon prime account for $75/year takes care of a bunch more. Even after subtracting those, there is enough money for 10 season passes.
I'm currently using a Mac Mini on my TV, but am waiting to see what Apple has in store for the living room. The removal of front row from the OS was very disappointing and I have yet to get a good experience out of Plex or XBMC.
Apple should really work on making a deal with Amazon Prime, I could care less about Time Warner since that is not my cable company and if it was my cable company which is Charter Communication I doubt they would have anything like this because they still dwell on Analog technology.
Summary: Irresistible force meets unmovable object, unmovable object wins, irresistible force partners with unmovable object.
That is a terrible "solution".
Tim is not Steve. He's not going to play hardball -- he's a realist, not an idealist. So unfortunately, we'll never get what we all want.
You're part of a small percentage of users who actually goes through their DVD library to rip them. Go to mainstream, average users and ask them what a NAS is.
Apple's strategy is clear to me. Their march toward zero physical media is nearly complete. The Mac Pro....reread again for emphasis....that's Mac "Pro" is now without an ODD (blasphemy, right?), meaning the only Mac to have it is the classic Macbook pro. Once retina MBPs hit the critical mass market price, it's goodbye forever to ODDs.
Now with that in mind, physical media no longer has a place in Apple's ecosystem. So they couldn't care less if you have a huge library of DVDs or blu-rays sitting in the corner. All of this is in effort to sell the iTunes store. Hell, I have always seen the Apple TV as nothing BUT an extension of the store.
There are non-technical savvy people and people like myself who just don't have either the technical know-how , or the time or care to rip media (myself being the latter of course). Simply one click, typing my password, and I own an HD movie on iTunes and it's immediately playable. No ripping, no NAS, no typing in meta information, no file management, no streaming from the computer. It's click, password, pay & play. That's how easy Apple TV is meant to be and that's why Apple is currently winning this market right now. Adding Netflix and Hulu keeps was probably necessary to maintain leverage, but it still keeps the Apple TV an entirely digital only package.
I dropped Cable TV over 4 years ago. I currently have Comcast Xfinity for High Speed Internet only which is $60 monthly. I have a Netflix acct $8 and Amazon Prime. I tried HULU Plus but didn't find the value for myself. I'm one of those people who rip their DVD collection on my 12TB drive. So far I have about 300 movies/main movie only using MacDVD Ripper Pro (each movie is around 5GB each). I was tired of paying for 120/150 channels when I only watch SyFy and HDTV. I get both of them via the net now. I had the same problem with XM/Sirius radio, all those channels that I didn't make use of.
I have ATV2 on my TVs to access my music, slide shows and the things I watch over and over again like BBC nature shows. I don't know how many times I've watched Blue Planet and the Walking with Dino series. I purchased some TV shows off iTunes when they have sales for $10 per season like Friends, Star Trek and a few others.
I have ATV2 on my TVs to access my music, slide shows and the things I watch over and over again like BBC nature shows. I don't know how many times I've watched Blue Planet
and the Walking with Dino series. I purchased some TV shows off iTunes when they have sales for $10 per season like Friends, Star Trek and a few others.
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Awkward, perhaps, but hardly "terrible."
I have installed it and use it periodically and it's not all that much different than Apple labeling "Movies" and "TV Shows" the tiles containing stuff they want to sell you, but hiding your real movies and TV shows in a tile labelled "Computers."
Also, why on earth does Apple list every season of a TV show as a separate TV Show item?
Bad UI, confusing and difficult to navigate though (imagine if you had all the seasons of The Simpsons - you'd be scrolling for 5 minutes each time you are looking for a show listed after them).
Also, why can't they support what is perhaps the most common wrapper there is, MKV? Or allow Apps? Or allow some customization of the home screen?
I don't mind Apple striking a deal with TWC, as long as they focus on improving the dated UI and don't make it more difficult for the average user to use other services.
Apple TV is almost good. Unfortunately, Apple will sit on its behind until another platform comes in and provides what consumers really want.
Just like Apple did it with iOS: they sat on it for years and only made the changes to the OS they should have made years ago when Android pushed past them. Now it's probably to late for Apple to regain its lead, at least for the foreseeable future.
I was only commenting because of the two people talking about Plex.......
Which I am still waiting for an answer about.
Hmmm. You don't have time to do it. Great business idea. I will rip your DVD's for you. (very time consuming)
I am over 150 total, with about 40some to go of my own library. Every morning I wake for work, I put a movie in and rip, when I get home I do another. I usually get 4-5 done a day.
I don't have to do the metadata. I use a program called iDentify. You put in the movie db# and it adds it all for you.
uh not really I mean a third party app that allows people to steal programs not to pay for them. That way profits will go down for the people who control the content and they will be more willing to allow apple into the walled garden
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
They will, but not how you think. The math is not $100 for 200 channels = 50 cents per channel; I like 10 channels, so my new al-a-carte television bill should be $5 per month.
Instead, a-la-carte will work like this:existing revenues for everyone in the current chain must be preserved or increased. Thus, the first link in that chain- we consumers- must pay at least as much (if not more). If everyone is like you- we all want about 10 favorite channels- the per-channel average cost will be at least $10.
Thus: 200 channels for $100 per month or the 10 channels "I" actually want for at least $100 per month. That's al-a-carte reality.
We dreamers always get this math wrong. We perceive that it would actually be possible to strip upwards of 90% or more of the revenues out of the system and yet keep all of our favorite programs flowing at the same level of quality, breadth and depth as they do now. We also perceive that such a fierce haircut is still going to motivate the very high risks production houses take on new pilots (which is key to how we end up with new, quality shows we want to watch). Etc.
Usually we want this commercial-free too, killing another massive subsidy paid by other people that helps make it all work now. How much is that? About $51 per household per month (see yesterday's thread for the source, proof and math).
On top of all of this, we expect Apple to pull this off AND get their big cut, and we somehow believe the cable companies that own the pipes through which this wondrous new system must flow (and fully depend) will just roll over and let Apple take it... without raising broadband rates to make up for every dollar lost.
But it is a lovely dream isn't it?
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Lol, nah there are more people watching things online than you think
Just look at how much Game of Thrones gets leaked for an example.
Broadcasters don't really care since no one has offer studios anything else and their contracts are long so they don't have to worry too much for now.
You may actually end up spending more money every month than you do now with cable. Not only will you still (apparently) require a cable subscription, but you'll have to up your broadband bandwidth (and bill) so you don't blow through your data cap watching all that streaming video every month.
So it doesn't seems like a very good deal. If I already have to have cable, why do I need to stream it though my Apple TV (which can't record) instead of my TiVo HD? Hopefully Apple's plan is to establish themselves by playing along, then yank the rug out from under the cablecos when they don't expect it.
So it doesn't seems like a very good deal. If I already have to have cable, why do I need to stream it though my Apple TV (which can't record) instead of my TiVo HD? Hopefully Apple's plan is to establish themselves by playing along, then yank the rug out from under the cablecos when they don't expect it.
I have no idea when was the last time I deliberately / force to watch anything at TV. I no longer have one. Pay for it? Nice try. I will be a minimalist for life, the largest shiny materialistic thing I will buy, will be an 11 inch gadget.
Disclaimer: I have a few minutes for those groundbreaking or brief highlights of any must-see event/show for my tastes, people would upload eventually at any free streaming sites.
I will be a minimalist for life, the largest shiny materialistic thing I will buy, will be an 11 inch gadget. Disclaimer: I have a few minutes for those groundbreaking or brief highlights of any must-see event/show for my tastes, people would upload eventually at any free streaming sites.
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Failure
Was hoping Apple would revolutionize the living room, but it seems they are just looking to keep the status quo.
I want to cut ties with cable companies, period. Not just have a slightly better interface to them.
I don't want to pay $80/mth for cable services, even if they are exposed through the Apple box. I am quite happy paying $8/mth for Netflix and would even consider up to $20/mth if Apple or Netflix offered some kind of premium subscription that gave me access to shows as they are released rather then waiting 1/2 a year or so.
If all Apple is trying to do is replace the cable boxes with their AppleTV boxes, then they have failed because I don't have a cable subscription but I do have an AppleTV box as an alternative. The moment that AppleTV becomes useless because I need a cable subscription to use it, I will no longer have an Apple TV box as well.
Was hoping Apple would revolutionize the living room, but it seems they are just looking to keep the status quo.
I want to cut ties with cable companies, period. Not just have a slightly better interface to them.
I don't want to pay $80/mth for cable services, even if they are exposed through the Apple box. I am quite happy paying $8/mth for Netflix and would even consider up to $20/mth if Apple or Netflix offered some kind of premium subscription that gave me access to shows as they are released rather then waiting 1/2 a year or so.
If all Apple is trying to do is replace the cable boxes with their AppleTV boxes, then they have failed because I don't have a cable subscription but I do have an AppleTV box as an alternative. The moment that AppleTV becomes useless because I need a cable subscription to use it, I will no longer have an Apple TV box as well.
Id rather apple sponsor some smaller content providers first. The big boys will jump on board once they see the smaller players doing well and raking in the dough. I don't feel like they adequately went after the content providers directly instead they are allowing themselves to be bullied around by useless middle men who charge a premium for no good reason.