I’m not one to invoke Steve but I don’t remember under Steve people questioning why Apple is doing something. Even if you didn’t agree you knew why. I have yet to hear from Tim Cook or Eddy Cue why Apple wants to start bankrolling original content. We can make guesses but they’re all financial; Apple wants more Apple Music subs to boost services revenue, Apple is bowing to Wall Street’s appetite for predictable recurring revenue streams. But from a cultural/mission stand point is there really a clear why there? I get the feeing there isn’t a good, well thought out reason other than Apple has more money than it knows what to do with.
https://www.recode.net/platform/amp...teven-spielberg-amazing-stories-streaming-nbc
If you don’t know why Apple is doing this, then you’re not thinking ahead. You’re boxing your perspective in with how Apple has done things lately and forgetting that Apple has always set the chess game far in advance of moving in.
Apple has been successful because they control the entire experience and optimize each part of that experience to work perfectly as a whole. They make the hardware and also make the software. With computers increasingly becoming entertainment devices — video viewing devices — a new component is becoming critical: content.
Just as Apple makes its own apps and invites others to participate, it needs to do the same with content. Creating its own content sets the bar for other content producers to meet and exceed. It also gives Apple a bargaining chip in a component critical to its success.
If Netflix, Hulu and Amazon control all the primary content, then they control the game and Apple has to play by their rules. If Apple has valuable content, it gains leverage.
An Apple TV service analogous to Apple Music is coming. You’ll pay a membership and gain access to Apple’s exclusive content as well as licensed TV shows and movies. If Apple doesn’t have its own content, it’s at the mercy of the licensees making demands to keep Apple’s service alive. If Apple has desirable content that people will subscribe for, then the licensees have more to gain by jumping on that bandwagon.