Steve Jobs on an Apple Television: No Need for 'All These Complicated Remote Controls'

[gugy]

I am all for Apple building a better TV experience, I just don't think we actually need a TV set to achieve that.
Better off figuring out a way to make it happen on a $99 ATV box. That could very well be a monster hit for Apple.
An expensive set with an logo on it dons't seem the best way to achieve this.
Also a new content distribution model would be key to a huge success.

 

[rockrigo]

Your arguments are astounding. You have already claimed that things exist that actually don't, and refute anyone who disagrees with you by stating opinions (poor opinions at that) with no reasoning to back them up.
You sir, are a master debator.

graduated from the Rick Perry School of Debate

 

[something3153]

Not as in having such devices in store, No. I will point the obvious next time. Sorry.

When it's a non-Apple product not in stores, isn't it usually called "vaporware"?

 

[KnightWRX]

Funny, because you do that all the time.

Funny, because I recall often providing corrections to people I call wrong. Often with urls and pictures and other supporting evidence.

Maybe you're thinking of someone else. Might want to be a little less insulting too.

 

[AJ Muni]

After reading Isaacson's book about Steve, and learning how much of a visionary he was and how passionate he was, it really hurts me when I see these tidbits leak about future products and how revolutionary they will/may be if Steve was still alive. I'm not being biased, I love apple and I love competition/choices but above all I love technology and it still hurts me to this day that the best innovator/visionary of my lifetime is gone.

 

[something3153]

Their "dream" would be no blu-ray... stream it via iTunes store.

That may be Apple's dream. That may be the dream of many here. Heavily-compressed 720p is not my dream, I assure you.

 

[5450daniel]

Great idea

This is actually a great idea! Its about time someone revolutioned our tv other than put in some tacky 3d effect; who would it better be than apple? Im tired of my television, and all my annoying controls on the remote. Imagine just saying what you want to watch and saying the channel number or channel name? Imagine asking to find a show and adding on to that with time-tables, days its on...as well as being able to record without a dvr! haha, i would really want it, but something tells me it might be expensive. OR, if they want to truly revolutionize television, they have to make it cheap. Mostly every house in America has at least 1-2 television sets, and if everyone buys it, it could truly be a revolution.

 

[scorpsgsxr]

be quite nice for all the channels to come up like favourites in cover flow, and a remote with a scroll wheel like early iPods , all the extra buttons multi function similar to the remote used on apple tv, with a window below with app like icons like an iPhone for all the extra stuff you dont use as much nice and simple.
plus software to talk to any interface plugged into telly bit like a translator.

thats
just what i would like.
everyone has their own way of interacting with things

 

[glap1922]

This is actually a great idea! Its about time someone revolutioned our tv other than put in some tacky 3d effect; who would it better be than apple? Im tired of my television, and all my annoying controls on the remote. Imagine just saying what you want to watch and saying the channel number or channel name? Imagine asking to find a show and adding on to that with time-tables, days its on...as well as being able to record without a dvr! haha, i would really want it, but something tells me it might be expensive. OR, if they want to truly revolutionize television, they have to make it cheap. Mostly every house in America has at least 1-2 television sets, and if everyone buys it, it could truly be a revolution.

It is a great idea, I think the problem comes in the implementation. I don't know of any product on the market, or even in any sort of development stages, that would be able to do anything near this without the need for a supplimental remote, which kind of kills the whole idea of getting rid of a remote.
A product where you can just say your command and the TV can take that and do what you want, without taking normal conversaion and thinking it is a command, without yelling or needing to speak slowly and deliberately? Yeah, that would be awesome. I feel like it could work as is with an updated appletv better than if it was an integrated TV.

 

[kevinfulton.ca]

While there's been some good guessing on here I feel that people are thinking about this all wrong. Everybody seems to be assuming there will be ONLY a Siri interface with no other options and that you NEED to have Channel arrows and numbers. Knowing Jobs his first question to this was "Why? I just want to see what shows are on. Why do I need to know the channel?". It's my guess that you'll see an alternative form of content delivery being used (or even existing delivery methods with a way of controlling set top boxes)where everything is laid out on the screen in the Apple TV menu format. No need to worry about channels. I'm predicting there will be a "Genres", "Networks", "Search" with addition of a "Now Playing" screen. This would do away with complex remotes (they could use the existing Apple remote) and let you go straight to the content you want to watch without having to remember "what channel was that on?". Personally, I would love that!

 

[spazzcat]

The downside with a Siri-enabled TV set is that it would need to be smart enough to realize when you are just talking while the show is going so that it will not do any unexpected commands. I'd also imagine that you'd need a quiet room in order to speak to the TV set. Even with dual-noise canceling microphones it would still be strained.

There would have to be a command word to activate it. The issue with that is if there is an TV Ad on. And they "show" you how it works...

 

[samcraig]

While there's been some good guessing on here I feel that people are thinking about this all wrong. Everybody seems to be assuming there will be ONLY a Siri interface with no other options and that you NEED to have Channel arrows and numbers. Knowing Jobs his first question to this was "Why? I just want to see what shows are on. Why do I need to know the channel?". It's my guess that you'll see an alternative form of content delivery being used (or even existing delivery methods with a way of controlling set top boxes)where everything is laid out on the screen in the Apple TV menu format. No need to worry about channels. I'm predicting there will be a "Genres", "Networks", "Search" with addition of a "Now Playing" screen. This would do away with complex remotes (they could use the existing Apple remote) and let you go straight to the content you want to watch without having to remember "what channel was that on?". Personally, I would love that!

my one issue with that is that I don't always agree with how movies on netflix/itunes are classified.

For example. Is The Muppet Movie a movie musical. Or is it children's?

Is Akira animated or science fiction?

I agree that it would be nice to not have to think about what program was on what channel. On the flip side - I think with this setup - you'd need to also have a "genius" function or how else would you discover new programs that you don't know the titles to or are new?

 

[The Captain]

Apple is slowly going to kill themselves. Well at least for intelligent people, they'll probably be real popular with the general pop though. "There’s no reason you should have all these complicated remote controls.", what the hell is complicated about a remote control?????? How stupid is Apple going to design their products for? I have new a Panasonic plasma (bought for picture quality, not simplicity!) and the remote is clearly labeled, and easy to use. It has MANY functions(complicated?), so I have more control to set up the TV as I see fit. And guess what, I actually had to READ the book that came with it and LEARN how to use it. That's how you better yourself though.

Apple's biggest problem right now is the fundamental fact that complexity=freedom. The more choices I have (complexity), the more freedom I have to customize a device for me personally. This is one big reason the professional community has been in such an uproar with apple products lately. What I want in the future is MORE freedom from my devices and software, not less. Apple seems set though on designing products for the stupidest people among us to use without thinking, all the while marketing to them that they are smart for doing so.

 

[something3153]

You can, of course, already go down to a single remote control if you're willing to give up choices in what's displayed (just a cable box remote, just a TV remote to control basic cable, just an Apple TV). It's bringing a lot of content together that creates the need for a lot of remotes.

 

[kevinfulton.ca]

my one issue with that is that I don't always agree with how movies on netflix/itunes are classified.

For example. Is The Muppet Movie a movie musical. Or is it children's?

Is Akira animated or science fiction?

I agree that it would be nice to not have to think about what program was on what channel. On the flip side - I think with this setup - you'd need to also have a "genius" function or how else would you discover new programs that you don't know the titles to or are new?

Good Points. Don't even get me started on the Netflix classifications. I agree that that is a nightmare! As for the iTunes part, I've been using Apple TV for a number of years and have found that there are movies that appear in multiple categories, but that's always been left up to the publisher. So Akira would show up as BOTH animated AND science fiction.

For the discovering new programs I don't think you quite got my point. That's where you'd go to the "Now Playing" section to see what shows are playing live. Simple! And yes, I'm also hoping they integrate genius. That would be a great feature!

 

[jhende7]

Yeah, leave it to Apple to invent their proprietary solution to something that already exists :

CEC

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Then having these news stories and discussion threads is pointless right ?

We're here to discuss it. Let's try to discuss it and think about ways. But all these people that post "You just don't get it" without even providing ways that do solve the problem are kinda making it hard...

We just have to wait and see. Nobody thought Computers, MP3 players, or phones needed to, or could be simpler or better, but Apple came out and did it. Your not really offering any constructive points to the thread, your kind of covering your ears and yelling "blah blah blah I don't get it, it doesn't make sense"

 

[samcraig]

Apple is slowly going to kill themselves. Well at least for intelligent people, they'll probably be real popular with the general pop though. "There’s no reason you should have all these complicated remote controls.", what the hell is complicated about a remote control?????? How stupid is Apple going to design their products for? I have new a Panasonic plasma (bought for picture quality, not simplicity!) and the remote is clearly labeled, and easy to use. It has MANY functions(complicated?), so I have more control to set up the TV as I see fit. And guess what, I actually had to READ the book that came with it and LEARN how to use it. That's how you better yourself tough.

Apple's biggest problem right now is the fundamental fact that complexity=freedom. The more choices I have (complexity), the more freedom I have to customize a device for me personally. This is one big reason the professional community has been in such an uproar with apple products lately. What I want in the future is MORE freedom from my devices and software, not less. Apple seems set though on designing products for the stupidest people among us to use without thinking, all the while marketing to them that they are smart for doing so.

You're referring to the dumbing down of society which I agree with. As technology becomes more accessible - it's a slippery slope of how best to use these tools and at what sacrifice.

Jobs believed in simplicity. But does that train people to be lazy? I'm not saying it does. I'm just stating a question.

It's great when you can create something that even a child can use. But at the same time - how is that intellectually stimulating for people who are not children?

I'm not suggesting things should be complex and that everyone should be a techie. But having the right skills is important.

That's why I find Steve Jobs such a contradiction. Such a proponent of education and creating smarter minds - but his products also pander/market themselves from his control-freak mentality of not wanting the user to do anything he didn't want them to do.

Perhaps I am not articulating this well. Perhaps I'll get downvoted. As much as I love having easy-to-use devices - there's something to be said about learning how things work.

Steve loved engineers. But with his products, you aren't creating a world of engineers because he didn't want you to tinker with what he made. So how does the next generation of engineers get their training?

my .02

 

[JAT]

Oh, come on.

Philips Pronto
URC MX-500
Harmony (now Logitech)

That is the short version of the most popular remote controls dating back 20 years that destroy any complaint anyone could have about remotes. Guess maybe people should just go get them instead of whining that they don't like the system in place.

I don't see voice command being anywhere near as useful in the near future. Siri is nice, but it's not Star Trek like, yet.

 

[joepunk]

I must be one of the only people that thinks talking to my TV would be a lot more work than just pushing a button on a remote control lol

I'm already talking back to my tv. Don't really need to communicate with it even more. Although, the idea of the tv doing what I tell it to do (instead of the reverse) sounds nice

 

[SiPat]

You won't speak directly to the TV set -- there will still be a one-button remote, with voice recognition capabilities and a screen to confirm your command.

That one button will have SEND engraved on it and using it will be quicker than locating and pressing the buttons on a remote as we know it.

 

[samcraig]

I don't see voice command being anywhere near as useful in the near future. Siri is nice, but it's not Star Trek like, yet.

On that note - it should be said - that the reason why people spoke to computers (and they spoke back) is because it would have been very boring to just see people punch buttons without explaining what they were doing - and if they did explain - they would seem silly explaining what they were doing. It was a device to further the action.

 

[something3153]

You won't speak directly to the TV set -- there will still be a one-button remote, with voice recognition capabilities and a screen to confirm your command.

That one button will have SEND engraved on it and using it will be quicker than locating and pressing the buttons on a remote as we know it.

How will that work with a receiver or a BR player?

 

[samcraig]

You won't speak directly to the TV set -- there will still be a one-button remote, with voice recognition capabilities and a screen to confirm your command.

That one button will have SEND engraved on it and using it will be quicker than locating and pressing the buttons on a remote as we know it.

so how does this solve the "I can't find my remote" problem brought up earlier in the thread. I know it wasn't you - I'm just being a little snarky.

 

[something3153]

so how does this solve the "I can't find my remote" problem brought up earlier in the thread. I know it wasn't you - I'm just being a little snarky.

And come to think of it, how does that solve the "dropping the remote in a glass of beer" problem?

 

[samcraig]

And come to think of it, how does that solve the "dropping the remote in a glass of beer" problem?

Also - will the remote handle voice recognition on the device - or will it be server side? Can you imagine if Apple's servers get clogged up and you can't control your TV?