because Cable Cards suck and DVR are on the way out. I used to think Tivo would be a good acquisition but no it's about streaming commercial free on tap when you want it....not DVR a bunch of commercials along with your content.
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Steve Jobs on an Apple Television Set: 'I Finally Cracked It'
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because Cable Cards suck and DVR are on the way out. I used to think Tivo would be a good acquisition but no it's about streaming commercial free on tap when you want it....not DVR a bunch of commercials along with your content.
I can just see it now.
Rather than being able to watch TV for free (other than paying the license fee) and being free to record what I want, I'm given the option to spend money buying "series passes".
Nah. My living room is a cluster**** of devices but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have a great;
DVD/DVR player
Bluray, iPlayer and console (PS3)
XVID player and console (Xbox)
Local multiplayer-centric console (Wii)
Region-free DVD player
Sky box (which you're free to take away)
They all do more than what a TV can do, in terms of media consumption all doors are open to me. Unless you're planning on launching a TV with built in bluray, freeview HD, 3 consoles etc.
One word (I think!); 1080p.
Rather than being able to watch TV for free (other than paying the license fee) and being free to record what I want, I'm given the option to spend money buying "series passes".
Nah. My living room is a cluster**** of devices but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have a great;
DVD/DVR player
Bluray, iPlayer and console (PS3)
XVID player and console (Xbox)
Local multiplayer-centric console (Wii)
Region-free DVD player
Sky box (which you're free to take away)
They all do more than what a TV can do, in terms of media consumption all doors are open to me. Unless you're planning on launching a TV with built in bluray, freeview HD, 3 consoles etc.
One word (I think!); 1080p.
TV a la carte is never going to happen. Ever. Not next year, not in 50 years, not the year TV gets replaced by something else. It is far from a new idea and its just never going to be an option. Why would Apple make a product around an impossibility?
Yeah, we all know what Apple think about ports to plug other peoples devices into their products.
Well they will need a hard drive in the TV to start with to freeze/record live TV.
I know it's very different in the States.
In the UK Apple would need to get Sky or Virgin media on-board as they are the only two main players, apart from FreeView which all TV's come with now built in.
And you would still need to pay for a TV Licence to watch any live TV
A la carte isn't all the necessary but affordable subscriptions are. I'd rather see shows described by points.
HBO - 10 pts
Lifetime- 4 pts
ESPN - 6 pts
Then all we'd have to do is say subscribe, no contract, to packages based on these points. So if i'm willing to pay $30 for 20 points worth of programming I can divide these up by the shows I'm interested in and not what Comcast or Time Warner has negotiated.
Maybe it's going to be a bridge device that allows pass-through of your cable or satellite service into the UI of Apple TV, meaning your existing tv service will now become an app inside iOS
I like Apple TV but barely use it because there is this disconnect between it and normal tv. People like having tv on in the background all the time, when I switch to apple tv it's to perform a function; TiVo is just there, all day long. Imagine iOS in the center of your home, all the time like tv functions now, but with all the possibilities afforded by the app store. It will probably be his greatest achievement.
I like Apple TV but barely use it because there is this disconnect between it and normal tv. People like having tv on in the background all the time, when I switch to apple tv it's to perform a function; TiVo is just there, all day long. Imagine iOS in the center of your home, all the time like tv functions now, but with all the possibilities afforded by the app store. It will probably be his greatest achievement.
Because NFL Sunday Ticket still requires you KEEP DirecTV. The Apple solution should be independant of Cable/Sat.
But that's been said it will never be allowed to happen, in the UK anyway.
Let's face it, most of the population are low brow, and would only pay for low brow programs. That's the reason given for a TV Licence as it means there is still money available for a higher quality content to be produced.
The Cable industry has done everything to make CableCards fail. They want you to rent their boxes and not buy a box on your own. This is why Apple (and others like Google) have had such a hard time breaking into this business. Cable/Sat/FioS providers have made sure that the end-point is proprietary so Apple/Google/etc. can't leverage their content and network.
The best solution is an IPTV solution running over the Internet like iTunes for Music. But the studios won't give Apple what they want: A la carte control over the content.
It's kinda obvious how Jobs solved this riddle.
All he's going to do is combine his "hobby" and television together: AppleTV integrated with a TV and with access to iCloud and the iTunes library you have yourself a TV not dependent on any cable providers.
All he's going to do is combine his "hobby" and television together: AppleTV integrated with a TV and with access to iCloud and the iTunes library you have yourself a TV not dependent on any cable providers.
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but it seems like you're not. TV a la carte already exists. One example is the TV show offerings available on the Apple TV (and please, people, stop using the phrase "Apple TV" to describe some imaginary LCD TV that Apple may or may not design...the "Apple TV" already exists and is for sale today...it's a little black hockey puck styled box available for $99).
Back to the person I'm replying to...A la carte TV programming is already available. There are several networks that aren't on board, the pricing is not ideal (IMO), and there's no NFL live viewing (yet).
As for the NFL...Sony already made a deal with the NFL to offer that on the Playstation, and I don't see why Apple couldn't do the same. But it's not cheap and isn't sold on a per-team or per-game basis. It's one big enchilda for about $340 for the season, and local games are blacked out, leaving you still dependent on, at the very least, an OTA antenna.
Its impossible, any form of a la carte will never fly with mega companies like Viacom and Disney who are set on doing package deals. Viacom will ONLY let providers use a channel like Nickelodean if they also pay for a dozen more of their channels.
TV providers have been trying to separate ESPN and regular programming for decades because ESPN takes up a huge chunk of your cable bill, but Disney owns ESPN and they wont allow their other channels to be included if they dont also pay for ESPN.
TV channels are owned by too few mega media companies for a la carte to ever exist.
Obviously Im talking about channels. By your definition "tv a la carte" was available on VHS back in the 90s when shows started being sold in box sets. Buying shows on disc is not "tv", when people think of tv they think of live broadcast channels.
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This is exactly what Ive been wanting. Showtime Access/App: 9.99 per month, AMC: 4.99, IFC: 3.99, Nick JR: 3.99...etc. Major stations like Fox/CBS/ABC could be free with a new ads system (ala Hulu). We would have exactly what we want, pay less, and networks would make more money.
(I HIGHLY doubt COX gives AMC/etc $5.00 of my monthly bill.)
Todd
That's your perspective and you're right. But the Music industry still thinks it got ripped off and the TV/Movie industry doesn't want to cease control to Apple. Better to die a slow death by Torrent and other black market access, I guess?
You don't get it.
They replace "live" TV with streaming.
You want to watch the office? Well you don't record it on your DVR, you fire up your NBC app and play away.
I wouldn't. I haven't watched TV in over a decade and don't miss it. And I certainly wouldn't want another device that ties me into Apple's closed pay-for-everything-repeatedly ecosystem.
Anyway. I love movies and my computers have been doing a great job playing them for me over the last decade.
Really. I was thinking of buying a Sony because the picture quality is nice. But I'm looking at all that weird internet stuff they pack in and I just want to pitch it all.
A souped-up Apple TV could do all of these things. Stream movies(DVD/BluRay gone), play iOS games (Xbox/PS3/Wii gone), Stream TV shows (Cable/Sat gone). The trick is to get the studios to play along and charge something less than what Cable/Sat charge.
The holy grail is to have one box (Apple TV), maybe built-in to a TV set, that can do all of this. The technology to do it is here today. The only reason it hasn't happened yet is because of the entrenched players holding on for dear life.
However, Cable/Sat companies are slowly losing customers to IPTV (Hulu, Netflix, iTunes) just like AT&T/Verizon lost landline customers to cell and VoIP. They will have to adapt or die. Notice, they are all trying to provide THEIR content on iPads and iPhones (Sling, Nomad, etc.) so people don't switch completely.
Everything should be available through one pipe in your house, the Internet.
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At current prices, this would be more expensive than a monthly Cable/Sat bill. And what about live broadcasts?
I hope Apple buys a content company (Disney/ABC?) so they can show the world how it could be done.
Yeah, I have this now with Virgin Media in the UK.
They stream video to me.
The selection is of course only a small snapshot of the whole channels that are out there as they cannot stream every single TV program to every single user at the same time.
It can't be paid for "as you go" as many people, esp pensioners leave the TV on either all day or at least all evening, so it has to be a flat rate payment, and not pay as you go.