Apple TV Take 2 – Not So Much – Choice

Posted by Paul Colligan on Saturday, September 4, 2010

I’ve been chewing on the whole Apple TV take 2 thing for a few days now. Despite my Fanboy status, still completely and totally underwhelmed. Here’s why:

  • Netflix on demand but nobody else (Amazon, Vudu, etc.). I can get more choices cheaper with Roku (and won’t always pay $4.99 a stream). Heck there are $99 Blu-ray players with more functionality and you at least get a Blu-ray player (and $1.49 viewings from your local Redbox).
  • Speaking of cheaper with Roku, I can also get a lot more with that little box as well. Have you seen their continuing channel list? Throw in the possibilities Media Fly allows for and the Apple TV is 1/10th the box.
  • Of course I can’t get Hulu or anything like that with Roku but with the coming Boxee box (yes, twice as much) and the recent Plex Announcements (wow, didn’t see what coming), I will continue to watch Hulu on my big screen – despite what the EULAs say.
  • Missed opportunity. Apple TV should have her own app store – it’s as simple as that. Now, for those telling me “it’s coming” I simply ask – and where will those apps be stored – the cloud? Nope. Not in this release of the box.
  • The whole “amateur hour” dig really got to me. Instead of “people want to watch television and Hollywood Movies” (heaven forbid an Indie, Steve) how about “People want to watch what they want to watch and we’re gonna make it easy.“

I know Ed Dale and others tell me this is just step 1 but I’m not seeing it. For a company who wants to “think different” it just smacks of a company rushing to get something on the shelves in time for Christmas.

Your take - fanboy or otherwise?


 
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  • http://www.facebook.com/kenberger Kenneth Berger

    Hopefully Apple TV2 will get more functionality with software updates and new content partners. The platform you buy today “can” do much more.

    But they just might win by selling a lot of them (will help with both above) and they will sell simply as a streaming connection for iOS and OSX. At $99 as an accessory for Mac and iPad users, they could crate a big user base to build on.

  • JamesKatt

    1. Netflix is a perfect match for Apple. Netflix doesn't compete with Apple like Amazon or Vudu, etc.

    2. Hulu is prohibited from showing its content on the big screen. Thus, you are PIRATING their content by using Boxee or Plex. That Apple does not have Hulu just means they are playing by the legal rules, though you don't.

    3. An App store for Apple TV just makes it like a computer – more complicated. As Steve Jobs pointed out, the vast majority of its Apple TV users wanted simplification. THEY DON'T WANT A COMPUTER IN THEIR TV. The Apps are ALREADY on the iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, and Macs. It is only a matter of time when Apps from the others will show up on Apple TV. In fact, I bet that in the near future, Apple TV can show Scrabble on the big screen with each player having their own tiles on their own iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The screen would be driven by an additional iPod Touch or other iOS device. Thus, Apple TV would not need to have its own app store – at all.

    4. The biggest impediment to Apple TV's success and any future plans for Apple TV is that few people bought it. Therefore, there is little incentive for big studios to shop their wares on Apple TV – particularly if it places their own income from Cable TV at risk. Therefore, A SIMPLE TO USE, DIRT CHEAP APPLE TV became the goal. This will be the TROJAN HORSE that gets it into millions of homes. Once Apple has a huge population of Apple TV users, it can go back to the studios and ask for concessions and content, etc. etc.

    All of Apple TV's competitors are FAILURES. Roku is a failure. Google TV is a failure. None of them is a huge hit.

    Apple TV has a chance at success because it is so cheap and is a no-brainer as a purchase. As such it is a great product.

  • paulcolligan

    It “can” do a lot more but the lack of storage cripples her potential. Chicken and egg here. To hope a lot of people buy something that does little so they can one day make it do more is a REALLY bad plan. Apple is better than that.

  • paulcolligan

    James,

    Thanks for putting some time into this response. I'll show the same respect you've shown me here by commenting accordingly:

    1 – Yes, Netflix is the perfect match for Apple – and is by far the best thing about the device. But, it simply isn't enough for the consumer. The consumer has to come first.

    2 – I would argue that my computer screen where my television set used to be is not piracy. I have made my computer monitor my television set because it's a better choice than the tv sets right now. With the (ill fated) Hulu Plus program, we've seen some licensing of Hulu content on the television screen so we also know it's not a case of Hulu prohibiting content on the big screen. It's a licensing issue and one that Apple has chosen not to pursue (or at least, complete).

    3 – You're onto something with the App Store making things more complicated and the Apple TV being a simplicity play. However, if something is too simple to be useful, what have we achieved.

    4 – I totally agree with the theory here. The problem is the implementation. There is not enough in this $99 box to make it a Trojan Horse. Right now I can buy an Apple TV for $99 and get Netflix and 20% of Teleivision and $5 dollar pay per view or I can spend $69 and get Netflix and all Television and payperview from 99 cents up and Baseball and a dozen other channels and and Amazon and an open infrastructure for more.

    And it's the same size ;-)

    Yes, Roku is a failure – the problem is it's a better device than Apple TV is, so what is Apple TV's chances of success? They had to put more into it. They didn't.

    Hence the review.

  • http://www.austinbeeman.com Austin Beeman

    As a video podcaster, did Steve Jobs really mean to offend all of us with the 'amateur hour' quote. Apple TV is a great way to watch video podcasts – Jobs should embrace this not dismiss it. Sounds like he was pandering to the 'big media guys.'

    http://www.austinbeeman.com

  • paulcolligan

    Exactly. And, we can have both can't we? Why slam one side?

  • http://www.dynamicinfoline.com web design bangalore

    Apple Tv is the best of all

  • Anonymous

    How so?