Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple TV
The future of television is really the present
Editor's Note: There has been a lot of speculation around the future of Apple TV, even though Apple has called it a "hobby" for now. There has also been an extraordinary amount of speculation around an Apple-branded tablet device. Josh Doody has a background in technology, with undergraduate degrees in Computer and Electrical Engineering, experience in engineering, product management and development, and is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Florida. Here are his thoughts surrounding the Apple TV and a possible Apple tablet computer.
In David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest," he frequently refers to a device called a "Teleputer" (television-computer) or "TP" for short. The TP is high-def, fancy, online and pretty much ubiquitous. Wallace's vision of a TP was probably influenced by that wonky invention called "WebTV," which supremely sucked and mostly served to frustrate people and make them wonder what good the Internet was anyway.
Wallace was essentially spot-on regarding the Teleputer, and several signs point to Apple gearing up for another foray into mainstream must-have technology that will flip the script on television as we know it. Many publications, bloggers and users continue to speculate about Apple's plans for the future. But Apple's foray into two technologies that have been languishing in technological purgatory is more than just coincidence. Taken individually, these technologies will build on the Apple empire, but together they will change the way people consume TV shows, movies and video games.
The Teleputer's older sibling -– Apple TV -– is starting to disappear without much explanation from Apple. However, Steve Jobs and company might be reinventing a new Apple TV (NATV) that is awesome and game-changing, even though it appears to be recycling decade-old ideas and assimilating other ideas old and new. The iPod re-imagined how we consume music. The iPhone re-imagined how we communicate and what it means to be "Online." The New Apple TV will re-imagine how we consume all media.
What is the NATV? It's a TV. It's a DVR. It's a Wi-Fi/ethernet enabled ready-to-go-online, hi-def, Apple-OS-using TV. That might sound a lot like Apple TV, but Apple TV was really just a way for Apple to sell its wares on iTunes. The NATV will be ready to stream hi-def video and audio content directly to your house in two years -– also known as the year Apple turned TV on its head.
Specifically, Apple will be selling subscriptions to sites like Hulu and ABC.com -– which will have to come up with a catchy new name like Hulu, because ABC.com sounds dissonant and lame. Apple will sell subscriptions to these sites a la carte, much like North American cable providers refuse to do today.
Note to Comcast and Cablevision: Apple is coming for you and they're going to pillage market share just like they did in the mobile phone markets. HBO, Showtime, Starz and others will work with Apple to provide an NATV version of Video On Demand (VoD) that makes the cable companies' offering look like a Zune in an iPod world.
The result will be a television that only needs an Internet connection to show viewers all the HD goodness they can handle. Even better, users will get to choose which pieces of goodness they want to handle and pay for it piece by piece – though Apple will also certainly offer packages similar to what cable providers offer today.
Why is this so awesome? Well, first it allows viewers to get away from the cable monopoly and open up the market to a purer form of competition. Purer form could mean "any new form because the cable companies frequently have local monopolies." If Apple can work with content providers to offer VoD pricing options, then so can Philips, Sony and Vizio. Competition is good for consumers because it drives prices down. This paradigm shift will change the way viewers think of DVR. Primetime will become the time when the cool new stuff is ready to watch online.
That's just the first of two technologies that Apple is "coincidentally" moving into. It's a duo of new technologies that will be the ultimate game-changer. The other technology is the Tablet. Bloggers have been speculating that Apple will start producing Tablets for several years. But as the technology begins to come to fruition, it's time to start considering why Apple is finally considering Tablets.
The reason that Tablets haven't yet become mainstream is that nobody really knows what they're for. Many people have been obsessed with Tablets for years, and they spend considerable time showing off the "writing recognition" and that feature where you can turn the screen backwards, flip it down, hide the keyboard and write on it. But why pay $2,000 for an electronic clipboard that's only somewhat reliable?
Apple has the answer: That's not what Tablets are for! They're for controlling peripherals, typing on virtual keyboards and managing media. They're for surfing the Web, listening to music and watching movies on the go. They're for media and entertainment, and maybe when users are done playing, they'll have business applications as well.
With all of this in mind, it's time to talk about the iPhone app that might be the coolest unused and under-hyped app out there: Remote. For the uninitiated, Remote is essentially an iTunes controller that runs from the iPhone over Wi-Fi to control an instance of iTunes on a Mac on the same network.
So what does Remote mean for NATV and Tablets? If Apple can write an app to control iTunes on a Mac, they can certainly write an app for iTablet to control an NATV and its native DVR. Note to TiVo: If this NATV thing works out, you're going to have a lot more trouble on your hands than competing with the crummy DVRs that cable companies are churning out. The Remote app for iTablet could also control an Apple media center or interface with Netflix VoD.
While your iTablet is talking to your NATV, you'll be making a killer playlist of your favorite movies for your next roadtrip. You'll wonder how you used to get long with the little 3-inch screen on your iPhone because what could be a better portable movie player than a tablet-sized HD gadget? Of course, the iTablet will hold all of your music, too. And it will be one of the best portable gaming platforms ever.
The iTablet will open doors to more cool stuff that those hinky, expensive universal remotes with giant LCD screens have been trying to do for years. The iTablet will make watching TV, listening to music, and gaming easy and fun. Even if the functionality of the iTablet mirrors that of the best universal remotes on the market, the Apple User Experience will make the iTablet superior.
But it's clear based on past performance that Apple has no interest in simply matching the functionality of previous gadgets. This company is about making old functionality look primitive and silly in ways that force new competitors to play Apple's game to the benefit of consumers everywhere.
In the sci-fi flicks, people tell their computers what to do, and the computers almost always oblige. Apple has already broken ground with Voice Control on the iPhone 3GS, and Voice Control will be a major feature of the iTablet. In a couple years, an iTablet user will say: "Play movie Big Lebowski," and his NATV will turn on with one of the best movies of all time. Later, he'll say: "Play artist Phoenix," and his Apple Amp will turn on and a dance party will break out in his living room.
Users can look forward to streaming "The Office" on Hulu from their NATVs via their iTablets in the next couple of years. Gadgets are cool, and new technology is even cooler.
Ten years ago, many people started getting rid of their landlines in favor of mobile phones. Five years from now, we'll all be choosing our "cable" options from an a la carte menu on our NATVs, and we'll only need wires to bring the Internet tubes into our homes. Five years after that, we'll all be using WiMax or another ubiquitous high-speed wireless Internet provider. We'll be wondering why we ever had all those wires for phone, DSL, cable or Internet. Our bathroom reading will be eBooks bought on our fifth-generation iTablets. The iTablet will be the ultimate eReader on the market. Note to Kindle: Never mind, they know what's coming. Apple is changing the game. Again. Competitors, eat your hearts out. Consumers, rejoice.
The future of television is really the present
By Josh Doody
By Josh Doody
In David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest," he frequently refers to a device called a "Teleputer" (television-computer) or "TP" for short. The TP is high-def, fancy, online and pretty much ubiquitous. Wallace's vision of a TP was probably influenced by that wonky invention called "WebTV," which supremely sucked and mostly served to frustrate people and make them wonder what good the Internet was anyway.
Wallace was essentially spot-on regarding the Teleputer, and several signs point to Apple gearing up for another foray into mainstream must-have technology that will flip the script on television as we know it. Many publications, bloggers and users continue to speculate about Apple's plans for the future. But Apple's foray into two technologies that have been languishing in technological purgatory is more than just coincidence. Taken individually, these technologies will build on the Apple empire, but together they will change the way people consume TV shows, movies and video games.
The Teleputer's older sibling -– Apple TV -– is starting to disappear without much explanation from Apple. However, Steve Jobs and company might be reinventing a new Apple TV (NATV) that is awesome and game-changing, even though it appears to be recycling decade-old ideas and assimilating other ideas old and new. The iPod re-imagined how we consume music. The iPhone re-imagined how we communicate and what it means to be "Online." The New Apple TV will re-imagine how we consume all media.
What is the NATV? It's a TV. It's a DVR. It's a Wi-Fi/ethernet enabled ready-to-go-online, hi-def, Apple-OS-using TV. That might sound a lot like Apple TV, but Apple TV was really just a way for Apple to sell its wares on iTunes. The NATV will be ready to stream hi-def video and audio content directly to your house in two years -– also known as the year Apple turned TV on its head.
Specifically, Apple will be selling subscriptions to sites like Hulu and ABC.com -– which will have to come up with a catchy new name like Hulu, because ABC.com sounds dissonant and lame. Apple will sell subscriptions to these sites a la carte, much like North American cable providers refuse to do today.
Note to Comcast and Cablevision: Apple is coming for you and they're going to pillage market share just like they did in the mobile phone markets. HBO, Showtime, Starz and others will work with Apple to provide an NATV version of Video On Demand (VoD) that makes the cable companies' offering look like a Zune in an iPod world.
The result will be a television that only needs an Internet connection to show viewers all the HD goodness they can handle. Even better, users will get to choose which pieces of goodness they want to handle and pay for it piece by piece – though Apple will also certainly offer packages similar to what cable providers offer today.
Why is this so awesome? Well, first it allows viewers to get away from the cable monopoly and open up the market to a purer form of competition. Purer form could mean "any new form because the cable companies frequently have local monopolies." If Apple can work with content providers to offer VoD pricing options, then so can Philips, Sony and Vizio. Competition is good for consumers because it drives prices down. This paradigm shift will change the way viewers think of DVR. Primetime will become the time when the cool new stuff is ready to watch online.
That's just the first of two technologies that Apple is "coincidentally" moving into. It's a duo of new technologies that will be the ultimate game-changer. The other technology is the Tablet. Bloggers have been speculating that Apple will start producing Tablets for several years. But as the technology begins to come to fruition, it's time to start considering why Apple is finally considering Tablets.
The reason that Tablets haven't yet become mainstream is that nobody really knows what they're for. Many people have been obsessed with Tablets for years, and they spend considerable time showing off the "writing recognition" and that feature where you can turn the screen backwards, flip it down, hide the keyboard and write on it. But why pay $2,000 for an electronic clipboard that's only somewhat reliable?
Apple has the answer: That's not what Tablets are for! They're for controlling peripherals, typing on virtual keyboards and managing media. They're for surfing the Web, listening to music and watching movies on the go. They're for media and entertainment, and maybe when users are done playing, they'll have business applications as well.
With all of this in mind, it's time to talk about the iPhone app that might be the coolest unused and under-hyped app out there: Remote. For the uninitiated, Remote is essentially an iTunes controller that runs from the iPhone over Wi-Fi to control an instance of iTunes on a Mac on the same network.
So what does Remote mean for NATV and Tablets? If Apple can write an app to control iTunes on a Mac, they can certainly write an app for iTablet to control an NATV and its native DVR. Note to TiVo: If this NATV thing works out, you're going to have a lot more trouble on your hands than competing with the crummy DVRs that cable companies are churning out. The Remote app for iTablet could also control an Apple media center or interface with Netflix VoD.
While your iTablet is talking to your NATV, you'll be making a killer playlist of your favorite movies for your next roadtrip. You'll wonder how you used to get long with the little 3-inch screen on your iPhone because what could be a better portable movie player than a tablet-sized HD gadget? Of course, the iTablet will hold all of your music, too. And it will be one of the best portable gaming platforms ever.
The iTablet will open doors to more cool stuff that those hinky, expensive universal remotes with giant LCD screens have been trying to do for years. The iTablet will make watching TV, listening to music, and gaming easy and fun. Even if the functionality of the iTablet mirrors that of the best universal remotes on the market, the Apple User Experience will make the iTablet superior.
But it's clear based on past performance that Apple has no interest in simply matching the functionality of previous gadgets. This company is about making old functionality look primitive and silly in ways that force new competitors to play Apple's game to the benefit of consumers everywhere.
In the sci-fi flicks, people tell their computers what to do, and the computers almost always oblige. Apple has already broken ground with Voice Control on the iPhone 3GS, and Voice Control will be a major feature of the iTablet. In a couple years, an iTablet user will say: "Play movie Big Lebowski," and his NATV will turn on with one of the best movies of all time. Later, he'll say: "Play artist Phoenix," and his Apple Amp will turn on and a dance party will break out in his living room.
Users can look forward to streaming "The Office" on Hulu from their NATVs via their iTablets in the next couple of years. Gadgets are cool, and new technology is even cooler.
Ten years ago, many people started getting rid of their landlines in favor of mobile phones. Five years from now, we'll all be choosing our "cable" options from an a la carte menu on our NATVs, and we'll only need wires to bring the Internet tubes into our homes. Five years after that, we'll all be using WiMax or another ubiquitous high-speed wireless Internet provider. We'll be wondering why we ever had all those wires for phone, DSL, cable or Internet. Our bathroom reading will be eBooks bought on our fifth-generation iTablets. The iTablet will be the ultimate eReader on the market. Note to Kindle: Never mind, they know what's coming. Apple is changing the game. Again. Competitors, eat your hearts out. Consumers, rejoice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
THJ said 3:26PM on 10-13-2009
As long as the TV can be patched with XBMC, they can do whatever they want with it (though native avi and mkv would be nice).
Reply
Rich said 3:28PM on 10-13-2009
Please don't invent vanity acronyms. It makes you look like a twit.
Reply
Joanna D said 3:35PM on 10-13-2009
Apple is already way, way behind on this one to a company called Sony.
Their PlayStation 3 can play DVDs, it can play music CDs and it can play Blu Ray discs (remember, a fraction of the world population have an internet connection capable of delivering true HD content - 1080p at bitrates of 30-40Mbps).
Not only that but Sony provides free access to music videos (how much does Apple want every time you decide to watch a three minute clip?) and the console can pause, rewind and record live TV using an add on which costs less than $100 (and then no subscriptions after that).
Then there are the games. A huge library of next generation titles which take advantage of your HDTV. Downloadable add ons and a friends list, voice chat and video chat (with the extra camera).
Of course, PS3 does everything AppleTV does as well. It has a store where you can buy content in the same way as you suggest in this article, but it also has a web browser which gives it access to movie and TV streaming sites like BBC iPlayer and YouTube. You can copy content to the internal hard disc, which can be easily upgraded using any standard 2.5" laptop drive. No putty knife required.
And by copy content, I mean REALLY copy content. It has a USB port which you can connect your hard drive or memory stick to and copy straight from there or you can copy from an optical disc or copy over your home network.
And the price premium that Sony charges over Apple's machine? $100. I'd say it would be money well spent for anyone considering an Apple TV.
Reply
Joanna D said 3:36PM on 10-13-2009
Sorry, I just checked the US pricing. The difference is actually only $70 - $229 for Apple TV and $299 for PS3.
Sparks said 4:02PM on 10-13-2009
In fairness, however, the PS3 does not have as many video formats supported as I'd like. I'm into indie filmmaking, and if I download someone's new film from their site or off of Vimeo, chances are better than half that the PS3 won't play the file out-of-box, requiring me to convert things (which, for HD content, is an *incredibly slow* process even on a Mac Pro) before I watch them.
Similarly, while I can buy/rent videos out of the Playstation Store, I cannot do Hulu (at least, not without a third-party proxying system on my PC, like PlayOn, and not without some performance issues) or similar streaming services. The same issues hold true for my Xbox 360, as well, though the 360 does have support for Netflix's Watch It Now, which is nice.
And of course, there's TiVo. You can rent/buy videos from Amazon's Video on Demand service on your TiVo, or do Netflix, etc. Much harder to play your own videos, of course.
In contrast the AppleTV can, in theory, be modified (and much more easily than the other two) to play many more formats out there, and to support Hulu or other services via Boxee or Plex, etc.
Admittedly, I don't see enough value in the AppleTV to own one -- the PS3, Xbox 360 and TiVo do fine for me right now -- but if someone came out with an all-in-one box that did Netflix, Hulu et al, Amazon VoD, full iTunes integration, pull media off of a thumb drive or DVDs, and so on? I would seriously consider buying one and using that as the primary 'media box,' rather than my current haphazard system of just watching videos on whichever game system or DVR most suits the format.
So a next-generation Apple TV with support for those services might not be a bad thing!
JoaoCP said 7:23AM on 10-14-2009
@Sparks: Instead of converting files to PS3, try to stream them with the PS3 Media Server ( http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com ).
Chuck McGinley said 8:35AM on 10-14-2009
Meh.
I own both. PS3 and Apple TV. PS3 is wonderful, but it is not a true network peer. Why cant I print wirelessly or over ethernet for that matter) from it? Why can't it connect to network shares? When I see that then I'll believe Sony's really in the "one device to rule them all" game. Right now it is a game machine and blu-ray. Nothing more. Get rid of the sneaker net Sony!!
Dion said 3:43PM on 10-13-2009
I was hoping Apple would release an "all you can watch" service for AppleTV. I would definitely ditch my DirecTV service if I could watch any show or movie offered in iTunes via my AppleTV. This is a service Apple could easily charge $50-$75 per month for. This would only be attractive if all of the studios made new release movies and current tv shows available via iTunes. Many people will not want to wait days, weeks or months to finally watch that episode of How I Met Your Mother. If Apple can find a way to convice the studios to allow this, I would be all over it like a bum on a ham sandwich! I do agree with the author, though.....Apple has something up their sleeves and it will definitely be another game changer. I can't wait to see what it'll be!
Reply
Dion said 3:44PM on 10-13-2009
Yeah, but Sony doesn't have a good model or reputation of delivering media the way Apple does. I'm sure if Apple releases something in this area, it will incorporate Blu-Ray, it's current app store (for games and such) along with it's huge catalog of movies, music and tv shows. Oh and they also have their own OS and web browser that trumps the PS3's. Regardless, it's all pretty exciting just thinking about the different options we may have soon!
Reply
LD said 3:53PM on 10-13-2009
This talks a lot about how the cable companies should watch out. However, Comcast might buy NBC (part of Hulu). Time Warner owns, well, TIme Warner cable and the largest chunk of programming. Cablevision is owned by Rainbow which at least has some of its own channels (IFC, We, Sundance, AMC, and others).
The cable companies are buying up the content providers just for this very reason. How can Apple compete with that? Cable companies can simply refuse to license their content, or make the cost of high-speed prohibitively high compared to bundling cable+internet.
Apple would need a new method to provide the high-speed connection required, be it through 4G, WiMax, or some other method.
I think this article is pie in the sky dreaming.
Reply
jgoullaud said 4:05PM on 10-13-2009
I really hope they don't do an actual TV! While it would be a great TV, a lot of people have recently upgraded to HDTVs and won't buy a new TV for 6-8+ years. Give me a STB with HDMI that I can use with any HDTV.
Reply
Tired_ said 3:55PM on 10-13-2009
Sorry, you lost me at 'selling subscriptions to Hulu'.
Reply
Michael Godfrey said 3:58PM on 10-13-2009
I am a fan of the AppleTV, it simply is a great product. Not only can I stream my archived DVD collection and enable HULU on it, but combined with an Elgato EyeTV Hybrid, it simply is the best device on my tv stand, well not counting the 360. I am a gadget head and have it all, PS3, 360, wii apple tv etc and I find that me and the wife are constantly using this things, so much that I now have 2. The PS3 is an over-glorified DVD player, and physical media is dieing! If Netflix didn't send them to me, I'd never touch them. Now if I could get Apple to add native Hulu and Netflix streaming, I'd be set!
Reply
L3 said 3:58PM on 10-13-2009
OMG OMG OMG
I am really excited!!!
bring it! Gimmie gimmie gimmie!
Reply
Andrew said 4:04PM on 10-13-2009
This does seem a little too optimistic and smacks of fanboyism.
I love Apple as much as the next reader, but the 1.0 versions of nearly everything they do these days is not very good.
So this rumored "iTablet" (horrible name), if it does cost what it is rumored to cost, I sure hope it's more than a remote control. Apple is smarter than that.
I'll believe it all when I see it, and I'll wait til the next revision to buy it.
As for the cable companies - there's too many millions invested from all of them to have anything game-changing happen so fast. It's why we won't see electric cars for another 20 years because we're still giving oil companies hand jobs under the table.
Reply
Kevin said 7:07PM on 10-13-2009
More than a remote control? Of course.
It will be a picture frame, a web browser, a portable HD media player, an color eBook reader (with 3D animated illustrations!), a musical instrument, an encyclopedia, a compass, a level, an interactive sightseeing guide, a videophone, an augmented reality portal, a sign to hold up if you're a limo driver picking up a businessman at the airport, and so much more.
You may be thinking, "I'm not paying $XXX for a picture frame." Well, neither would I, unless it also did all those other things....and so much more.
PonTelon said 4:10PM on 10-13-2009
Tablets will never replace eBook readers because they won't be an eInk screen. The entire reason eBook readers were being invented was because people could not stare at a computer screen for hours on end reading. They will definately replace everyday website reading, but just as people typically don't read novels on their computer, they would not with a non-eInk screen.
And all of those "revolutionary" ideas you bring up are already in other products. Of course, the iPod was not the first mp3 player. Apple does a great job putting technologies together in a manageable and palatable way to most users.
I sincerely hope your predictions about TV and Tablet are true though. I've wanted a really well made tablet for a long while.
Reply
sgillila said 4:10PM on 10-13-2009
It appears that the author had definitely imbibed some of the Apple kool-aid before writing this. That said, Apple is a proven game change (in my mind at least) so if anyone can pull something like this off it would be them. I'm also a bit of an Apple fan boy, so I guess that should be taken into account when considering my faith in them :-)
Reply
wesman said 4:16PM on 10-13-2009
I am waiting for the Comp-Vision-Phone before upgrading.
Reply
Chris Leither said 4:16PM on 10-13-2009
Mhh... interesting article...
Truth is... LG is manufacturing 32" and 50" LCD panels for an undisclosed Apple device right now which is in some prototype state as of today. (If said device would go mass market the production of said panels would shift to Chinese facilities though).
So this article might actually contain some very true bits...
Reply