Ex Apple TV Engineer: New Apple TV UI is actually one Jobs threw away years ago
9to5mac.com
9to5mac.com
The well-known comment in the Jobs biography tipped their hand about a further commitment to TV. Literally everybody I've talked to about it balks at the idea of a full-on Apple tv set. That it's too murky, too much tangling with cable providers. Too much competition with existing set makers without the ability to really revolutionize the form-factor like cell phones. That instead they'd just give you a box that you can plug into an existing TV to make it good.
But Jobs (and Apple) have always been about "the whole widget." Moreover, they have a lot of experience building really great large displays.
Besides, TVs need it now. So-called "Smart" IP tv's are the future. TV's already have Apps. And the experience sucks because Samsung, LG, Sony, etc, are not in the business of making first-class software products. I believe the line where steve said he'd "finally cracked it." Because a lot of us I'm sure can see the rough outline of a product there. Let it run iOS. Let me remote control it with my other iOS devices. Let me integrate iTunes/etc in a first-class way. The murky part is: How exactly do you deal with existing cable content. Can I add HBO West to my home screen like an "app" right alongside the HBO Go app? That integration of these 2 side-by-side systems of content delivery (Cable and Internet) is the detail that I think needs to be "cracked." How great would it be to see this product emerge as posthumous part of Jobs' legacy..
The current Apple TV exists as a low cost way of encouraging people to buy movies from iTunes. There's no way they'd get rid of that.
Apple has a history of simple product lines. Supposing apple did release a tv, how would it make any sense to have a product called "AppleTV" that isn't a tv? Maybe you're right, but I stand by my own estimation.
And I'll explain why. Just like Apple had to support Windows with their product lines, an Apple TV has to support other TVs. People like to forget that the first iPod didn't support Windows. Also consider that AppleTVs do their part in helping to sell devices. Right now, it's $99 to buy a device to extend the usefulness of my other devices. If we turn that around and I had to spend $2000 for a full blown TV just to put pictures up there? Yeah, not going to happen.
Can they release a TV? Of course! Will they rid themselves of the Apple TV as it stands? No.
On a side note: > Apple has said before that they break even from iTunes. iTunes exists as a low cost way for them to sell more devices.
Yes. And remove iTunes from the picture and the whole ecosystem there, and see how many iPhones or iPods they sell. People buy these devices because of iTunes.
They might want to keep the box around for the same reason there is a Mac mini (or they are still selling the iPhone 3GS and the iPad 2): To offer a low-priced entry point. They might also kill it because it clutters their product line. Or because it would be too cheap compared to a full-blown TV and everyone might just go with it instead of the TV.
OK, now make the "TV" a monitor, perhaps with an HDMI input for the cable box.
Half the price and a larger screen?
I am reminded of years ago getting into an argument with the Apple fanatic on my staff (he was my net eng at lockheed) and I was saying that it was a certainty that apple was moving to Intel. He swore up and down this would never happen, that it was the stupidest idea he had ever heard and Apple would never leave the PowerPC platform...
I know Apple doesn't have a history of big cash acquisitions, so take this comment with a big grain of salt.
My guess was that they were going to use that big pile of cash to buy in to the cable business, either by purchasing a premium television network like HBO, or by buying a cable provider. I dont know how realistic that is, but what if?
Not sure who you're talking to but within the CE industry this sentiment is reversed, almost everyone believes Apple is making a TV. It was expected at CES and perhaps as a surprise at the March event.
Apple is know for not getting into the medium(cd,dvd,bluray) market. They see the TV as a Medium itself, much like the way they seen the CD,DVD etc .
But making the deals with content providers to create that environment is going to be astonishingly difficult. These are companies responsible for messes like http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones , along with the recent removals of films from Netflix by Starz. They love their monopoly on content and would likely be terrified to death by the concept of giving up control to Apple.
He assembled a good crew of people who are going to do some things different (e.g. charity contributions). Some of the things might have been left as "notes / advise" by Steve Jobs in his last days and some might be new thinking. We won't really know the whole story.
Apple changes every day is the only constant.
This sort of public R&D isn't what Apple normally does but I think the challenge of building this product requires it. They need to soften the ground a bit. Of course other companies are working on the same things which helps too. People are comfortable with IPTV services. Current residential broadband can keep up fairly well with good 1080P video. The more SmartPhones and tablets sold the closer we are to ditching a dinky multi-button remote control in favor of multi-touch control. The integration with the cloud for re-downloading content and interconnecting different devices solves a ton of usability problems. Step by step each one of these changes are laying the groundwork for something bigger.
Steve Jobs mad numerous false calls over the years. He can be wrong, you know.
You can buy a wii game for £40 or almost 80 59p silly games on the Apple tv... and using iphones / ipod touches as an additional controller...
http://firemint.com/2011/guide-to-setting-up-airplay-and-par...
If Steve Jobs had his way keyboards would have no arrow keys.
I'm glad my Mac has arrow keys :)
They should take the next step, let me exile the stuff I never use and bump up the size of the stuff I do use, or open an App ecosystem and let me add more stuff that I do want to use.
Unrelated speculation: The Apple TV has been repeatedly characterized as a "hobby" by Apple. I'm sure they'd love to distribute all major TV and movie content, but they can't get the content owners in line. But what happens now if they do get the content owners to agree to the business model of being paid by happy consumers? The Apple brand is so aglow, and the cost of the AppleTV unit so low, that the demand could go from near zero to internet crushing levels in a matter of weeks. They may have lost the luxury of a controlled ramp up.
I don't know if the new UI took care of that problem, but coupled with the remote (clearly a case of aesthetics chosen of utility), I found the entire experience to be decidedly less enjoyable than any other living room interface - XBox360, PS3, or any cable set top box.
The bar is very high for Apple products. The iPod killed the CD player. The iPhone revolutionized the phone market. But the Apple TV? It's yet to cause much disruption.