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+--- Thread: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... (/showthread.php?tid=78895)
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - deckeda - 05-31-2009
I can understand how set top boxes could become a harder sell as more and more new TVs have Internet capability, if not hard disks installed.
But as anyone who has lamented ATV's lack of S-video or composite outputs will tell you, it's not new configurations that are a threat, it's lack of configurations for the BAZILLIONS of old-tech TVs that have stymied growth here. The "just buy a friggin' modern TV, already!!" chorus rings hollow, ultimately.
And I think a non-computer TV is "not in their DNA." Can they try something else first, like a $500 netbook?
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Blankity Blank - 05-31-2009
Can't see it. Why would Apple all of the sudden want to jump into this segment of the consumer electronics? It's outside their sphere of expertise; the iPod and iPhone are still as much computer peripherals as they are home electronics. There are a ton of competitors with more experience, better infrastructure, better sources, and a much more dedicated focus. And on top of all that, it's a commodity segment with a much stronger emphasis on price than Apple likes to deal with. And this guy is speculating that Apple, who's not even wet behind the ears in marketing home electronics, is going to jump in and grab 10% of the flat panel TV market? That sounds like the definition of a pipe dream.
I can maybe see some type of relatively small screened (compared to the 40"+ screens that appear to be the bulk of flat panel TV models), 32-36" hybrid computer/TV device that would be more akin to a Bang and Olufsen prestige niche product than a consumer grade flat panel TV. But I'd be surprised if that had much more success than the 20th Anniversary Mac, and I'd still wonder what Apple's motivation would be in releasing such a product.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Black - 05-31-2009
This is a well-written article-- the author makes some strong points that haven't been very well refuted in this thread (so far).
Particularly the last one-- suddenly you have that futuristic, computer centered house we know from so much 60s science fiction, where a call, image or text comes in on your iPhone and you say "on screen" and it pops up on your home's main screen . . .
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Filliam H. Muffman - 05-31-2009
Black wrote:
This is a well-written article-- the author makes some strong points that haven't been very well refuted in this thread (so far).
Particularly the last one-- suddenly you have that futuristic, computer centered house we know from so much 60s science fiction, where a call, image or text comes in on your iPhone and you say "on screen" and it pops up on your home's main screen . . .
Strong points? More like people do not want to wade through the BS to bother ripping it apart. They failed with the Apple TV. My prediction is that I expect the marketing department to once again force a similar set of landmines on the engineering team which will limit adoption by people not already using iTunes for their low quality HD (only 720p) content.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Bimwad - 05-31-2009
Well-written? Not really.
A lot of wishful thinking and day dreaming.
Aside from all the logical business arguments presented here, his "punch line" is that an Apple TV would specifically be aimed at expanding the iPhone universe? The one where most of the apps are games, location-based assistants or other widgets?
The killer app for a television is always going to be video content, whether broadcast, streamed, or played back from another medium. Jobs has made his feelings about the passive "idiot box" aspect of television well known.
It's not using widgets to get stock quotes, the weather, or locate the closest restaurant, gas station, or public transit stop is from one's current location, nor making phone calls or texting. Though admittedly crude, the widgets included with TVs now wouldn't be any more useful even if they were actually executed properly.
If he meant the iTunes universe, he should have written it that way. Or a TV integrated with an ATV or DVR as alluded to early on. His tangent is wishful at best, and nonsensical for the near or even the distant term.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Forrest - 05-31-2009
>>Strong points? More like people do not want to wade through the BS to bother ripping it apart. They failed with the Apple TV. My prediction is that I expect the marketing department to once again force a similar set of landmines on the engineering team which will limit adoption by people not already using iTunes for their low quality HD (only 720p) content.
The AppleTV is the best selling streaming HD device on the market, and 720p is the highest resolution broadcast HD video available.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Black - 05-31-2009
Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
They failed with the Apple TV.
Non-market domination (=) failure.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Black - 05-31-2009
Bimwad wrote:
The killer app for a television is always going to be video content, whether broadcast, streamed, or played back from another medium. Jobs has made his feelings about the passive "idiot box" aspect of television well known.
It's not using widgets to get stock quotes, the weather, or locate the closest restaurant, gas station, or public transit stop is from one's current location, nor making phone calls or texting. Though admittedly crude, the widgets included with TVs now wouldn't be any more useful even if they were actually executed properly.
.
Wow, you can be a real bimwad sometimes :-)
In addition to all these uses, it would also function as (drumroll . . .)
a TV!
Good reminder of why I usually avoid rumors threads-- someone always grabs onto one point and passionately discounts all other possibilities to try to drive it home. More fun when it's about something, like N. Korea or health care reform.
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Filliam H. Muffman - 05-31-2009
>>The AppleTV is the best selling streaming HD device on the market, and 720p is the highest resolution broadcast HD video available.
It is leader in a small market. I don't know where you live but the broadcast channels in my area have 1080i content listed and DIRECTV says they are broadcasting content in 1080p.
http://cbs5.com/pressreleases/CBS.5.KPIX.2.646723.html
"In addition to the 30 local hours of HD programming, most of the CBS primetime schedule along with "The Young and the Restless" in daytime and "Late Show with David Letterman" at night are broadcast in full 1080i HD."
Re: apple make a TV? sounds crazy to me but... - Seacrest - 05-31-2009
I speculated about this YEARS ago during some Macworld Stevenote thread.
I think this was even before AppleTV came out.