Thursday, May 31, 2007
Apple TV finally gets it
Item today at smartbrief.com:
Apple to stream YouTube to TVs
Apple said Wednesday that starting in June its Apple TV device would be able to wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube onto customers' TVs. With the free software upgrade, YouTube members will be able to log on to the Web portal from their televisions. Apple also addressed some of the early criticisms of Apple TV by offering a new model today that quadruples the storage capacity.
Well, it's looks as if Apple finally gets it -- if only to resuscitate a troubled product. As I predicted in another blog message, this is the future of TV. No longer will viewers be limited by the number of broadcast or cable signals, because the web will create unlimited TV clips. Make no mistake, people's attention spans will shrink to match the shorter format.
Not until these devices are automatically included in TV sets or the equipment supplied by multichannel providers will this revolution take place. Six years ago, TiVo was in 3 percent of homes and no one cared. Now DVRs, mostly from multichannel providers, are in 17 percent of homes and the number is growing daily. Even TiVo made money this year, despite a shrinking subscription base. Soon Comcast will offer bona fide Tivo service to DVR owners who only think they know how much fun a DVR is.
Apple to stream YouTube to TVs
Apple said Wednesday that starting in June its Apple TV device would be able to wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube onto customers' TVs. With the free software upgrade, YouTube members will be able to log on to the Web portal from their televisions. Apple also addressed some of the early criticisms of Apple TV by offering a new model today that quadruples the storage capacity.
Well, it's looks as if Apple finally gets it -- if only to resuscitate a troubled product. As I predicted in another blog message, this is the future of TV. No longer will viewers be limited by the number of broadcast or cable signals, because the web will create unlimited TV clips. Make no mistake, people's attention spans will shrink to match the shorter format.
Not until these devices are automatically included in TV sets or the equipment supplied by multichannel providers will this revolution take place. Six years ago, TiVo was in 3 percent of homes and no one cared. Now DVRs, mostly from multichannel providers, are in 17 percent of homes and the number is growing daily. Even TiVo made money this year, despite a shrinking subscription base. Soon Comcast will offer bona fide Tivo service to DVR owners who only think they know how much fun a DVR is.
