A thought on iTV.

[tagliatelle]

Am I the only one here who thinks the iTV (under whatever name they do decide to call it) will actually be a really awesome and useful product for a lot of people - and a good move for Apple as well?

I know from your personal messages to me that you are writing in reality "Steve keeps your Mickey Mouse.". I have seen Pirates of the Caribian on television. The acting was soo irealistic that this is typical Apple. At least the girl in the movie was nice.

[AhhChoo]

I know from your personal messages to me that you are writing in reality "Steve keeps your Mickey Mouse.". I have seen Pirates of the Caribian on television. The acting was soo irealistic that this is typical Apple. At least the girl in the movie was nice.

Please stop sending me personal messages. I am no longer a chinese laundry, although I still charge big money for brainwashing. You might want to consider a prefrontal lobotomy; I can do it for you at a 20% discount.
(I empathize for the tragic loss of your mind but, I'm convinced, as time goes by you'll realize that you're far better off without it)
If you need someone to feed your demons while you're away in a parallel universe, let me know. A speedball a day keeps them fat and sassy, you know.
Well, ciao for now pussycat. A suicide bomber blew up our outhouse so I've got to go order a Port-a-Potty, pronto.

[fryke]

Erh... Okay, back on topic... I've already offered my view on "iTV" in another thread. What we've already _heard_ about it, I think it's not worth the price. Question is whether there's more to it that Apple hasn't talked about yet. Will it have a harddrive, any recording capability, double as a WiFi router like the AirPort Express does etc. We just don't know yet.

Of _course_ there's no lawsuit, btw. - There's *no* Apple product called iTV. There was only an announcement that Apple will introduce a product they internally currently call iTV - and they _said_ this was not the final name. I personally think it'd be a bad name, anyway. It's not a TV, it's a settop-box. I guess they'll come up with something. "AirPort Video" would not be too wrong in my opinion.

[mindbend]

Boy, I have to say after reading these posts that the majority here simply do not get it. Symphonix seems to be the only one who got it right. Granted, the iTV may not be for everyone, but for a lot of us it fits the bill perfectly. I can't wait to get mine.

Here's why. I've got my main computer in my den. That's where I want to keep everything because that's the machine I use most (although I roam the house with a laptop and have iPods). I have my central library of music and videos and iPhoto slide shows. Now how do I view view or listen to that content?

I can just use that computer, but I really hate sitting in front of a computer watching videos or listening to music. It's not exactly sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

I can manually move that content to an iPod, but then I have to move the iPod to where I want it, hook it up, back and forth. No thanks, but it's fine in a pinch.

I could use a Mac mini or similar as a dedicated media player. Not too bad, but then you've got to babysit the mini. How do get files to it? You can push or pull them over the network or download them directly, but then you've really just got a full fledged computer instead of a media player. I don't want to be mousing around with a device next to my TV or shoving files to it from a machine in the other room. Not to mention the video output limitations.

Enter the iTV. I'm putting one in every room. Yeah it's a bit pricey, but think about what you're getting. You're paying for CONVENIENCE. That's the entire point. The iTV is the access point to my media library. And from any TV in the house, I'm a remote control click away from all of it. Now THAT's what I've been waiting for. Thank you iTV.

iTV won't explode like the iPod, mostly because it will be a Mac only thing I assume (at least for a while). But I guarantee you, for its audience, it's perfect. Now if Apple can just get their movie library a lot bigger and 720P or better, we'll be good to go.

(Side note, Apple clearly stated that iTV is a placeholder name).

[symphonix]

Originally Posted by Thank The Cheese

My fundamental issue with iTV and iTV-like devices is that you still need to have a computer on in the other room. ... it just didn't seem right to have an entire computer on so that I can sit in front of the TV.

You're not crazy, Thank The Cheese, this is exactly right. This is another point that Apple are grappling with at the moment, and have been for the past ten years. Everything anybody has been saying about computers since the appearance of the fax-modem in the late eighties has been "wow, now I can use my computer to do x, but only if I leave it running. And I hate leaving my computer running just for a simple little task like that."

Thinking about it, I can name a hundred things that people would like to use their home computers for, if only it didn't mean leaving a noisy, humming power-draining box running 24/7. For instance:
* BitTorrent
* Answering Machine / Fax machine
* Videophone
* "Dashboard" style quick-access reference and calculation widgets.
* Personal file server / web server / media centre
* Downloading podcasts, etc.

So, on one side you've got all these great things you could use your computer for, and on the other the fact that it just isn't convenient to do it all the time because computers - even in this day and age - are still disruptive.

This is what Apple was talking about back in 1999 when Jobs was describing the "Media Hub" surrounded by more specialised devices. The iPod and iTunes is just a hint at where they are trying to get to. Airport Express was another step in that direction. And the iTV is the next step. Some other technologies also feature in this progression, such as Bonjour and XGrid.

What comes after this, though, is quieter, more specialised devices to act purely as "workhorse" computers that will not be disruptive AT ALL. We'll leave them behind the TV cabinet or under a desk, they'll have no fans and silent hard-drives, and no bright LEDs to disturb our sleep.

How we'll use these systems of the future will evolve as well. I'm very excited about e-ink displays. Now picture a home ten years from now with a couple of these "workhorse" systems in a kitchen cupboard holding all your movies, music and other media. Now picture yourself reading yourself to sleep at night with the latest novel from your favourite author on a tiny, 4mm thick e-ink device with wi-fi capability. And then, in the morning, you pick it up and the morning newspaper is already there, downloaded by the workhorse computers in the depth of the night, and sent by wi-fi or bluetooth to your e-Ink reader. You read the paper over breakfast, then get dressed and cleaned up and climb into your car, which has retrieved some music overnight by syncing with your iTunes library. As you start up, it checks the traffic reports courtesy of your home network and will warn you of any potential worries.

Perhaps we'd do well to ask why the iPod has been such a runaway success. Lots of competitors were out there. Sony seemed to be putting out a new technology every year throughout the nineties: DAT tape, Minidisc, NetMD - and none of them hit. The reason wasn't because the technology was inadequate, it was because none of these new technologies was being applied in a way that allowed new, smarter ways of doing things. The iPod and iTunes were designed to change the way people actually used their media, and as a result it was a hit.

Does anyone else remember Apple's "Knowledge Navigator" video from 1985ish? The one thing that sticks out in that video for me now isn't the human-language interface - its the fact that at the end of it, when the man says "Oh well, I'm off to lecture the next class" he leaves this brilliant, helpful device sitting on his desk rather than taking it with him. Nowadays, thats hard to believe. But in 1985, we still didn't really have laptops or cellphones, so we hadn't even started to think like that.

I think we're still at one of those embryonic stages - we're looking at a technology that is emerging and we aren't quite seeing yet what it will lead to. When we bag out the iTV and say "come on, who would want something like that?" we sound just like those guys who, in 1980, said "What would ordinary people want with a computer?", or in 2001 said "This iPod thing is just a gimmicky, over-priced device and we already have the Creative Nomad". At least Apple seems to be the only IT company out there willing to take steps forward, again and again, to explore how we use technology.

[karavite]

Anyone see 60 Minutes last night, they had the founder and CEO of Netflix on and mentioned Apple getting into movies with "iTV." Netflix is gambling that snail mail delivery has a bit of lifespan left to it, but accessing movies on the network seems the obvious way to go here. Netflix is also working on that. I say Apple is well positioned to make this happen and the iTV or whatever it is called has to come out. They won't be the only ones. Some day I would love an iTunes like search interface for all movies - everyone else's search blows.

Any way, I can see the technology working, but what about price? 99 cents is fine for a song, but if apple charges 5, 10 or more for a movie, it just isn't worth it. Do you think they would ever offer a subscription model like Netflix? That's what would get me on board (and I have been using Netflix for many years).

Oh, if iTV is trademarked, how about "iTube" or iVision or iDiotBox? :-)

[eric2006]

Originally Posted by karavite

Any way, I can see the technology working, but what about price? 99 cents is fine for a song, but if apple charges 5, 10 or more for a movie, it just isn't worth it. Do you think they would ever offer a subscription model like Netflix? That's what would get me on board (and I have been using Netflix for many years).

It's actually not much for a movie, but people are comfortable paying more for a DVD because they can use it. With a digital movie, they can play it on their iPod, or computer, or, after much setup, perhaps on their TV. An iTV device would effectively replace a DVD, because it's faster than going out and buying a DVD, it's cheaper, it works on every video player in the house - not just the TV, and is about the same quality.
Another thing is that you're buying the movie, not renting it, so it seems expensive compared to a rental (though I'm not sure if we really want some hellish DRM scheme to make movies rentable..)

[symphonix]

Originally Posted by karavite

Oh, if iTV is trademarked, how about "iTube" or iVision or iDiotBox? :-)

I like the sound of "iVision". In general, though, I'm sick of the "iProduct" naming scheme. Its been abused so much its becoming a joke. Ten years ago it was clever, now its time to let it fade out with a little dignity.