Apple re-invented TV!

Something like this title we could see if Steve Jobs was still alive. But it did not work out.

However, as was the case with many other things - Jobs was aware of them long before the majority began to think about them at all. Back in 1998, the American genius was already pondering on how to solve the fundamental problems of television.


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In this , without a doubt, terrible video quality, Jobs with evil enthusiasm says something like: “Television is fake, the best selling product for consumers of the last ten years is PC - and we want to combine them. I spent enough time working with Pixar and Disney to understand the simple truth: people watch TV only to relax. Did you think that television networks across America staged a big conspiracy to dull the population of this country? No, they give people exactly what people themselves want! Television today for many - a place where they turn off the brain. A PC is the place where they turn it on. I don't think these two types of media will make friends. But they can mutually influence each other. ”

Paraphrasing Chancellor Gorchakov: Jobs is not angry, Jobs focuses - the product of his thoughts was Apple TV (presented to the venerable public on the same day as the iPhone). True, the sales of the first version (worth $ 299) did not make the company particularly happy, but the head of Apple never hoped for the commercial success of this venture. Moreover, at the D: All Things Digital conference in 2007, he called the project of a digital multimedia player nothing more than a hobby. A year later, he, however, recognized a partial file: “Nobody has ever been able to do this. We tried Apple TV, which was created to be an accessory for iTunes and a computer. However, this was not what people want. And people want a movie-movie-movie. " And he made Apple TV a device for renting movies - but the sales results in 2008 still did not allow to consider the project as something more than just a “hobby”. Analysts saw the problem not in the quality of the resulting product (it was, as usual, very good), but in the conservatism of the industry and the initially strong positions of traditional players - but the company’s management didn’t add optimism, of course.



So much so that in February of 2010, at a meeting with investors, Tim Cook said: “We have no interest in expanding our presence on the TV market: it’s just smaller than the market for mobile phones, tablets and computers.” Then, however, he cautiously added that they would continue to invest in the project because “we don’t have a feeling that there’s something in there, because Apple TV has a small circle of users - which means they also have that feeling” .

At the next All Things D conference, Jobs gave a very inspiring speech , the essence of which is this: “The problem with innovation on TV is mainly in the market strategy. Today, the TV industry is based on a receiver, which is provided free of charge or for $ 10 monthly - and this seriously undermines any innovative mood, because no one wants to buy a receiver in such conditions. Ask TiVo, Replay TV, Roku, Vudu, Google - yes ask us in the end. Sony tried, panasoniki too. The result is one for all. Again, there is the problem of infrastructure: there is no single operator all over the planet, in each country they have their own. So when we got up to choose 'Smartphone or TV?' we chose a smartphone. The main reason is not technology, but market conditions that are stronger than us. ” But even this did not stop Apple.

After some time, the company introduced a new Apple TV for only $ 99. Jobs explained that he had learned in 4 years of experimentation: “Users want more Hollywood, low prices, HD, and do not want communication with a computer. They already have a computer, and they have TV strictly for entertainment - they don’t want to mix these two types of technology. And yes - they also want applications and consoles to be quiet, stable and smart. ” And after this release, sales went up, and Apple TV has ceased to be a hobby, and has become a business.

Now Jobs is no longer alive, but the company is successfully developing. And so, in August, rumors of Apple’s contacts with cable TV providers began. A skeptical person will say that without Jobs' genius, Apple’s breakthrough on TV will not be the result of good software or good hardware, but the result of a good deal. Some believe that the company negotiates with content producers (ESPN, HBO and Viacom, for example) to create applications for Apple television. This approach has its advantages - many channels are not needed, only a few very good ones are needed. On the other hand, the user will have to pay quite a lot of money (Apple TV + Internet, yeah), because the top cable players are unlikely to want to transfer their technology and customers to Apple. But before the official announcements, all this is just a theoretical conclusion. Moreover, the situation with Apple TV baffles even the most competent analysts.



For three years now, his wife, Munster, has been telling everyone that Apple is preparing to release their own TV and every year his words are not confirmed. But this year, Munster said that Apple’s official suppliers began to supply the company with the parts needed to produce widescreen TVs. He said that the market was already “ripe”: according to the results of the survey conducted by him, about 50% of American users would like Apple to organize their own TV. This is indirectly indicated by the success of Netflix, Hulu and HBO GO applications. What is significant, all respondents indicated that they would like to receive the content of interest as quickly and easily as possible. This echoes the views of the late founder of Apple.

In Jobs’s biography, written by Isaacson, there is a small fragment that says (alas, and the remaining unrealized) Jobs’s idea of ​​creating “the simplest TV interface” in the world that “would make all manipulations with TV minimal”. It is not unlikely that the company is preparing something very interesting in this area, based on the ideas and best practices of Jobs.

Something like this seemed to solve the problems of TV one of the most brilliant minds of the IT industry. What do you think: will Apple succeed in entering the TV market or not?

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/202694/