An article in the San Jose Mercurynews today was all about Wednesday's big Apple event. Yes, it will probably be about new ipods. But there is speculation about a new version of the Apple TV. I don't have one & don't want one. I don't own a mac anyway. But the article did point out one of the problems with entertainment right now. Too many platforms.
What does that mean? It means you have a tv. You have a cable or satellite box. You have a dvd player. Maybe a vcr. Tivo? Roku? A stereo. A game system (xbox, playstation,wii, maybe all 3). Where do you put all this stuff. How many cables hooked up to how many wall plugs or surge protectors. How many remote controls. It's ridiculous.
So a single system would be better. I would like to be able to watch internet based programming on my tv, but it isn't happening any time soon? Why? Because Comcast, Time Warner, Directv & all the others don't want to lose customers. The reason I would like it is because there is stuff online you can't get on your tv. ESPN has on their website stuff like Rugby , Aussie Rules & even European soccer matches not seen here. They have an international channel we don't have access to, but some of that stuff ends up on ESPN 3. In the fall, every college football game carried by the various ESPN channels shows up on ESPN 3, including ones not shown in your area. But no way to put that on your tv.
Apple might want a subscription model like itunes. You know, pay for what you want to see, sort of like on demand. I guarantee you the cable companies don't want that. Notice how hard they fight against ala carte? Think of it, one box, one remote to do what you do now with 5 or 6 remotes.
Yes there is a group of young people who don't have tv's & watch on line. But the choices are limited. Try watching a cable show online. TNT lets you see the first ten minutes. Whoopee. Cable companies routinely get shows removed from sites like Hulu through contract disputes. It 's not a good system. David Letterman's show has been missing from CBS's website for two weeks, & now only 2 episodes are there. So something needs to change. According to a NY Times/CBS News poll 88% of respondents subscribe to cable or satellite, only 15% would consider using something like Hulu. People are creatures of habit. Things will not change overnight.
What does that mean? It means you have a tv. You have a cable or satellite box. You have a dvd player. Maybe a vcr. Tivo? Roku? A stereo. A game system (xbox, playstation,wii, maybe all 3). Where do you put all this stuff. How many cables hooked up to how many wall plugs or surge protectors. How many remote controls. It's ridiculous.
So a single system would be better. I would like to be able to watch internet based programming on my tv, but it isn't happening any time soon? Why? Because Comcast, Time Warner, Directv & all the others don't want to lose customers. The reason I would like it is because there is stuff online you can't get on your tv. ESPN has on their website stuff like Rugby , Aussie Rules & even European soccer matches not seen here. They have an international channel we don't have access to, but some of that stuff ends up on ESPN 3. In the fall, every college football game carried by the various ESPN channels shows up on ESPN 3, including ones not shown in your area. But no way to put that on your tv.
Apple might want a subscription model like itunes. You know, pay for what you want to see, sort of like on demand. I guarantee you the cable companies don't want that. Notice how hard they fight against ala carte? Think of it, one box, one remote to do what you do now with 5 or 6 remotes.
Yes there is a group of young people who don't have tv's & watch on line. But the choices are limited. Try watching a cable show online. TNT lets you see the first ten minutes. Whoopee. Cable companies routinely get shows removed from sites like Hulu through contract disputes. It 's not a good system. David Letterman's show has been missing from CBS's website for two weeks, & now only 2 episodes are there. So something needs to change. According to a NY Times/CBS News poll 88% of respondents subscribe to cable or satellite, only 15% would consider using something like Hulu. People are creatures of habit. Things will not change overnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment