Simple is Better: The New Apple TV is Here
Yesterday, Apple announced it would be putting a new product on the market: Apple TV. I believe Apple has listened to the customers this time. Consumers want a simple device to connect to their TV that supports HD, is able to run Netflix out of the box, all for under $100. We may have to wait a couple of weeks to buy the new Apple TV, but it promises to be a major improvement over the previous version.
Hopefully this time, the government agencies do not step up to “protect” obsolete and inefficient cable and satellite TV companies yelling for their “monopolies.” The industry is famous for technical problems, clumsy customer support (remember Comcast?) and is often pretty expensive. As with the music industry, TV is about to change.
In Europe most people still use broadcast TV; now with Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) I can watch 30+ channels in Madrid for free, including CNN and the Disney Channel (Spain version, of course). In the US to watch something different from C-SPAN or the local news you need to hook up cable or satellite. The average cost for any household is over $40/month, plus renting the cable boxes and pay-per-view movies.
The Internet can change all that: Apart from Apple, other companies like Roku are offering Internet TV solutions, and several TV manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and Philips are shipping TVs with Internet connectivity. The cost of delivering video over the Internet, using Digital Compression similar to DTT, is a fraction of using cable or satellite.
If you are a couch potato and want to shuffle around 200+ channels (most of them TV shopping) you better pay your $40+ /month and keep your cable. If you are busy and just want to watch your favorite show, a recent movie or a good documentary, get an Internet TV Box and save some money. I don't believe in everything Apple does, but the Apple TV product is going to change the market.
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