Sacrifices
Updated iPods, including an incredibly tiny Shuffle, the expected movie store, and an early showing of a set-top box. It can only be Apple announcement day.
The two interesting parts are the movie store and the set top box (known only at the moment by it’s code name iTV). The store because Disney are the only studio involved (unlike Amazon who have everyone apart from Disney), not because Apple didn’t try and get anyone else, but because they refused to bow to studio pressure to set the store up in a particular way. This obviously wouldn’t be the normal way things would be done, Amazon made their business deals, just like Microsoft would do, by letting themselves be dictated to. But because Apple have Steve Jobs, who also just happens to be Disney’s largest single shareholder, he’s able to start with them without making too many sacrifices. This is the kind of head start that should allow Apple to show all the other studios what they’re missing out on, and they’ll sign up just as quickly as they’ve done with their television shows.
The introduction of the iTV will put Apple on a very different course from a lot of the other set-top box manufacturers, because they’re making no effort to turn it into a PVR. This won’t be recording your television, if you want to watch a programme, you’ll buy it from the iTunes store (probably while sitting on your couch holding your remote) and watch it that way, or you’ll subscribe to a whole season and get it delivered ad-free. Or perhaps ad-supported, but still delivered over the net.
They’ve managed to create tools for all the steps of the chain, from production and editing software like Motion and Final Cut Pro, to the iTunes store for delivery and the iTV and iPod for display. Independent television production will no doubt explode in popularity as people realise there’s no reason why they can’t compete with the big networks. Apple are about to create a television revolution in a way you’d never have thought possible, and all you need is a Mac.
