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Seeking Nerdvana Apple iTV to reap what Amazon, TiVo and Wal-mart sow
Seeking Nerdvana Apple iTV to reap what Amazon, TiVo and Wal-mart sow | Apple iTV to reap what Amazon, TiVo and Wal-mart sow |
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| by Adam Turner | |
| Friday, 09 February 2007 | |
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Page 2 of 2 Another source of content is the direct downloads offered by the major television networks, such as NBC in the US and the UK's BBC. Even Australia's ABC is about to put more content online as part of its New Media overhaul. Some "old media" outlets are foolish enough to design their own custom players, but end users don't want yet another piece of software to struggle with. Most TV networks are user-friendly enough to let their content play in standard players. If their content will play in QuickTime then chances are you'll be able to watch it on your television via the iTV.Television networks aside, I'd say Amazon's deal with TiVo - letting TiVo owners play videos downloaded from Amazon on their televisions - is a master stroke. It's two household names joining forces, Amazon picking up a large install base of users and TiVo pickups up Amazon's massive customer base. When the dust settles, expect Amazon/TiVo to be one of those still standing. The future of the Wal-mart video download service is less certain. Mainstream users are not going to be content to watch movies on the small computer monitor in the study while the big television in the lounge room sits idle - especially once they see how easy products like iTV make it to watch such content on your television. Those buying movies from the BitTorrent online store will face the same problem, but I'd say BitTorrent users more likely to know other ways to get video from the PC to the TV than Wal-mart shoppers are. People don't want to have to buy dedicated hardware just to watch computer files on their television. This is the advantage Amazon has with TiVo - people already own the hardware. This is the struggle Microsoft faces with its Media Centre boxes. Most people don't want a PC in their lounge room, and even Microsoft realises this so it lets people use an Xbox 360 to play Media Centre content on a television. Meanwhile the humble video store will survive thanks to the introduction of high definition Blu-ray and HD DVD movies, which will be too big to download via the internet and not worth downloading in a compressed format. As with the iPod, it appears Apple has timed its entry into the market perfectly, although perhaps the iTV announcement is what drove the competition to stake their claim early. While the iPod swept away the competition, the iTV clearly has a harder fight on its hands. Early players have watched what the internet did to the music industry and hopefully learn lessons from the success of the iPod and iTunes. They need to bug in, because the iTV fire storm is coming. Few will survive.{moscomment}
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