“Apple TV ships. Will it be the key to unlock convergence?”

Apple TV started shipping on March 20 and already it is being hacked to become the machine everyone wants it to be. The hacks so far are tweaking it so to play other codec-formatted video like DivX. Now mind you when you hack any Apple product, it may do what you want but good luck getting any tech support for it afterwards.



This is surely purposely designed for Apple to continue it proprietary use of it’s related products like iTunes movie and television show purchases. Of course you can also play music on your surround sound theater system (from your iTunes music library) but there is so much other content that people want to watch it’s too bad that its being hacked to work that way instead of shipping with that support built in. Maybe future versions will offer other formats but I’m sure that they are pushing the iTunes store products and trying to monopolize the market.


In some ways you can’t knock them for trying to dominate though.


On the other hand I’m sure that the future models of iPods will be better only because the Zune was created. Many mac fans love to hate the Zune but will have to admit that competition will only make their favorite gadget better.

But back to Apple TV. I think that this product will ride the iPod hype and sell tons. We will be time-shifting our media to watch previously aired programs and catch up on the latest Brothers and Sisters show or see the Apprentice boardroom firing. VCRs were, and still are so prolific because they were a time shifting tool. Had re-writeable DVD players been easiler to use they probably would have been more popular but now PVRs and DIY versions of them are becoming much more common.

So what will be different about Apple TV? Well first and foremost is that it’s connected, and in some ways, driven by the hottest new thing for the past two decades, the Internet. People love to have access to it and Apple TV connects it to our other favorite toy, the television.



Apple TV could be a key to unlock the convergence between the television viewing experience and Internet content consumption.

The critical point between Apple TV and the Internet is control. Now the user is not locked into schedules or network programming. They can surf and find the content they were once viewing on their laptops and desktop computers, on their TV. Combine this with trademark cool Apple design and you have a hit. Well maybe a real hit when you hack it a bit so you can watch your favorite YouTube videos for hours, but I’m not promoting that. Kinda, but not really.

CM
www.cmcreative.ca