With Apple’s recent success addition of online movie and TV downloading features — which allow customers to view their downloaded material on iPod and computer screens — the minds at Apple started brainstorming of ways to take their product to the next level.
News of this product came at a presentation on Sept. 12 in San Francisco, also Webcast on Apple.com, where Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced what he called the “missing piece” to the array of iTunes software.
“This next thing’s a little unusual for us,” Jobs said. “It’s a sneak peek of a new product that will be announced in the first calendar quarter of 2007.”
Jobs said Apple usually waits to reveal up-and-coming products until they’re “ready to ship them,” he decided to make an exception for the new product, which is tentatively named iTV.
“In this case,” Jobs said, “I think it completes the story, so we’ve decided to go ahead and show it.”
iTV connects iTunes software not only to computers and iPods, but will to televisions as well.
Jobs said the iTV box will plug into a conventional television and then wirelessly transfers videos and songs from a Macintosh or Windows computer for viewing on a TV.
THE COMPETITION AND INNOVATION
The iTV, unlike competitors TiVo and WebTV, will have the ability to connect to Apple’s simple and immensely popular iTunes software, allowing users to download full-length movies and TV shows to watch at their leisure.
The iTV will also allow users to watch videos “on-demand.” Although cable companies or recording devices usually provide this service, Apple’s new device will work in conjunction with iTunes’ movie-downloading features to provide the same service, according to a Sept. 12 Apple press release.
Additionally, while the thought of waiting for an entire movie to download may dissuade the typical customer from using this service, the iTV will allow a somewhat stronger incentive: the ability to watch them in a venue outside of your already cluttered computer screen. Also, users will be able to catch up on episodes of shows they missed without paying a monthly subscription for on-demand cable service, or worse yet, buying the entire season on DVD.
TiVo, another formidable competitor to the iTV, can record TV shows as well as download pictures and movies from a computer. However, TiVo cannot access the iTunes Music Store to download studio films and new music.
JUMP ON BOARD
Walt Disney Pictures and its subsidiaries, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Touchstone, have already signed onto the iTV venture. Featured movies on iTunes cost between $9.99 and $14.99, depending on the film’s release date.
“ABC and Disney Channel were the first networks to offer television programming on iTunes, and we’re once again breaking new ground as The Walt Disney Studios becomes the first to debut feature films on the iTunes platform,” President and CEO of the Walt Disney Company Robert Iger said in the press release.
iTunes also provides an incentive for additional television networks and movie studios to share their programming on the Internet for legal downloading.
According to Elizabeth Kaltman, Communications Director for the Motion Picture Association of America, the MPAA works with studios to help bridge the transition into digitally based media. Specifically, Kaltman said iTunes’s new movie-downloading feature will provide users with an accessible way to legally download multimedia.
“We think this is a great product and that’s really important that they are intent against pirating materials,” Kaltman said.
WILL IT CATCH ON?
Given Apple’s revolutionary and chic approach to product design, the iTV should strike a chord with tech-savvy college students. One of the issues with the product, however, is affordability. Apple has made it much easier to download entertainment legally, which comes at a price to consumers. iTunes’ superior reliability and quality have made paying ninety-nine cents per song a justifiable practice. However, BU students can view two student-fare movies in theaters for the price of one $15 new release on iTunes.
School of Management sophomore Christopher Anderson, while admitting he would “probably buy it,” has some gripes about iTV’s association with Apple’s iTunes software.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they continued the trend with [iTunes] and began breaking up movies into ninety-nine cent scenes,” he said. “Why waste 170 minutes on Scarface when you can just download the last scene?”
Anderson’s concerns regarding Apple’s approach to downloading may spread among other members of a cash-strapped student body, especially since the iTV device itself will cost $299, according to Jobs.
Given the success of iTunes, however, Apple may strike gold once again because the iTunes software’s simplicity could entice those less familiar with downloading free movies and shows illegally to become loyal users of its pay service.
Using a television-based interface also allows consumers to prioritize the way they use their purchased entertainment; the iPod allows users to carry their music on the go, while the iTV allows users to watch downloaded videos on the same screen they use to watch conventional TV and movies. iTunes serves as the unifying software for both devices, and alleviates any guilt or suspicion users typically feel when downloading pirated material.
THE AFFECT
The iTV, if successful, will change the way people interact with their televisions, allowing them to use the Internet as an alternative to the video store. How successful the venture will be, though, has yet to be proven.
Apple has only announced that the iTV will be released in 2007, and the company isn’t releasing any details. Apple has not assigned a representative for the iTV product.
What the iTV does offer is an impressive package designed to further expand the iTunes software suite. Students sharing a living space will probably find the iTV useful for displaying each other’s videos in the common room.
The device may serve as a more pragmatic TV add-on than the Xbox or PlayStation, since the content is tailored to individual tastes and organized in a straightforward manner.
While avid couch potatoes might end up paying large sums for their on-demand entertainment, Apple’s comprehensive and sleek new device just might make the experience worth every penny.
Additional reporting by Christina Crapanzano