The problem with streaming video to your television is not the technology. Apple TV is today’s case-in-point. Walt Mossberg:
I’ve been testing the new Apple TV, including trying out AirPlay using various devices, and found that it performs as advertised. It has a clean, easy interface, does a great job of streaming content from your own computers, and it allows you to rent TV shows at just 99 cents an episode. It’s even almost invisible next to your TV—a 4-inch-square black box less than an inch tall. And setup is easy.
The problem is that content owners haven’t sorted out their business model:
[E]ven within Apple’s own iTunes service, which is Apple TV’s source for a la carte rental of TV shows and movies, the content is limited. For its 99-cent TV show rentals, the device mainly offers programs from ABC, Disney, Fox, PBS and the BBC. If your favorite show is on NBC, CBS or many other networks, you can’t rent it on Apple TV, nor can you get to the Web to view it. Alas, even within those networks, some of the programs are old and I couldn’t find some popular shows, like “Modern Family” on ABC or “American Idol” on Fox. (Fox, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.)
You can still buy TV shows from the excluded networks, or shows unavailable for rental, on your computers and stream them to the TV via Apple TV, but that is a more complicated process.
Apple claims the largest selection of high-definition movies online, and says many are available the same day they appear on DVD. Movie rentals start at $2.99 for standard-definition versions and $3.99 for high definition, though many are $4.99. Both movies and TV shows can be kept for 30 days, but, once you start playing them, the clock starts on a short window before they expire. In the case of movies, the window is 24 hours; for TV shows, it’s 48 hours. You can pause and resume, or watch them repeatedly, within those windows.
Apple ported music over from CD to download. Can it port video from broadcast/cablecast to streaming? One challenge is that the content owners aren’t thrilled with the way things went down in the music industry. It will be interesting to watch how that sorts out. Another challenge is the technology. It’s clear Apple’s got that covered.
But still another challenge is how do we, you and me, move from a media consumption model based on “channels” that organize television programming by “timeslot” (primetime, daytime, latenight) to an “appointment programming” (Nick Denton’s phrase) model based on iTunes. (The Google iTunes has yet to emerge; Winamp wants to be a contender.)
Quoting William Gibson’s famous phrase, “The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.” Apple’s done the best job of more evenly distributing the future. From Apple it goes mainstream (iPod, iPhone, iPad). Apple’s architecture is ready to move us from the “channel” model to the yet-to-be named iTunes (podcast?) model. (Carrying the analogy further, Netflix is the first pay-cable network.)
Expect the next step in that move to be revealed in Apple’s next big media event (possibly MacWorld in January?) And don’t be surprised if it involves the huge new data center in Maiden, NC. Until then, I’m going to go ahead and buy the $99 Apple TV for Christmas.