For over a decade the computer industry has been wrestling with the concept of Internet TV. While high-speed Internet access and increased bandwidth has made Internet TV a real possibility these days, the biggest stumbling block has been how to transfer TV programming from the family computer, to the family television.
But last September Steve Jobs of Apple claimed to have “cracked the code” and discovered a way to fluidly present television programming via the Internet. Thus “Apple TV was born. Jobs seemed confident enough when unveiling Apple TV last September, claiming that it would revolutionize the way we watch movies and television by providing instant access to programming online.
Fast-forward 14 months into the future, and we now find ourselves heading into the 2007 holiday season — but what on earth happened to Apple TV? It would appear that public interest in Apple TV — or any type of Internet TV — remains very low in the United States. And even though Apple has seemingly gone from success to success with the introduction of the iPod and now the iPhone, it is beginning to look like Apple TV has turned out to be a dud — at least for now.
But in all fairness to Apple, plenty of other computer and media companies have taken on the idea of Internet TV, and so far no one has been able to solve the key technical problems of digital TV delivery via the Internet, much less generate enough consumer interest to warrant further investment in the fledgling technology.
Industry analysts say that the biggest problem facing the concept of Internet TV is that everyone already has cable or satellite service, with access to hundreds of channels at a reasonable price. This makes the idea of delivering television and film programming via the Internet seem unnecessary to many consumers.
For example the Apple TV service is designed to download paid video from the iTunes store. And while there are plenty of popular shows and films available on iTunes, most of the same content is also available from other sources online. Another drawback is that Apple TV does not support high-definition programming — in fact, high def shows are not even offered by the iTunes store.
While the future of Internet TV is still very much in the air, there have been promising developments, mostly by the commercial TV networks distributing their own shows online. Most network programming offered online includes advertisements, so there are no “subscription fees” as with Apple TV.
At the end of the day, the emergence of a greater variety of free TV programming online will likely be the biggest thorn in Apple TV’s side. After all, no one wants to pay for programming that can be found elsewhere online for free.
[...] The partnership with Fox will also have interesting repercussions for Apple TV, Apple’s all but forgotten video Internet service. The fact is, Apple has been so busy redesigning its line of iPods and iPhone’s that it’s downloadable film and video content department has been left behind somewhat this year. [...]
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