Horace Dediu and Guy English join Moisés to look at the rallying forces in the arms race for content. Does Apple have too well-entrenched a lead? How will their gaming strategy compete with traditional consoles? How and why would they make a TV set?
The first hour or so wasn't too informative - just the important
point that each country has its own restrictive content-distribution
rules, so it will be hard to disrupt broadcast or cable TV with one
instantaneous product announcement.
But it got
very interesting, starting just after 1:12:00, when Guy suggested that
every TV should support airplay, I guess as a built-in feature, rather
than via connecting an Apple TV. (Airplay is the thing Horace mentioned
as the obscure feature that the user has to discover, isn't it? )
So auto manufacturers are
implementing a bi-directional Airplay-like connection with iPhones ...
it makes sense that TV manufacturers would too. Would they anticipate a
rush of orders from customers driven to early replacement of their existing TVs? Would they fear losing that market if their competitors released the feature first?
I
liked the history lessons, eg CE manufacturers who got massively
disrupted by iPods. How come no one mentioned the analogy of podcasting
when discussing future TV disruptions?
That might lead to an
interesting competitive analysis between Google and Apple. Google has
hardware, YouTube and some very small companions; Apple has its hadware, a podcast "store",
PLUS iTunes University, music, video, and App Stores. (I guess Amazon might be a potential contender too ... ) Who is in a better
position to disrupt the television industry?
jbwales ·
I guess this is the dilemma. Should Apple take a significant share of the large screen HDTV market by incorporating their Airplay technology into a range of Apple HDTVs? Or should they allow HDTV manufacturers to build Airplay into their own TV's, this further enhancing the desirability of Apple Airplay enabled mobile devices and computers?
Bruce_Mc ·
I don't think this has to be an either/or decision. In the podcast Apple's displays were mentioned. The aren't a big profit center for Apple, but I think they serve two other purposes. First, they are a reward for the dedicated Apple customer. Second, at times over the years they have helped define the high end of the display industry - keeping pressure the other manufacturers to improve their own displays.
A TV from Apple could serve the same two purposes. I do think it would be a dumb panel that is designed to be used with the existing Apple TV product. The comments about all of the different cable and broadcast systems in the world being distasteful to Apple made a lot of sense to me. Just another "bag of hurt" to be avoided by Apple.
3 comments
Andrew ·
The first hour or so wasn't too informative - just the important point that each country has its own restrictive content-distribution rules, so it will be hard to disrupt broadcast or cable TV with one instantaneous product announcement.
But it got very interesting, starting just after 1:12:00, when Guy suggested that every TV should support airplay, I guess as a built-in feature, rather than via connecting an Apple TV. (Airplay is the thing Horace mentioned as the obscure feature that the user has to discover, isn't it? )
So auto manufacturers are implementing a bi-directional Airplay-like connection with iPhones ... it makes sense that TV manufacturers would too. Would they anticipate a rush of orders from customers driven to early replacement of their existing TVs? Would they fear losing that market if their competitors released the feature first?
I liked the history lessons, eg CE manufacturers who got massively disrupted by iPods. How come no one mentioned the analogy of podcasting when discussing future TV disruptions?
That might lead to an interesting competitive analysis between Google and Apple. Google has hardware, YouTube and some very small companions; Apple has its hadware, a podcast "store", PLUS iTunes University, music, video, and App Stores. (I guess Amazon might be a potential contender too ... ) Who is in a better position to disrupt the television industry?
jbwales ·
I guess this is the dilemma. Should Apple take a significant share of the large screen HDTV market by incorporating their Airplay technology into a range of Apple HDTVs? Or should they allow HDTV manufacturers to build Airplay into their own TV's, this further enhancing the desirability of Apple Airplay enabled mobile devices and computers?
Bruce_Mc ·
I don't think this has to be an either/or decision. In the podcast Apple's displays were mentioned. The aren't a big profit center for Apple, but I think they serve two other purposes. First, they are a reward for the dedicated Apple customer. Second, at times over the years they have helped define the high end of the display industry - keeping pressure the other manufacturers to improve their own displays.
A TV from Apple could serve the same two purposes. I do think it would be a dumb panel that is designed to be used with the existing Apple TV product. The comments about all of the different cable and broadcast systems in the world being distasteful to Apple made a lot of sense to me. Just another "bag of hurt" to be avoided by Apple.