The fact is the computer is NOT the center of the living room. I know the great plan in the sky is to have a computer as the hub of our entertainment but it’s just not happening. It’s been promised for years now and the closest we come is with video game console. Systems like my Wii let me surf the web, play games, and other entertaining things. The personal computer is not there, which is too bad because it obviously trumps any console in terms of power and abilities.
But, as usual, Apple thinks different. Today Apple announced, amongst other things, that we can now rent movies through iTunes. We can pay $2 to download a movie to our computer and it self-destructs in 24-hours. While I like the idea of things self-destructing and not requiring me to do anything, there lies one big problem with this theory - we don’t watch movies on our computers!
I’m far from the minority in that I prefer to watch movies on my TV in the living room. Not only is my screen bigger, but I have a couch, pillows, coffee table, and other such luxuries that make watching movies, well, enjoyable. For the most part, our computers are still confined to specific rooms within our houses. We have offices, or dens. Many have laptops, but that’s far from convenient when you want to get comfortable and watch a movie with a loved one.
Computers will never be the center of the living room until two things happen. One, they need to be as compatible with television as video games are. You plug, you play. Two, non-entertainment computer functions need to look and work well on a television, namely things like e-mail, documents, and all that other stuff that doesn’t earn you high scores. Until these conditions are met we will never have a single device that serves all our needs.
Right now you can your PC to your TV with additional devices, software, and wireless networks. All that needs to go if it’s going to work. If I could download movies to my Wii and use the remote to watch movies on TV that way? Then yes, I’d be very interested. And if consoles like xBox an PS3 head that way then I will be jealous. Of course, I can already get movies with my cable box for the same price and it’s already there. See…there’s some kinks to be worked out still in order to get consumers on-board.
Fact is we don’t want to watch movies on our 19″ monitors with half-ass speakers in a tiny room with a office chair. We want to watch movies on big screens with lots of speakers while laying on a couch flopping chips into our mouth. I’ve come across this same discussion when it comes to video games too. People are getting Guitar Hero for the PC and I just can’t imagine trying to play any video game (alone or with others) in my office squinting at a computer monitor.
I applaud Apple for the good ol’ college try, but I don’t forsee it making much impact overall. Their iPhones and iPods may be the shit right now, but movie rentals certainly will not (and neither will AppleTV). It’s just too foreign to people - we’re still not tech savvy enough to understand why we should drop $200 on a box that lets us download movies when I can use my cable box for almost free.
But to Apple’s credit, I cheer them for eliminating the CD/DVD drive from their newest model laptop. They managed to phase out the floppy disk successfully and I don’t see any reason why ROM drives won’t follow. When was the last time you needed a CD or DVD in your computer? The only time I need them is to play games. Other than that, I move files with USB drives and through e-mail and web sites. If lopping off a ROM drive can save me $50 then so be it. Of course, the industry will have to follow suit and do better at offering content and goods as downloads.
I don’t like the idea of not having a cd/dvd rom. I like being able to burn media like home movies onto a dvd and watch it on the t.v., or make one for my parents. As well as purchasing any software at the store, like a game or any application. You need a way to get it on your computer. The drives aren’t as crucial as they used to be, but they still have a function.
Good point. I forgot about burning. I do still burn CDs for my car. Totally miffed that one I did. Of course, as cars become more MP3-friendly we’ll move beyond CDs too. Is nothing sacred?! ;)
FM transmitters and iPods FTW!!!
I haven’t used a CD in a very long time.
-SF
This is the future man… .for a techie, I’m really surprised that you’re this resistant to change. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s going to happen.
The AppleTV is just the first generation product. $200 isn’t that much money compared to what DVD players cost just a few years ago. Check the price for an HD-DVD or BlueRay player. People buy those just to watch movies.
There are also going to be more devices like these that are “media extenders”. They will interface with windows media center for example and stream the media over the network to your TV. The PC can stay in the office, and the set top box goes in the living room.
We’re going to see Tivo and other set top boxes paired up with NetFlix or Blockbuster (if they’re still around), or Amazon for rentals and purchases. Check out http://www.vudu.com for a product that is also making a great attempt.
The movies self destruct 24 hours after you start playing them, so if you don’t start the movie immediately, the clock doesn’t start right away.
What do you pay every month for cable TV (not counting the internet service)? How many shows and movies could you buy online for that amount of money?
I’m actually starting to hear about people who are canceling cable and simply buying the shows they want a la carte. They’re saving money that way.
It’s new, its different, and it’s going to take over faster than anyone thinks.
Remember… I still predict that inside of 10 years, local broadcast TV towers will go dark. Not just the analog signal next year, but the digital broadcast too. They won’t be viable anymore.
The future is coming.
G+
You exactly highlighted the problem when you said the word “extender” - people don’t want extenders, they want a convenient package.
I admit, for gearheads this is a great time because you can network everything together like never before and easily do things. This is great, if you’re a gearhead. Frankly, I’m slowly slipping out of my gearhead days and just want stuff that works without having to interface with another interface and then transmit from my PC to something else.
I’ve found things that can stream my music library from my PC to my Wii, but guess what? My computer has to be on. If I want the control I need to go to my PC, which isn’t in my living room.
Downloadable disposable TV and movies won’t happen until I have the selection of iTunes from my cable box, complete with self destruction.
And TV waves will never go away, analog, digital or otherwise. Not everyone has downloadability and I don’t see the downloadability happening within 10 years. Plus, everyone said newspapers and magazines would disappear 5 years ago and we’re still pushing paper around.
In terms of technology you are not the average person. You’re above average which makes you able to understand things now. Most people don’t have - and don’t want - that luxury. It just makes things complicated.
Also, I wouldn’t not want my cable because I never know what I want to watch. I might be apt to download a favorite episode, but sometimes I just sit down and watch whatever is on to relax and do nothing. Without regular TV, I have to think when I’m relaxing - not good. There’s too much laziness to not have good old fashioned cable…even with on-demand movies and DVR.
I agree with BigG that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will not run there full course do to downloading of songs and/or the ability to put the information on a SD type card.
I haven’t bought a CD for over 6 years and I expect the same with movies within 2-3 years. However, cable/satillite will not go away. Also the internet connected devices will be here in force this year.
I’ve been looking at the Archos 605 media player which is an internet capable, iPod, video player, DVR, and AppleTV.
You’re right Brian, these devices aren’t ready for prime time, but they’re coming along nicely. It won’t be long.
I’d give my left… well, you know… for a decent internet connection at home. There is SOOO much content out there that I feel like I’m missing out on because I can’t suck it down through my “sippy straw” EVDO pipe.
The things you gripe about are the things they’re working on. You’re right. People don’t want an extender, they want a set top box that can operate without a PC being turned on. When I said that this stuff would be integrated into TiVO and other boxes, I’m also talking about cable boxes. The cable TV networks are already changing behind the scenes. Time Warner has upgraded their entire network to a technology called “Switched Digital” for all of their digital and HD channels. It gives them much more efficient use of their networks bandwidth. It’s all moving forward to allow greater even bandwidth because they know this is coming.
IPTV isn’t just streaming from YouTube or podcasts or Joost. It’s video delivered from whatever source, possibly even from Time Warners head end over a TCP/IP network eventually. DOCSIS 2.0 is the protocol that your cable modem uses to communicate on the cable TV network right now. DOCSIS 3.0 is on the horizon. DOCSIS 2.0 topped out at about 43 megabit max theoretical speed. DOCSIS 3.0 will allow for speeds just over 171 megabit. Verizon has been rolling out their FiOS network (Fiber On Site) and seeing good success with it. The bandwidth is coming. Soon.
Microsoft just released Windows Home Server. While right now, most people don’t need it, they will, and Microsoft knows it.
People are generating huge amounts of digital media. Home videos, pictures, music libraries, movie libraries, etc… We’re going to be storing more and more data. If your data is on a home server, your desktop can be turned off, and your server stays on in the closet or where ever you keep it. You can now buy home server appliances (that are more like set top boxes than full PC servers) from HP and others with MS Home Server installed. These appliances give users VERY easy ways to keep their data backed up and protected. You can get them with built in RAID solutions, or you can opt to subscribe to an online backup solution. The problems are being addressed.
We’re on the cusp of some absolutely huge cool technology. It’s going to change the way we consume media. It’s going to change business models. It’s going to change a lot of things.
And most of all, it’s going to be great for consumers.
G+
I guess from a non-techie stand point, I don’t get downloading movies to the computer unless maybe you’re traveling with a laptop? Most computer screens are not that big and it is just more comfortable watching movies on the couch.
It’s not about downloading to a computer to watch on the computer.
It’s about downloading/streaming content for display on the TV in your family room.
-SF
Yes, but my whole point is nobody has anything to download movies to their TV…that’s the thing. Everyone’s pimping downloadable movies and no one has the devices that put those downloads on the TV.
There are no devices out there that make downloading movies for watching on TV easy. It just feels like we’re putting the carriage in front of the horse.
It wasn’t that long ago that people were paying $229 for a DVD player. In fact, there are still DVD players for $229. Not to mention people paying a whole lot more than that for PS3’s or HD-DVD or Blue Ray players. The AppleTV is $229.
People pay money to play video games. People pay money to watch movies on little plastic discs. Why won’t they pay money to watch downloadable movies?
The services are starting to show up, and the hardware is getting into the price range where it can become mainstream.
G+
I’ll pay for movies on discs because I can watch those discs on my TV. I can’t watch downloads on my TV.
I can go get a DVD for a $1 for a night at the Redbox. That means I can go to the Redbox almost 200 times before I’m even at the cost of AppleTV. Sure, I have to leave house and use gas, but the joy of watching something on my TV is worth it.
But Apple wants me to pay $3 for a downloaded movie plus $200 for a special box to hook up to my TV? There’s a lot of extra cost I’m not interested in.
However, if Apple’s download offering can get someone to make an *affordable* living room computer, then it’s not a complete waste.
I do understand your position, knowing the way you manage money and make purchases, but the fact of the matter is, you did have to make an investment in the TV and the DVD player to watch DVDs… Or the TV and the video game console to play games. I’m going to guess you held the same opinion of DVD over VHS when that transition happened.
If you ask me, $229, for an Apple TV is pretty amazing when you think about what it really is as far as the hardware is concerned. The new firmware for the apple TV lets them operate completely independently of a computer. Apple TV can download directly from the internet instead of just syncing with a computer. Apple TV is only the first product in this field. There will be more. I’ll guarantee TiVO gets into the game. I also wouldn’t be surprised if cable boxes get into the game either.
I’m not saying that it’s there yet, but what I am saying is that it’s getting close. The barriers to entry are starting to get into the range where more people will start to adopt them.
G+
Looks like Microsoft is working towards something close to what I was thinking. Sounds like MS is trying to strike a deal with Netflix to offer movies on the XBox.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23214808/
I know the XBox is another “device” I’m complaining about, but it at least molds into another device rather than adding an additional device. And it’s no surprise to see Microsoft working towards the media center - they tried it before, albeit not well.