Like many “old” geeks, I’ve been using TV sets longer than I have computers. And I’ve been online since 1983. The concept of convergence — blending computing and media like television together in family life — is overdue as far as I’m concerned.
Waiting for Apple TV availability [some time this month], I had stuck one into my Wish List at Amazon. Sooner or later a ship date would show up and, checking in this morning, one of those vague notes – “In stock soon. Order now to get in line.” – appeared. What surprised me was – “Offered by Target“.
I’m not certain about folks walking into their local Target to buy a wireless router to go with this; but, Apple must be convinced enough by Target’s iPod sales [or something like that] to give them first shot outside their own stores and usual geek retailers.
Looks like pretty soon I’ll be able to click my AppleTV remote and watch Cranky Geeks in the living room. As long as I’m paying sales tax, I’ll buy it from my local geeks. I wonder how well it will sell at Target?
JoaoPT — Lyon lost yesterday to Roma.
Angel — do you have any kin playing football in Costa Rica? Like Roberto Wong?
Blending TV and computing has never worked before, when the goal was using the TV and its viewing space for computing. The flaw is that we don’t use our TV rooms for computing…we use them for letting the TV pummel our brains while we vegetate on the couch and drink beer, and we often do it with more than one family member or friend. Who wants to watch someone else browse porn sites or play Nickelodeon games?
As for the computer delivering media to the big screen display, whoop-de-do. It’s just a fancy VCR or cable box in that case.
Olo — other discussions, other posts, have already covered the significant difference. VCR’s and cable boxes ain’t bringing content from the Web into the living room.
That’s why IPTV as a topic unto itself.
http://tinyurl.com/2pnj9a
That says it all
http://tinyurl.com/yw4sov
One for each team. There ya go.
Sorry, I am a webcomic-aholic.
It’s incredibly tiring to hear the same pathetic apple fanboy geeks proclaim something apple does as ‘revolutionary’ when its been done before.
It’s also incredibly tiring to hear the same fanboys proclaim anyone who doesn’t share their ‘apple is the bestest!’ mentality as ‘haters’.
Look, it will be a niche product, it won’t change the world. Please, appleboys, please stop trying to convince everyone else that product ABC from apple is going to change the world, that steve jobs is a visionary, that your products are somehow better than anyone else. No one (except you few apple dweebs) appreciates your record levels of smugness.
41,
Oh oh… it was dying out but NOW you’ve done it… 40 more comments to go I guess… 😛
I find fanbois are like religions and gods. Once you ignore them, they just disappear…
I get the feeling this is going to mean more wi-fi networks still named “LINKSYS” and whose password will eternally be “DEFAULT.”
The internet age’s version of the blinking 12:00 on a vcr.
im getting sick and tired of hearing apple news… that brand is eroding fast
Apple doesn’t invent every technology that they sell.
But they sure know how to package technology and sell it to the masses. And create markets that previously didn’t exist or hadn’t existed with the momentum that they have the ability to create.
Moss, but that’s just it. To the vast masses there is no difference. Cable, IP, terrestrial DTV, whatever. It’s content, and it’s coming from “that box.” It’s just another box.
Technical feats nothwithstanding, to the masses–especially those with the dough to afford it and the IP connection to handle it–this is a big shrug.
Olo — it’s not just me who looks at the potential for IPTV — it’s open warfare between the cablecos who predominate in US TV + the specially sleazy groups who own “local” OTA broadcasters on one side vs. what’s capable of being accessed via IPTV.
These pages are about discussion by a lot of folks well beyond being “vast masses” especially on a geek subject. My background in sales and marketing gets me to focus on the topic #1 to all these companies — who gets the dollar$?
The “traditional” creeps already own politicians sufficient to keep delay/prevent access to serious broadband and IPTV. Many other nations are racing ahead because it makes good economic sense for consumers as a whole. What do we get here? Delays, denial and raped over price.
The marketplace can help this access to some extent — and in that vein I welcome Apple’s move. Everyone else pretty much fiddlefarts around selling to the existing geek market and hoping their products will somehow make a viral move into the whole market, the TiVo/Yahoo alliance, etc..
Apple made mp3 players ubiquitous and they realize that serious competition will still leave them with a lot of cash. I hope they succeed with AppleTV — achieving the exact opposite of what MSoft did with WebTV.
Gotcha. Since the government has decided to hand over everything that was formerly “public interest” to corporate interests, this stalemate seems like it will last a while. And after that, it’s going to be another while before good IP access trickles down to those of us away from the metropolis. I predict at least ten years before I can even consider such technology in my home. IOW, when they rip out the copper and replace it with fiber.
#36
Nope, most of my family are into fishing or golf.