“Before (and after) the Super Bowl this past weekend, I once again found myself in love with Netflix,” Byran M. Wolfe writes for AppAdvice. “For most of the weekend, I watched with delight nearly half the episodes of ‘House of Cards,’ which stars Kevin Spacey as a nasty congressman with a vendetta against nearly everyone in Washington, D.C.”
“This isn’t some low-rent series that one may find on another streaming video site. Rather, it is a series that could run on FX, or more specifically, HBO,” Wolfe writes. “Netflix, by launching original series’, is suggesting that network and cable television isn’t the only game in town.”
Wolfe writes, “With all the talk of a rumored Apple television, perhaps Apple should consider getting into the television production business, or at least partnering with someone else… Just imagine the excitement were Apple to release an actual television that came with original programming. I bet that it would be huge, for example, if Apple would work with Disney’s Pixar to create original children’s programming only available on Apple devices.”
Read more in the full article here.
i agree. software (apps, games), ease of use and original content could be the differentiating features of the iTV.
I agree as well. Look at the Wii U. Right now it is not selling well. Also cnet’s review is not that good as well. Nitendo rushed it out without the features it is supposed to have. This a good idea they had but it was not ready to sell that is why it is doing bad. They must have been worried about Apple getting something out there and they jumped the gun. Everyone should be worried about Apple. With their iOS devices and the ATV Apple is in a positio to turn the Living Room upside down. I hope Apple either knows this and/or realize this. They have the hand controller with the iOS devices. Apple need to do 3 more steps. I do not think a TV set is the way to go. They should beef up the ATV so it can do it without problems. Next open the ATV to developers and create a App Store of it’s own to get content apps. Also get developers to make games like real
racing 2. With these 3 things done they will kill Nitendo’s Wii U.
No need. A lot of failures for the ones that work. Buying Disney would be cheaper. No expertise in house. NFLX is making a mistake unless they can syndiate the shows over cable to get universal distribution. This is part of their hype
Why is Netflix making a mistake? I am *currently* not a subscriber (I just *temporarily* cancelled my DVD subscription).. But I will definitely sign up for Netflix streaming to see the new Arrested Development episodes. (Then cancel again.)
Um, no.
I do not believe Apple would gain anything from content creation. My first quibble with this story is the opening – great for Netflix that they have their own homegrown series, but I suspect a very small portion, like < 1%, were driven the subscribe by that series. The rest of the non-Netflix content drives subscriptions. The series, even if they had a dozen, are simply added value. Nice, but really just a bonus. Their other major selling point is that they are stand alone. You do not need a cable subscription to use it nor are you limited by "you must be able to ping the box" limitations that some cable-associated services have. Does Netflix really have anything to gain by being a competitor to HBO, etc, which have years of their own content already? Maybe they can in a few years.
Regardless, Apple's video content is not a subscription model. I'm not sure how adding a low margin product that is unlikely to attract a significant number of consumers on its own is better than just having more content.
If a surgeon can change a cars flat tyre, should the surgeon seek to advertise him/her self as a mechanic?
Nope. Apple should be focused on the hardware and software we use to watch all that wonderful programming, making them the best conduit through which it reaches us. We wouldn’t want them becoming the next Sony.
Stay focused!
I wanted to commend Byran M. Wolfe and other creative crackpots for their never-ending supply of ideas for frittering away Apple’s cash and developing unworkable products. Their efforts have no impact on Apple and probably contribute much to the confusion of competitors like Samsung, Google and Microsoft.
Apple should ‘produce’ content.. I’ve said it long ago.. If the studios don’t want to play, there is no reason apple can’t do their own thing..
Take for example Firefly.. Pretty damn good show – only 1 season. They could make $$$$ selling episodes on iTunes.
I’m pretty sure universal doesn’t have $124 billion in cash.. Apple could bank roll everything for the next 5 years and never notice the blip in the bank account.
I want to make clear I said ”produce’ not create programming.. Big difference..
Laurene Powell Jobs is the largest stockholder in Disney.
I believe she has 9%. Another 42% would cost less than $40B. With controlling interest in Disney, Apple could have EXCLUSIVE access to Disney properties (Touchstone, etc.), ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Disney Channel, etc. Take ESPN away from the cable and satellite companies and put it on iTV, and see how fast the old model pay TV industry collapses.
I am totally behind this idea. Joss Whedon’s Firefly series would be an excellent start. I must have seen every episode at least three times. I’m still waiting for Serenity 2.
Apple has all that money to invest in producing shows and what happens… Little Amazon and Netflix are the ones spending the cash and getting the results. I just don’t get where Apple is coming from. Wall Street is going continue to crap all over Apple’s new hardware attempts. Margins, margins, margins is all they freaking cry about. 40% profit margins aren’t enough for those pricks. They claim they need to be closer to 50%… for high-quality hardware, no less. Innovation in the form of new hardware doesn’t come cheap, but Wall Street doesn’t seem get that point.
Apple could take the wind out of Netflix and Amazon by producing some shows and having streaming subscriptions. But no, Apple just sits on all that reserve cash and lets shareholders take the lumps. Someone mentioned something about frittering away Apple’s cash hoard, but honestly that small amount of money would be like a pimple on an elephant’s buttocks and it would help sell more hardware if they made those series Apple exclusives to start. Heck, they could take the $1 billion in cash Samsung owes them to produce a couple of series.
I take it that you have experienced what a pimple on an elephants buttocks looks like? Or maybe… just maybe… you are trying to sound impressive?
We cannot all be jacks of all trades. The most successful products in this field are made by specialists, take Dolby for instance… do they make speakers? If they did, would they be the best ones? If they made the best speakers, would the usage of Dolby’s products be so ubiquitous?
Like Kodak, every company should waste their money on off-the-target projects at which they are entirely unskilled.
I Don’t Think So
But bad ideas are as plentiful as urine.