“Obviously quite a bit is going to be written about Apple’s new releases… Hopefully I can cover new ground,” Mark Cuban blogs for Blog Maverick.
There are a couple things that are special about Apple’s announcement today as it pertains to Movies and TV shows.
1. 80GB iPod hard drive
2. 1.5mbs encoding speed for “near DVD quality”
3. iPod interface now viewable on your HDTV
“So what does this mean to video on the net for everyone else? For movies, nothing. Nada. Downloading wont get any faster. DRM is still a nightmare. High Definition video from the net is still a nightmare. In fact, the best way to beat Apple in this game is for cable and satellite companies to push as much content as possible to HD. The greater the expectation for HD content from consumers, the less value to consumers for downloading movies,” Cuban writes. “For TV shows, its still a great idea. Selling TV shows is found money for Apple and producer.”
“And of course retailers continue to be big losers in this. Apple gets a movie store with unlimited inventory, for no inventory cost (that we know of), at a price that appears to be lower than what retailers currently sell many DVDs for. (unless of course Disney withholds certain DVDs from Apple in the future and only makes less popular titles avialable day and date with their DVD release. Retailers are asked to stock their shelves and warehouses, deal with carrying and marketing costs and sell their products at what looks like premium pricing,” Cuban writes.
Cuban writes, “Which means it wouldnt be a surprise if retailers sent a loud and clear message to non Disney related studios about the direction their stocking orders will go if they cooperate with Apple.”
Full article here.
Steve Jobs gives sneak peek of Apple’s “iTV” wireless set-top box:
Related articles:
Apple’s ‘iTV’ strategy – September 13, 2006
How will Apple’s ‘iTV’ work? – September 13, 2006
Apple eyes living room market with device codenamed ‘iTV’ – September 12, 2006
Analyst: Apple ‘s iTunes+iPod+iTV model ‘the gold standard for the digital home of the future’ – September 12, 2006
The Motley Fool’s Lomax: Apple news ‘mostly underwhelming, with some potential future bright spots’ – September 12, 2006
Analyst: Apple ‘s iTunes+iPod+iTV ‘will be hard for other players to match’ – September 12, 2006
Apple gives sneak peek of ‘iTV’ set-top box to debut Q1 2007 (with images) – September 12, 2006
Apple’s QuickTime stream of Steve Jobs special event now live – September 12, 2006
NFL and Apple team up to offer 2006 NFL game highlights via iTunes Store – September 12, 2006
Cringely on Apple video experiment, future 802.11n Apple Video Express, Sony TVs in Apple stores – October 14, 2005
Apple pushes for next-gen 600Mbps Wi-Fi standard as member of Enhanced Wireless Consortium – – October 10, 2005
Don’t forget that Cuban has a stake against Apple in this game with his HDNet property, so it’s not exactly like his opinions are neutral here.
Of course he wants HD to be the next big thing because that’s how he’ll make money. He doesn’t want Apple’s way to succeed because that would leave him out in the cold.
The UK Guardian competes with the BBC for heaping doom on Apple and iPod.
Check this out for another downer —
http://business.guardian.co.uk/economicdispatch/story/0,,1871506,00.html
Personally, I reckon it’s part of the Brit press’s cultural cringe, as they are never so happy as when knocking success.
“”And of course retailers continue to be big losers in this.”
Innovate or die? BTW, how’s that Wal-Mart online music store doing?
I was at the Apple Store, Lenox Square, Atlanta, yesterday. No new iPods but the 24-inch iMac was tempting.
Right…Best Buy is going to refuse to carry the latest summer block buster on DVD just because it is also being sold on iTunes? Good luck with that one “Geek Squad”.
If you read the actual blog, you would see that Cuban is very complementary about the Apple announcements.
The UK Gaurdian and BBC are down on Apple primarily because it is an AMERICAN company, and for that indiscretion Steve Jobs, the Mac, the iPod, et al., can NEVER be forgiven!
The online movie business will not take off until user will have the choice to buy or rent.
Let’s see how long it take schmollywood to figure this out. Bonus point for any studio that will make their 100 years worth of movies available on demand. I’m not holding my breath.
And the UK Guardian and BBC probably are all widows companies.
BTW, Steve Jobs looked pretty healthy in this presentation, so I guess we can get rid of that nasty “Jobs is dying” rumor.
Jeff is right!
Interesting points, but what has Cuban done since selling a worthless dotcom for an insane amount of money?
I thought Steves performance looked very canned and he lacked the old zest and fire he used to bring to these rollouts. His eyes were pretty well glued to the teleprompter throughout. Now granted, he is the CEO of a big company (not a real rock star who can flop around snorting coke and smok’n dope).
All grousing aside, I thought the “special event” was cool. I watched it on my MacMini on my bigscreen.
Go AAP:
“Near DVD quality” video on what Steve calls “a big flat panel TV”?
I don’t think so. Maybe when the HD version comes out. And, knowing Apple, that could very well be in early 2007.
What Steve showed yesterday seems to me like a product that could’ve been out a couple of years ago.
Nothing to get me excited.
Sounds like Mark needs to move up north to Keller, TX (just outside of Dallas) where Verizon has fiber to the home. 5 megs? It can do that with its eyes closed, hands behind its back and peeing at the same time, which I don’t recommend doing. That was the weirdest sobriety test I ever took, and the two policemen in skirts with a boombox playing disco music that gave it to-Hey, Wait A MINUTE!
As someone who lives in the UK, I reckon the BBC are down on Apple not because they are an American company but because they are future competition. It seems to me that someone at the Beeb has realised that there’s not too long to go before we, the customers, will have a real alternative to the crap that the Corporation is currently happy to churn out in return for an exhorbitant license fee (‘Pets Win Prizes’ anyone?).
British television is currently going through its worst ever phase of dumbing down with companies only too happy to produce masses of rubbish reality TV and other recycled ideas. They must be caking their nylons at the thought of viewers getting top films and other attractive shows without even getting off their asses and having to go down to the local video store.
Here’s to a true multi-media future.
Anybody that thinks DVDs are the be all, end all, format for movie viewing, ignores the history of music formats
78 RPM hard vinyl
33 1/3 RPM soft vinyl
45 RPM soft vinyl
7″ magnetic tape
3 1/2″ magnetic tape
8 track cartridge tape
cassette tape
Compact Disc (CD)
It may take a while for the market to adopt digital downloads. Obviously, the better it gets the more adoption that will take place. This means that brick and mortars are going to have to find another business model to replace DVD sales. The ones that don’t/can’t will go the way of Tower Records, Sam Goody’s, Purple Licorice and many other record retailers.
Right now, Wal-Mart, target, Best Buy and Amazon are scrambling to development a strategy to fend off Apple, but they’re a fish out of water in the digital arena.
I give Apple 5 years before they supplant Wal-Mart as #1 in movie titles sold.
If they add TiVO like capabilities, Blockbuster/Netflix party is over in areas where there is sufficient bandwidth.
The Guardian is a left leaning/liberal paper and as such is against Capitalism generally. In the UK there is an unfortunate tendency to think success is only “for other people.” If you are wealthy in the UK you get called a fat cat and are treated like you stole something from the poor. What these people can’t understand is that “the rich” haven’t stolen anything, quite the contrary, they pay a small fortune in tax (especially under this Labour government) and have, with rare exceptions, earned their wealth by sheer persistance and application of financially sound business strategies. The UK is a good place to do business but if you have money I would imagine the USA is a more comfortable place to live because wealth and success are morally acceptable there. Many people in the UK find success and wealth morally repugnent……….unless of course they win the lottery and then wealth is just fine!
The Guardians knocking of Apple would make sense if there was anyone even remotely poised to compete. Sure they only have 75 films but they had even fewer TV Shows when they started. They’ve shown they can improve things and grow and realistically this should be no different. Amazon, a high profile “competitor” has a bigger choice but the service is crap so as such it offers no real incentive over the physical product – of which there is a bigger choice than any download provider can offer. The fact you can watch more TV on TV than you can download hasn’t stopped it being popular.
Frys, Best Buy, Costco, Target, Circuit City, Blockbuster, even my local Kroger have lots and lots and lots of DVD movies for sale – ranging from $1.99 (mostly for those I’m not interested in) to $4.99, $5.99, $6.99, etc. up to $9.99. Often, new releases priced below $14.99.
Someone please explain why I would buy one of these from iTunes Store. Please.
Why is it that people continue to believe that digital inventory has no inventory costs. Of course Apple will have inventory costs, they just won’t be the same ones as you average video store or Best Buy. But hard drives, servers, back-up drives, even the cost of converting items to digital format (if and when Apple does so instead of the production company); all contribute to inventory cost.
What Apple does have is the ability to offer far more retail for less than or possible the same as your average brick and mortar retailer. Apple can offer millions of songs on tens of thousands of albums; where a retailer might only be able to carry a few hundred or a couple of thousand albums.
It is movie theatres, not Wal-Mart or Netflix, that should be overly concerned. Every year fewer and fewer people are going out to the movies and are instead renting or buying DVDs. Home theatre set ups are getting more and more affordable and commonplace.
Once you have this setup at home you begin to wonder about the cost of going out to the movies (tickets, popcorn, beverage, parking) as well as trying to fit it into your schedule. If you are willing to wait you can spend $12.99 to pre-order the movie and get it the same day it out on DVD — without having to go the store (or rent via Netflix). Make your own popcorn and open a beer and you’ve got a good night at home.
Movie theatres must do some work to compete with home theatre setups.
“a left leaning/liberal paper and as such is against Capitalism generally”
The northeastern US and northern California also fit the left-leaning/liberal moniker, and coincidentally, are two of the most powerful capitalist regions on the planet… compared to say, Birmingham Alabama, a bastion of right leaning/neocon philosophy whose economy, coincidentally, is inferior to that of some third-world nations.
iSteve – you’re right on target, I think – I haven’t been to a movie theater in more than a year. Netflix and Blockbuster are also probably a bit worried about this, too, however, their price-point is still quite a bit lower and you get an actual DVD delivered to your door to pop into your machine.
The landscape, she is a’ changin’!
You don’t know the history of music formats…
Oh wait… Yes you do.
damn.