Why Apple should drop Apple TV to $49 and market it as an iOS accessory

22 Comments

1. To be honest $99 is a fair price. My die hard pc lover sister in law has just bought an iPad. Loves it and was also impressed with the apple tv. She will likely buy one and then an iPhone next.
   The point is that the iOS ecosystem is already working.
   To make apple tv more appealing I would add the capabilities of playing games and using an iPhone or iPod touch as the controller. Apple could also sell a controller as well.

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   1. There is an app called “Remote” which controls Apple TV from the iphone or ipad. I like it better than the remote that comes with it, especially for typing!!

      And it’s free.

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      1. Just remember if you travel with your AppleTV to take your hardware remote with you to set up the device on other networks. I learned that the hard way last month.

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      2. Also rowmote in the App store is great. It has a grackles style interface

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   2. you can use an iphone or touch to control it already. see: remote app.
      R

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      1. ON OTHER NETWORKS DOOFUS

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   3. Yep, $99 is fair, they just need to market it more. I think Apple is keeping it low-profile until the content is really there, then BOOM, all of a sudden it’ll be as if it came out of nowhere. People will be blindsided.

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2. I’m waiting until iOS 5 (Wireless streaming) before I get my TV.

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   1. Why wait? Just wondering as they are a great device as they sit now.

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      1. We’ve just gone down to a 4 day week in work so money is a bit tight right now… but as soon as iOS 5 is unleashed I’ll have enough money for one.

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3. what would be even smarter is if Apple relaunches the AppleTV at $49 with a DVD player included in it

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   1. I want you to read what the AppleTV does, then look at what you wrote, and then think REALLY hard about what you wrote… And realize how completely counter-intuitive that would be.. Stop thinking about physical media. It won’t exist in 2 years..

      Also. Head up. The AppleTV COSTS more than $49.99 to make.. So you want them to take a loss? I would pay $200 for ALL THREE of my AppleTV’s in my house.. $99 is cheap.

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   2. DVD player? Why stop there? They should include a Betamax and 8 Track.

      DVD, really?

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   3. Why? The form factor will have to be bigger. Plus the additional component cost would increase.
      I see apple tv as the conduit for iOS apps. Controlling games through a remote with multi touch would be great. You could do this with both iPhones and iPod touch but having a cheaper remote would enable apple to get extra revenue in apple tv accessories.

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      1. Mebbe a Bluetooth DVD or blu ray player…. As an accessory of course. Just thinking of possibilities….. *shrug*

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4. “market it as and iOS accessory.”

   How about Apple simply market the AppleTV in any way, shape or form anywhere?

   $99 price tag is not the problem. AppleTV is a great device at a great price, that anyone with an iDevice or Mac should have, but mostly people don’t know what it can do or they think it still costs $299.

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5. i’m in complete agreement with mr steele about the importance of AirPlay. i use it everyday now.

   $99 is not really a barrier. but i would think Apple would be smart to offer it at $49 specail price when you add it to an iPad purchase. most iPad buyers would for it.

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6. I agree with this article, at least in terms of what AppleTV is capable of doing now. It definitely would be better marketed & sold as an add on to the iOS ‘system’ b/c that’s really what it is becoming more & more, and to sell it otherwise is to essentially engage in false advertising (and that’s never good for sales -haha). Eventually word gets out you know.

   But to me that is the real problem with the thing. It’s a niche product that really doesn’t do anything … crucial. All this streaming of stuff, whether from my computer or from iCloud/iTunesStore, is nice don’t get me wrong. The thing is, I kind of wanted it to be what the iPod & iPhone became in my life (haven’t bought an iPad yet) – indispensible! And the only way that’s gonna happen is if AppleTV gains capabilities, not get more singular and niche.

   So I think “Dave” above is actually on to something, at least for all us ‘reglar folks’. I have loads of DVDs – hundreds even – what am I supposed to do with them all in the Apple Vision of the future? Buy them again?? No way! Ripping would take me forever, so forget that too. A simple DVD drive that upsampled (like they almost all do now) would be a solution for me & millions of others. Why not add it? (and don’t peddle ‘cost’ as a reason – you can get that hardware now for about $10 or less wholesale).

   What about recording? Why doesn’t AppleTV do something with that? I know dealing with the cable companies can be a nightmare, so … DON’T! I have an antenna too (for when cable goes out), and frankly I sometimes wonder why I don’t go to it entirely. Picture’s better, free, yadayada. The reasons I stay w/Comcast are some shows I like can’t be had conveniently with out them, AND I have a DVR set top box & can record what I can’t see as scheduled. The last one is a biggie – couldn’t live without my DVR – and most of the stuff I record happens to be local sports. In other words, just as available over the airwaves (i.e. without cable).

   So, number one, I think if Comcast, TiVo, & EyeTV can figure recording all out, Apple Inc. should be able to as well.

   And number two, if Apple were to actually make AppleTV more useful (namely play DVDs – or BluRay/DVD combo – & record to a plug in harddrive), I not only would buy it, I’d be willing to pay more for it, plus the drive, AND I’d also dump Comcast in a NY Minute & buy more lots more shows I currently like to watch (that are cable only) from iTunesStore.

   Sounds like a win/win for Apple if you ask me.

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7. @Synth It will be interesting to see if and how Apple’s marketing (or lack there of) changes when iOS 5 actually ships. As I mentioned in the article I don’t think you can sell it as an iOS device accessory at $99, so there might not be much change in how it is adopted until it hits a more appealing price point.

   @TVWatcher Apple doesn’t move backwards. In their eyes physical media is backwards. Apple will gladly pass on a market segment that is decreasing in size (physical media of entertainment content) to focus on a segment that is growing in size (digital media).

   As for recording and an antenna? I would love to see those features too, but my feeling is that those are non-essential features that Apple sees as only cluttering up the product. I’m not saying I agree, just that I think that’s how Apple feels about them. I wouldn’t expect to see that anytime soon.

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8. it helps if apple starts selling the apple tv2.
   In my country, it’s still not available. 🙁

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9. I love my apple tv, if the price dropped to $50… I’d buy a second one for my home office. I stream Netflix on my cheap blu ray player I put in there.
   And I’d buy a 3rd one for my parents since they need one.

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10. AHH, they need to get more apps for the ATV, similar to the MLB app. As it is right now, its best function is for Netflix streaming and renting from iTunes. I have a feeling it will be much more usefull once iOS5 is released. Im just hoping. It would be great if you could watch the same Netflix stream on the phone as its playing on the TV. I could take a dump and not miss a thing while the family is watching the movie. Just saying

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