“Forbes writer Eric Savitz wrote an excellent piece on Tuesday highlighting the market’s enthusiasm and the buzz surrounding an Apple TV, or the iTV as it is presumed to be called,” Richard Saintvilus writes for Forbes, “Consumers are already jumping at the chance to pay 20% more than they would otherwise pay for a current Smart TV.”
“At first I was a little surprised. But after thinking about it, I realized so would I,” Saintvilus writes. “But it’s not for the reasons that you think. Paying top dollar for Apple products has become the expectation. But consumers have also come to expect more. But what would an iTV give me that I don’t already have? But after opening my refrigerator it suddenly hit me – a Facebook ‘like’ button. Refrigerator – you ask? I’ll get more to that later.”
Saintvilus writes, “There’s no way this television ambition can work without it. The iTV has to have one. More specifically, it needs to have some type of social and commercial integration. Otherwise it will be a colossal failure. I want it and so should you… Cook salivates at the massive social aspect to TV that remains untapped. And if Apple gets this right the company can easily secure 90% of the TV market within a couple of years.”
“What if iTV was able to make you look forward to commercials – to the point that you would even consider recording them?” Saintvilus asks. “It sounds crazy – I know. But with a ‘like’ button on iTV and a rewards program from Groupon, Living Social or even your favorite local grocer, you would love commercials.”
Read more in the full article here.
What a load of rubbish.
Who is this guy? He must wear Apple pyjama’s. This is where I get upset at the pundits who try to promote Apple Inc. but in doing so they do more harm then good. Why does he think that the competition will simply watch the Apple parade go by and not react of for that matter beat them to the punch. Remember that Sony, MSFT and Samsung is already in millions of homes and they are quite capable of upping the ante in terms of apps for their platform. XBox alone can evolve to run Windows RT and Skype via their XBox and Kinect and Sony can evolve to do the same via Android or Windows RT and Samsung’s cable tv box is already very very smart.
No doubt that Apple can enter the arena and do well with it’s followers/users but stimulating them (me) to do away with a perfectly good TV might be quite a challenge. I for one use a PS3 as a Media Hub and it works great. The one thing that this chap fails to address is how AirPlay already covers off most of what he is ranting about. You can turn just about any TV into a Smart TV with AirPlay, AirPort Express, iPhone, iPod, iPad or Apple TV.
Someone should have this fellow step away from the keyboard. :). This article is a waste of our reading time.
Who is MacJoy? He must wear Google pyjammer’s. He thinks that the so-called ‘competition’ will ‘beat Apple to the punch’ Yeah, just like they did with the iPad, iPhone, and iPad.
Remember that Sony, MS and SameDung are already in millions of homes, and just waiting, hoping and praying that Apple will once again lead the way and show them what to do.
No doubt that Apple will do well, when they show people that what is now considered ‘perfectly good’ isn’t even good, much less perfect.
what does wearing apple’s pajamas imply? is that a good thing? what does apple wear when hes wearing them? ….OH, thats nasty! 🙂
Rubbish indeed. Want 90% market share? No need work hard on integration. The feature to offer is Buy 1 Get 1 Free.
You said it, mxnt41, and stated it succinctly. Rubbish, indeed!
Apple has already released several lines of *actual* products that are already crushing the competition. The iPad, iPhone, and iPod are the gold standards against which competitors mobile products are measured. And Apple’s iMac, MBP, MBA, and Mac mini lead the design space for computers.
Apple does not need a mythical product to demolish the competition. It just needs to keep producing along its current track. The “fantasy iTV” that is the source of such hyperbole could be anything from true 4K TV sets to simply an incremental iOS evolution of the existing ATV that adds apps and other functionality to its existing capabilities. I am satisfied to wait and see.
groupon on TV? so i can get annoyed by businesses that mostly suck
very rare to see a real good deal on groupon in NYC. mostly second rate businesses that don’t have customers
Groupon will soon bee dead and no one will mourn its loss.
Amen. Do I really need 2 for 1 butt wax?
I dunno, do ya? If so, call 202-BUTTWAX now!
That’s one of the stupidest pieces I’ve read in ages.
I think 90% market penetration within a few years is a bit optimistic
But who knows… People said that about the iPhone too.
I rather have a remote control where you can arrange TV-programmes and streaming apps with icons similar to the iPhone.
Yes, precisely. I’m going to spend $1,500 buying a super duper expensive Apple TV with marginal improvements over a $500 equivalent Panasonic TV to watch more commercials.
#FAIL.
but its going to have Siri so that when your kids scream it will continuously change channels. and when your kids will figure out how it works they will screw with the TV with their voice
And you’ll definitely use it to record the hundreds of other commercials you miss while you’re off doing something you don’t actually hate.?
Sounds more like something emerging from the maw of Google.
well, i suppose ‘maw’ is one word you could use.
I’d like a TV where I could EASILY find shows and program my own schedule on an iPad or computer, not scrolling through all the cable channels. Maybe have the option of asking Siri. Have a Genius option make suggestions. Maybe create the schedule on an iCal-like interface. Record shows if they aren’t always available on-demand or if I can’t be there to watch. Let me watch on my Air if I’m not at my pretty Apple TV.
Genius and TV in the same sentence. Ha ha
I don’t see where “genius” and “TV” are in the same sentence?
Intriguing….. Of impulse arm points/coupons/discounts by watching and liking a commercial, I would consider watching the ones I like and fast forwarding past the ones I don’t. What if I could click a button to dislike a commercial and in ever have to swept fast forward thru it again? (Like the thumbs down button on Pandora for a song) I WOULD pay for that ability! What if I could then pay extra to eliminate commercials for a full month or longer or just reduce the number of commercials for a price. I think the idea has merit.
The idea would have merit if it had not only a Like button, but a whole row of them with customizable labels like Eviscerate, Steam Roller, Carpet Bomb, Swarm of Killer Bees, etc. all with appropriate animations. Elvis would have loved it.
I am all about it because my family has seen three top brand TV’s fail within the past year, all which were owned for less than a year. Bad, cheap parts and low standard manufacturing processes are the problem with TV’s now. I want something made with the precision and care of an Apple product. I would pay double for a television from Apple, because the quality will ensure it holds out. On top of that, it would be amazing to have another Apple product added to the house, so all our devices can continue working well together.
I hope it is 7680×4320 retina display with some type of pixel smoothing technology to make the picture more crisp. I just hope they are offered in the right sizes: 32″, 45″, and something bigger. I will probably buy a 32″ for the bedroom and another for the office, and I would get the biggest one for the family room.
Except you wont have any channels just apps. They will take the most precision in scratching the back of your product before they send it to you. They will make sure the wifi doesnt work and light leaks through the sides of the tv. They will make sure you cant access youtube or anything incorporated with google. They will make sure their brainwashing software is included so you dont notice all the flaws and lack of shows and freedom that come with the product so you will think its something amazing, innovation, and revolutionary when really its just another ipod touch that has been stretched to 55″. You must be buying cheap ass televisions if you think they’re cheaply made. I think I trust companies that have been making televisions for over 30 years more than I trust apples stretched ipod touch.
A hate rant doesn’t do you — or anyone else — any good, whatsoever. Please change, and I mean that sincerely. Learn how to express yourself more clearly, and thing for yourself. Instead of a cliched, recycled “just a big iPod Touch” FUD.
Funny how Universal iOS App GUI’s just about always take advantage of the larger iPad screen, whereas Android tablet apps are, all too often, stretched phone apps. See? Wrong tac
Biggest iGarbage ever
Facebook is for old people. I do not want Facebook or any social networking hooks into my TV. I always turn it off in iOS and on my Mac. Social Network integration has to stop. I’m even considering dropping anything that has Social Network hooks built-in if they are not easy to turnoff and/or on by default. Currently Apple has them off by default, let’s hope that they leave them off by default.
If someone is so tied into Facebook that they want Facebook integration into their TV, I some advise for you, Stop using Facebook for a month and go out and have some real personal social interactions with real people, you’ll be a better human for it. A big plus will be that you’ll forget about Facebook and it’s tiring crap and ads. So, I repeat, get off Facebook and socialize with real people in a face to face personal way.
Eric Savitz = DUMBASS!
I’m happy with my iPad streaming BBC iPlayer (no ads!) and YouTube vids thanks.
I agree with this idea. I have not been to prison and am not wealthy so I never had cable TV. I’ve not been a Neilsen family so my input on my TV likes has never been considered. We should not forget that people like to interact with one another even to the point of commercials (Super Bowl ads discussions). I think, liking ads while watching TV, could be both fun and financially rewarding. Using your earned iLike coupons you could possible save enough to pay for your iTV.
It is amazing that so few realize that ‘social’ is the beginning of socialism.
Literally, yes, but I reject your metaphor insinuating that communicating with others leads to governmental redistribution of wealth.
What an epic load of rubbish.
At best, I _might_ tolerate commercials for the promise of some sort of reward for watching things I already like. At worst (and probably much more likely), I’ll ignore it just as I ignore much of the noise and chaff created by almost all social media: using it, the hype surrounding it, wasting large amounts of time with it, etc.
I think this guy was drunk when he wrote this delusion.
TiVo has had their “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons since they got started. Better than a simple “like,” they permit three levels of “like” or three levels of “don’t like” (as well as neutral, represented by neither up or down) and use this information to suggest additional programs you might like. It would surprise me if this feature was not patented; Apple should tread carefully here.
you know what is really lame? People endlessly coming up with ‘alternative’ versions of Samsung’s name.
Yeah, and I’ll also look forward to staring at it when it’s off.
I hate that I have ads on the iPhone that I paid for. And I hate that commercials are on cable which was established to not have commercials since you’re already paying for it.
I will NEVER like commercials.
Maybe if TVs dispensed LSD tabs with every viewing session…
“It sounds crazy – I know. Blahblahblah.”
Stop sniffing the glue, Richard Saintvilus who writes for Forbes. It damages brain cells, as you have demonstrated.
A Like button? Record commercials? Talk about manipulative social engineering! I’ll pass on any such TV, thank you. And just when does Big Brother show up?