“To launch its new set-top box, Amazon turned to actor Gary Busey, who, in in a quirky promotional video, makes this declaration: ‘It’s frustrating when things don’t listen — especially high-tech things,'” Ben Pimentel reports for MarketWatch. “Amazon Fire TV, the company’s first hardware product since it rolled out the Kindle Fire tablet three years ago, is entering an increasingly competitive arena featuring such products as Roku, Apple’s Apple TV and Google Inc.’s Chromecast.”
MacDailyNews Take: Why does Roku consistently get listed first when Apple’s Apple TV leads the streaming device market? Answer: Anti-Apple bias, conscious or unconscious.
“Should those incumbent players worry? Not really, according to Forrester analyst Jim Nail, who says that, based on an examination of the device itself, Amazon Fire TV ‘is kind of a run-of-the-mill, undifferentiated offering compared to those other guys,'” Pimentel reports. “But Amazon Fire TV could have a potential advantage, he said: Amazon’s reach. ‘What Amazon has that certainly Roku and even Google don’t have are the customer relationships and the credit-card numbers of those tens of millions of people who shop with them already.'”
Pimentel reports, But outside of those customers, he said, ‘there’s nothing compelling to pick this box over those other boxes.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV offers more than competitors do.
Related articles:
Amazon Fire TV vs. Apple TV vs. Roku vs. Chromecast – April 2, 2014
Amazon launches $99 ‘Fire TV’ hoping to rival market-leading Apple TV – April 2, 2014
Apple TV sales topped $1 bilion in 2013, becoming Apple’s fastest growing hardware – February 28, 2014
Tim Cook and Apple TV: A ‘hobby’ no longer – October 7, 2013
Apple TV dominates digital media receiver market with 71% share – May 29, 2013
Amazon Fire TV looks well-engineered. But it is evolutionary, not revolutionary.
The reason Apple is taking its time preparing the next AppleTV is that it will be a revolution, not an evolution. Prepare to have your socks blown off… eventually.
Agreed, but I wouldn’t even go that far. There’s nothing here that Apple couldn’t have done two years ago.
Apple TV’s hardware and software upgrades have been minimal for a reason; Apple’s hiding their hand and will play it when they have the hardware, software, content, and services ready to go.
I believe Apple’s new vision for the Apple TV was first realized when they switched over from OS X/Intel to iOS/ARM more than three years ago. They’ve been putting the pieces together ever since then; data centers, 64-bit processor, motion tracking, content deals, etc.
I could be satisfied right now if Apple would gently pull my socks down a little tomorrow.
There’s definitely anti-Apple bias in this “reporting”. When he talks about Amazon’s reach, he fails to mention Apple, which is an order of magnitude higher; while Amazon might have tens of millions of customers and credit cards, iTunes has hundreds of millions.
As far as content sales, Amazon is a distant second to iTunes. Apple could literally undercut everyone in the industry – ya know, just like Amazon does with ebooks. Unfortunately, the DoJ would probably sue Apple for it.
Amazon could have picked a better actor to ‘talk’ to inanimate objects–Clint Eastwood.
The pundits voraciously complain of Apple not coming out with new products but no one writes anything about “Amazon Fire TV, the company’s first hardware product since it rolled out the Kindle Fire tablet three years ago,…”
That was one bizarre commercial.
Gary looks like he was out all night drinking.
To me he looks like he was out for the last 35years drinking, snorting, puffing, etc.
I’m not sure of the wisdom of using that “type” of bad boy as your spokesman.
This was a Celebrity Apprentice challenge, right? Don’t tell me Amazon actually paid for this ad?!! Where he screams “Yeahhhhh *burp* FireTV!!”??
I’ll wait to see what the tech verdict is (probably inferior to Apple, but I could be wrong).
But that commercial? Brilliant.
Those uncomfortable pauses were *just right*. The scenery-chewing? Marvelous.
Under Siege, with not one but two big-time heavies: Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones. And with Steven Seagal. What’s not to love?
A six pack of beer and a bag of Cheetos would wow Gary Busey.
Anyone figure out what the USB on the AzTV does? Will it read files and play MKV, for instance?
I wonder who at Amazon thought associating their new product with a hopelessly addicted substance abuser was a good idea. The new slogan must be “Hey look at how easy our product is to use by this human derelict, it’s gotta be a piece of cake for you!”. Brilliant.
Why not just say “Hey, we corporate big-wigs think our customers are all stupid, but buy our product anyway”.
If I was Bezos i would fire the ad agency that made this
AssTV stupid ad.