A post by Christopher Breen at Macworld addresses an old friend of mine, the Apple TV, and the Fox/Apple movie rental deal:
The days of the Apple TV as hobby are about to end as the other shoe dropsâthe one that brings rich content directly from the studios to you. While Apple could easily unveil some kind of upgraded Apple TV that offers more storage, faster connectivity, and 5.1 surround sound, the notion of it as a serious device, one that threatens the likes of NetFlix and Blockbuster, could take hold.
I agree with Christopher that content is king. The release of the AppleTV last January/February seems strange, like a half finished plan or as if something didn’t materialize that Apple thought would.
Perhaps there was a deal for content that didn’t work out or even be that there was far too many demands for internal developmental resources, as evidenced by the delay of OS X Leopard (10.5) until October 2007. Or perhaps it was simply a mistake.
Whatever reason, the Apple TV has failed to live up to it’s potential. But perhaps as Christopher states, we need to wait for the other shoe to drop.
It’s taken them a long time to remove that other shoe, but if it’s going to happen it shouldn’t be much longer.
If that other shoe will drop it’ll be apparent at the upcoming MacWorld Conference and Expo, January 14-18 2008, San Francisco.
Personally, I would only give it a 50/50 chance of happening.