Like many young people, I try to stay up to date with the
newest technology and ways to consume media. This past September, Apple
unveiled a group of products including an updated iPhone, a larger iPad and a
brand new Apple TV. On the subject the new TV device, Tim Cook has said: “This
is the foundation of the future of TV,”. His claim makes sense when you
consider how the device fits into the rest of the Apple ecosystem—but I’m not
100% sure I agree with Mr. Cook after thinking about how we already ‘watch’ TV.
Here’s where I start to find fault with the new Apple TV:
As someone who quite enjoys a good Netflix or HBO binge—I’d
say we’re already experiencing the ‘future’ of TV. This isn’t to say that I
doubt the Apple TV or any of it’s functions—I’m just unsure of what makes this product
as special as the executives at Apple want us to think. Admittedly, it’s cool
that you can say “Hey Siri, what did they say?” into the remote to rewind 15
seconds and re watch a scene with subtitles but I’m not sure how useful this
will be in reality. Oddly, this ‘futuristic’ TV device doesn’t support 4k
resolution… a bizarre exclusion if you ask me considering that ultra high
definition video is most definitely the
future of television.
If I sound unnecessarily critical, hear me out. The new
Apple TV is... well… boring. I was honestly prepared to really like (and
probably purchase at some point) this new device considering how revolutionary
this product was rumored to be. Simply put, I expected more given that this is
coming from a company that reported over $50 billion dollars in revenue last
quarter. Personally, I’m hoping Apple has a few tricks up it’s sleeve with future
software updates in the areas of 4k output and live streaming.
This whole discussion of the future of TV got me thinking
about how ‘watching’ TV has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. I
remember as a kid being excited when we first got digital cable—now we have effectively
every show available on demand on our computers, smart TVs and set top boxes. Having seen these changes and the new TV products on the market, I'm very excited to see how watching TV change in the next 10 to 20 years.
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