Digg founder says Apple iTV launch in September will 'change everything'

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/08/22/digg_founder_says_apple_itv_launch_in_september_will_change_everything.html

by evo_9 • 16 years ago

33 26 16 years ago

appleinsider.com

teilo2• 16 years ago

As far as I'm concerned, the only way that the new iTV is going to "change everything" is if it somehow gives you the ability to watch any episode of any show at any time, streaming, ad and hassle free. THAT I would pay for.

But giving the networks the ability to require an app as a gateway to their programming? Sorry, but that just an invitation for abuse, and begging for new ways to shove ads down our throats. Think javascript popover ads are annoying when browsing the web? The networks already abuse the screen real estate when you are just trying to enjoy a program. Imagine if they could do this in an app instead...

paul92902• 16 years ago

Sounds better then having to pay $70 a month for cable TV. When I had cable TV I never watched the majority of the channels they pushed on me.

AmitinLA• 16 years ago

And yet the $70 a month you spent was funding shows like Mad Men. Advertising is such a small part of revenues but since it's the only side the consumer sees (well, DVD sales) we see these things as game changers. The real problem to solve here is that of affiliate fees[1]. Without cable fees it's a pretty safe bet that quality programming like Mad Men wouldn't be around. Maybe we're moving that way anyway where all that's available are cheap web series, but it'd be a bummer in my opinion.

[1]http://abovethecrowd.com/2010/04/28/affiliate-fees-make-the-...

pkaler2• 16 years ago

I watched Mad Men tonight and about to catch up on Entourage. Both shows have a ridiculous amount of product placement. But the product placement works in the context of both those shows.

The game changer would be interactive iAds for each product placement.

chopsueyar• 16 years ago

I always thought about a Google-esque Adwords style bidding for product placement and localizations.

For instance, a local advertiser would be able to advertise on their local broadcast version of a tv show using CG. The local advertiser can have his/her product or logo place somewhre within the context of the tv show.

Also, this can work with larger companies. Instead of Coke or Pepsi being used by an actor, the soda can can be CG'ed, and the respective company would bid on the placement by locality (city, state, region, etc).

This would allow smaller mom & pop brands a chance to advertise within their locality.

Not sure what would happen when a show goes into syndication, though. I guess, sell new CG advertising.

Timothee• 16 years ago

After reading Kevin Rose's post, I started to think about this and realized that another thing where the app model would not be great is that in the end, nobody cares what network a program is on. The only thing that matters is the list of programs you like and want to watch.

A user would want to see an aggregate of all the programs s/he likes, not go to one app to see what's new on ABC, and another for NBC… that's where the Google TV model is interesting I suppose.

I'd think that something more like Google Reader (conceptually, not in terms of UI obviously) might be more fitting: a bunch of feeds for shows you like. You can "star" the ones you'll always want to keep around, let others disappear if too old…

To be YC-centric, it seems that the recently-launched Teevox got that right by merging listings between Netflix and Hulu.

thwarted• 16 years ago

Agreed. That all three current Law and Order series are being shown on some combination of three different cable channels, and in syndication locally, shows that the network brand doesn't matter on a per-show basis.

In fact, if it did, syndication wouldn't be successful at all. But we all still seem to be watching Cheers and Seinfeld.

theBobMcCormick• 16 years ago

Boxee does a good job with that. They've got apps with mostly map back to a particular website they're getting their streaming video from, but for TV shows and TV show like content, all the titles show up in a list of all TV shows. You can search and sort the list, or you can mark a particular series to be part of your "queue". Then new episodes of that series will always automatically appear in your "queue".

tvon2• 16 years ago

Why would an app they control be any worse than what the networks are doing now, or what Hulu does?

teilo2• 16 years ago

How about forcing you to interact with the ad before you are allowed to move on to the show?

pkaler2• 16 years ago

The original blog post: http://kevinrose.com/blogg/2010/8/21/why-apples-itv-will-cha...

parbo• 16 years ago

So, it will get rid of war and famine?

houseabsolute• 16 years ago

No, it will just make them better.

kefs• 16 years ago

Maybe Kevin Rose should work on trying to keep digg's user-base professional and on-point, site design clean and fast, and less an aggregate of sponsored links before trying to be another tech messiah/mouth piece.

rodh257• 16 years ago

Can't Google TV do all of those things as well when it is released?

Jkeg• 16 years ago

Those are pretty timid explanations for how iTV will 'change everything'. Per network applications, instead of just say, one feature set for all networks? iAds to monetize content, meaning something like ads on Hulu, or, the internet? $99, like Roku? Granted the iPhone as a remote is an excellent convenience and obvious evolution in home entertainment.

nailer• 16 years ago

Isn't this the same guy who said he'd seen the iPhone and it had two batteries and a slide out keyboard?

Edit: Yup: http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/03/kevin-rose-confirms-iphon...

billybob• 16 years ago

Your comment is a marvelous antidote to hype and rumor. Thank you, sir.

jordanmessina• 16 years ago

He also has a lot of APPL stock

adolph• 16 years ago

The article mentions other good predictions/leaks and another wrong one.

I think that even if a person had perfect product pipeline information from Apple any prediction more distant than the night before has a good chance of being wrong because there are so many last-minute points at which a product may be modified or pulled all-together. Example: the space on the PCB for a camera in the current iPod Touch.

revjx• 16 years ago

Would this be able to rival the picture quality of HD satellite tv etc?

I'd also be concerned that (in the UK at least) far too many people haven't got a decent enough broadband connection to support this kind of streaming. If the uptake is big then it'll hammer the networks, surely. Try downloading something at 6pm on a weekday using one of the big ISPs. Imagine half the country streaming HD video at once.

wmeredith• 16 years ago

No. It can't do 1080 anything.

nooneelse• 16 years ago

A 99$ TV box, and a 500$ remote control for it? So really a 99$ "make your TV an iPad peripheral" box.

chris_j• 16 years ago

If Apple do intend to launch a product called iTV then I imagine there will be trademark issues to resolve:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV

Digg founder says Apple iTV launch in September will 'change everything'

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