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The MacBook Air is cool, but I don't think it will have the long term impact of the other major announcement today... that of movie rentals via iTMS and the AppleTV.
The potential revenue stream is HUGE if they make a successful push with the AppleTV units.
They've made it so simple, it could easily do for video based media what the iPod has done for audio based media.
It may take a couple of years to *really* catch on (as the iPod did) but when it does, watch out! It already has a number of other freebie tie-ins like YouTube, flickr and movie trailers that may attract casual users (plus sharing iPhoto Albums and iMovies), so TV show and Movie rentals will be a natural extension once people are comfortable with the interface.
And frankly, people are much more likely to rent *once* a movie than they would be a music Album, which they might listen to many times over.
I bet eventually they add the ability to "re-rent" the same movie again at significant discount in the future... say $0.99 each time after you've rented it the first time at full price.
As an investor I'm encouraged at where Apple is going with this, even if as a Mac person I wish the Mac offereings this time around were a bit more compelling.
Cheers,
Jem
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Jem,
The idea of movie rentals is neat but they are far from being enough of an incentive for someone to buy an AppleTV. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know anyone who is going to buy an AppleTV even with all of the new features. Why? Simple. It's still too expensive for what it offers, it lacks basic DVR features and doesn't go far enough to reduce clutter.
Robert
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I didn't see it mentioned in the keynote, but the AppleTV lets you purchase TV shows from the iTunes store also. You aren't limited to rentals.
If you sync your AppleTV with a computer running iTunes, your purchased content will transfer to the computer's iTunes library.
Assuming that you can also purchase movies and not just TV shows, I anticipate that this will increase the impulse buying of movies.
I can also imagine them offering a discount toward purchasing the movie after you have previously rented it.
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Yes, but only if they can get some traction with AppleTV. The problem with AppleTV is that its a little esoteric for your average consumer. Apple needs to market it like it was an iPod for your TV.
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[quote Robert M]Jem,
The idea of movie rentals is neat but they are far from being enough of an incentive for someone to buy an AppleTV. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't know anyone who is going to buy an AppleTV even with all of the new features. Why? Simple. It's still too expensive for what it offers, it lacks basic DVR features and doesn't go far enough to reduce clutter.
Robert
So I'l use my Windows Media Center and watch iTunes movies on that. No need for TV. Sure one could do that with a Mac and Frontrow (guessing), but Apple's remote sucks the big one one compared to Microsoft's. I've been able to rent movies online for years with MCE. It still has its shortcomings, but the TV is next to nothing in comparison.
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I think this could be a great move for apple and consumers as well.
The only thing I would change about the whole system would be to just make a rental last for 30 days--no matter how long it takes you to watch it or how many times you want to watch it. I can think of many times that I've started watching a DVD, only to get interrupted and not have a chance to watch it until several days later. I may not ever watch the whole thing more than once, but I think I'd like more than 24 hours to finish it once I start.
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You can only rent the HD movies on Apple TV. I don't believe you can do that with iTunes + Windows Media Center... Not even sure you can do that with Mac mini, etc.
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[quote Kramerica]You can only rent the HD movies on Apple TV. I don't believe you can do that with iTunes + Windows Media Center... Not even sure you can do that with Mac mini, etc.
Ahhh, could be. My plasma isn't HD anyway, I won't be upgrading anytime soon.
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Mavic,
I'm not sure if your post is sarcastic or serious. But, if it's sarcastic then you're definitely off-base. I'm willing to bet if you ask the average consumer about purchasing TV shows and movies or renting them via the ITunes and watching them via the AppleTV, they'll still likely say, "Okay. How much does it cost?" Show them the price tag for the AppleTV and they'll lose interest pretty quickly. And, remember, the average person has no interest in watching TV shows and movies on their computer. They want to watch it on their TV and not need _another_ big gadget to do it. a little dongle, maybe but something like the AppleTV? Nopes.
Robert
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Robert M (and others)
I totally agree that it is not yet all things to all people, but like the initial iPod, it has all the elements needed to *eventually* evolve into a product that dominates this particular market.
I bought an AppleTV (refurb) for my dad for Christmas, and quite frankly I was a bit underwhelmed. Some of the features were cool, but definitely had some rough edges. With the improvements indicated in this "revision" I think they've made great progress in making it a lot more useful.
I bought it for him so he could stream/sync his many photos to his older big screen TV. Being able to rent/buy movies on a whim will be a big plus for him and my mom, since they are at least 40 minutes (round trip) from the nearest video rental store.
Yes... there is plenty of room for improvement, but the overall concept (and market size) makes it possible that Apple could have a real winner on their hands, if they just handle it right.
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