What is Apple’s long-term goal with the AppleTV? After nearly a year and a half on the market, it’s still seems like a Steve Jobs back-burner pet project. At first glance it looks like a simple Netflix/DVD competitor, and the way Apple has marketed it so far is as an alternative way to rent or buy digital movies. Why not build more of a true living room media platform?
Movies
While I think the whole notion of “buying” digital films for $14.99 is absurd, paying $1.99 a pop for digital “rentals” is in some sense appealing to me. Currently, I’m a Netflix subscriber, paying $8.99/month for the 1-at-a-time “Unlimited” plan. Nine bucks a month is an amazing deal, assuming that I watch a movie every few days for the whole month. But that never happens. I’ll go through spurts where I’ll get DVD, watch it, return it, and repeat as quick as they send ‘em. But once in a while I lapse into a mode where I’ll get one disc over the course of 2 months. That’s an $18 rental right there. Blockbuster late fees all over again, at least from a financial standpoint.
The $1.99-per-movie rental pricing structure would mesh better with my movie watching habits. I could go through my active slew of movie watching without breaking the bank, but when I hit a movie dry spell, my wallet won’t feel it. I’m in so far with the AppleTV, but at $220 it’s a little steep. What else could they offer to rope me in?
I think the answer is an App Store for the living room.
Apps
If you buy an AppleTV, it can already become your go-to resource for movies, TV shows, and YouTube videos. What if you could get a Vimeo player app? Or a Flickr app? Or video games?
The AppleTV could become a competitor to the Wii and the big shot consoles (360/PS3) precisely because it’s a media device first and a gaming platform second. It could make its way into living rooms on merits other its gaming potential, a feature which would go unappreciated by many non-gamers who still consider them “those time wasting video games.” Sony has tried to push the Blu-ray functionality of the PS3, but I think the mass market still sees it as a video game console first… and a really expensive Blu-ray player second. If a consumer really wants Blu-ray, they can get it much cheaper elsewhere. That’s not to say the PS3 isn’t a good value. It’s still a reasonably priced Blu-ray player and advanced gaming machine. But I’m a gamer, non-gamers will see those extra dollars as a waste of money.
Gaming could carve a path to the AppleTV, but there’s an issue with input devices. The AppleTV only ships with a tiny 5 button Apple Remote. Not too friendly for complex gaming, but could work well for simple casual gaming titles like your Bejeweleds and your Peggles. However, the iPhone’s new Remote app opens up a new uncharted world of gaming possibilities. Remote allows you to pair your iPhone with either an iTunes library or your AppleTV over your local WiFi network (a la Bluetooth devices) and have full control over the software remotely. It’s rather magical to see in action. Now granted, the gaming potential is only truly fulfilled when you own both an AppleTV and either an iPhone or iPod Touch, setting the consumer back even further for the combo, but still. It’s akin to buying a really expensive Wii Remote that you can also use as your phone. With a combination AppleTV/iPhone interface, developers could create games with their own customizable control scheme on the multi-touch screen, never possible in the age of standard gamepads and peripherals. I’m imagining RPGs where my inventory is on the iPhone, adventure titles like Phantom Hourglass where gesture-based input produces action, or a flight-sim with your HUD on the phone and your plane on the TV, using the tilt to pilot your Cessna.
It’s hard to imagine how many doors that a “basic living room media center/computer” could open, but I can conjure up a lot of them, and through most of them lay opportunities aplenty. I’ve been a huge fan of Xbox Live Arcade (even with its majority of garbage titles) so any chance to get more short, sweet, and cheap games is a win for me. As I get older, the bites in which I consume my games are getting smaller and smaller. But I don’t care. Games like Rez, Braid, Portal, and Geometry Wars are plenty to satisfy my cravings. I want to see more of them.
