I'm probably being short-sighted, but I fail to see what else could you add to a TV that you couldn't already by attaching some device to it.. it's like saying Jobs will revolutionize the computer monitor. It's just a display.
1) iPhone as remote: First, they would probably allow iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches to be used as remotes. That would be the recommended use case, and in fact they've already got this with the new iOS5 Airplay:
2) TVs are lean back: Next, the key question is: what is the difference between a TV and a computer monitor? They are converging in many ways, but probably the most important differences are that a TV is lower res, bigger, with less control over content, and situated at a distance. It's a lean back experience as opposed to a lean forward one. So whatever you do with TV has to focus on the lean back/remote control experience. The Airplay link above seems like a real key to this, to make the iPhone the ultimate remote.
3) Show-specific remote control apps: In fact, given that the iPhone's display is programmable, you could make it a responsive remote that changes its UI in response to what's on the screen. So for example, if you are watching the Office, your iPhone's remote app could show
the top rated episodes of all time, with comments next to them. Tap that episode to watch it.
Going further with this, basically you could integrate the show website with the remote for a kind of "show specific app remote". You'd want to make this something that wasn't too much of a distraction while watching, but that you used to quickly get to the good stuff or learn more about a particular actor or fact -- or product -- in the show. For season long serial dramas, the remote might also show which previous episodes you should have watched to understand what's on the screen.
4) iTunes+iMovie for independent film monetization: TV content is programmable and you could supply that with iTunes. Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube are also potential content providers.
It might be more interesting if iTunes opened up "show development" in the same way that the iPhone opened up "app development". Make iMovie and iTunes really, really tightly integrated such that it's now incredibly easy for anyone to develop a TV show, push it out to everyone, and monetize it through iTunes.
While you're at it, integrate GarageBand and iTunes to do the same for music. Get all the bands which were internet savvy enough to set up on Myspace and attract visitors, and do the Amazon disintermediation strategy. Basically, allow bands and independent filmmakers to monetize without Hollywood and the record industry.
5) iTV Genius recommendations: one of the most interesting concepts with your super remote would be a smart clicker that would not just change the channel, but would be like a Zite for TV. With a deep knowledge of what you liked and what you didn't like, it'd almost certainly bring up something good.
6) Lean back applications: iTV could also be a deployment point for "lean back apps" beyond standard TV fare which are meant to be controlled with the remote. These could be Keynote presentations, educational presentations, or basically new kinds of apps that are meant to be interacted with at a distance through a smart remote. Again, iOS5's Airplay integration will be the first preview of these sorts of apps.
7) A true universal remote: If people get accustomized to this sort of thing, they'll expect a location-aware remote control interface to a lot of physical objects. This has a ton of potential. Not just for garage door openers and automobiles, but for restaurants, ticket vendors, home automation, and the like. Lockitron sees some of this potential already, I think.
This is just for starters. There's a lot they could do.
They won't use the iPhone as a remote. It's a personal device that lives in your pocket. The remote is a household device that lives on the coffee table. And you can't use a touchscreen while looking at something else.
The interface will be something magical, like a Wiimote. In fact, it may be exactly like a Wiimote. Whatever it is, it will be great for using an on-screen interface, and also for games. Yep, I can't see them making a TV that isn't a gaming platform.
But Apple did revolutionize the computer monitor, by permanently attaching it to a computer and thus effectvely making it not exist.
Whatever they have in mind for the television will similarly be not about adding things, but about taking things away. They will simplify it in a way that geeks will consider a downgrade while opening up a world of possibilities for mere mortals.
You're right, the 'television' is just a display, but the concept of 'TV' which most of us consider is the entire ecosystem of content, delivery and consumption.
To try to give you some context, think back to 2005, and question 'how can you revolutionize a phone? It's just a speaker and a microphone'. Of course, there had already been inroads into making your phone much more than a phone, just as set-top boxes and other connected devices have added capabilities to your television.
I don't think we'll see a 'rebirth' of television so much as we'll see television joining mobile, tablets and computers in the middle.
Really, the revolution of the phone was making it more like a computer, but more portable. The revolution of the television I suspect will be the same, but less portable. Just like the portability of the phone expanded the things we used our phones for, a less portable large screen product could expose similar capabilities.
The latest generation of microprojectors would make more sense than really big displays. Imagine buying something roughly the size of an AppleTV or Mac Mini which also is the television - you just point it at a white wall or sheet or screen for a nearly arbitrarily-sized screen.
I use a projector tv at home now but it's a pain to configure because it's designed to work with too many kinds of input. Integrate a more compact and elegantly designed projector with iTV, make iPad and iPhone your control surfaces but download content from the cloud - it could work. And unlike the big flatscreen, it'd be easy to take to the Apple Store for service/diagnostic if need be.
sure, but the success of the ipad, to me, shows that Apple is now more of a luxury marketer than anything else. People would buy an Apple TV for the same reason people pay more for a BMW. If Apple were to come out with a stylish looking TV, built in DVR and Bluray player, with easy WiFi connectability, and cloud storage of favorite shows/movies, and a streaming service for any movie or tv show you want to watch (which Apple can do with content providers because of its heft), and make it so simple your grandma could do it, then I am confident it would be such a success that their TV unit would become their greatest revenue generator by far.
No, a touchscreen tv would be horrible. That goes back to the RCA days where you had to get up and go to the tv to change the channels using the knob.
There's nothing wrong with the remote, just that it is starting to get very confusing to use (too many buttons). If Apple can find a way to make the modern remote less complex that would be a step in the right direction.
Sorry, just noticed this. Okay - how about this: organising your screen with various different views of the same sports match. So imagine you're watching a game of Rugby and "sports broadcasts of the future", given they have access to digital TV channels that are far less restricted by physical bandwidth, broadcast continuous streams of the coach, the bench, the score board, the commentators, the crowd and different camera angles on different streams, as well as the main "professionally edited" stream. You drag windows around and resize them to organise the various channels you're interested in into a custom viewing configuration.
1) iPhone as remote: First, they would probably allow iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches to be used as remotes. That would be the recommended use case, and in fact they've already got this with the new iOS5 Airplay:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/airplay.html
2) TVs are lean back: Next, the key question is: what is the difference between a TV and a computer monitor? They are converging in many ways, but probably the most important differences are that a TV is lower res, bigger, with less control over content, and situated at a distance. It's a lean back experience as opposed to a lean forward one. So whatever you do with TV has to focus on the lean back/remote control experience. The Airplay link above seems like a real key to this, to make the iPhone the ultimate remote.
3) Show-specific remote control apps: In fact, given that the iPhone's display is programmable, you could make it a responsive remote that changes its UI in response to what's on the screen. So for example, if you are watching the Office, your iPhone's remote app could show the top rated episodes of all time, with comments next to them. Tap that episode to watch it.
Going further with this, basically you could integrate the show website with the remote for a kind of "show specific app remote". You'd want to make this something that wasn't too much of a distraction while watching, but that you used to quickly get to the good stuff or learn more about a particular actor or fact -- or product -- in the show. For season long serial dramas, the remote might also show which previous episodes you should have watched to understand what's on the screen.
4) iTunes+iMovie for independent film monetization: TV content is programmable and you could supply that with iTunes. Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube are also potential content providers.
It might be more interesting if iTunes opened up "show development" in the same way that the iPhone opened up "app development". Make iMovie and iTunes really, really tightly integrated such that it's now incredibly easy for anyone to develop a TV show, push it out to everyone, and monetize it through iTunes.
While you're at it, integrate GarageBand and iTunes to do the same for music. Get all the bands which were internet savvy enough to set up on Myspace and attract visitors, and do the Amazon disintermediation strategy. Basically, allow bands and independent filmmakers to monetize without Hollywood and the record industry.
5) iTV Genius recommendations: one of the most interesting concepts with your super remote would be a smart clicker that would not just change the channel, but would be like a Zite for TV. With a deep knowledge of what you liked and what you didn't like, it'd almost certainly bring up something good.
6) Lean back applications: iTV could also be a deployment point for "lean back apps" beyond standard TV fare which are meant to be controlled with the remote. These could be Keynote presentations, educational presentations, or basically new kinds of apps that are meant to be interacted with at a distance through a smart remote. Again, iOS5's Airplay integration will be the first preview of these sorts of apps.
7) A true universal remote: If people get accustomized to this sort of thing, they'll expect a location-aware remote control interface to a lot of physical objects. This has a ton of potential. Not just for garage door openers and automobiles, but for restaurants, ticket vendors, home automation, and the like. Lockitron sees some of this potential already, I think.
This is just for starters. There's a lot they could do.