Forbes: Why is Apple TV a Flop?


Apple CEO Steve Jobs appears to have the Midas touch: iPod, iPhone, the Macintosh range - all have turned to gold.

Except, as Forbes argues, one of the newest additions to Apple's line-up: Apple TV.

To be fair, the author is not a Microsoftie, wedded to Windows; rather, he's the owner of an MBP, several iPods and an iPhone. But he points out several flaws in the current iteration of Apple TV.

First, the original HD was too small: 40GB - barely enough to hold 50 standard-definition hours of content. Second, Apple opted to make it a set-top storage box, rather than a PVR. Third, there was originally no YouTube (but that was fixed, quickly). Fourth, Apple's profit margins were way down, as the company sought to keep it cheap(ish), even though the internals cost Apple far too much. That doesn't give Apple much incentive to push it.

Analysis: We could add another factor: Apple TV's marketing has been drowned in iPhone publicity.

Apple TV is, in fact, filled with potential (it is, after all, the cheapest Mac on the market - it runs a full version of OS X. Yes, you can hack the USB port. Yes, you can add a more capacious hard drive.

Now I happen to be looking for a new DVR, as the old one died. They're cheap, if you're looking for a disc-recordable-only model. They also don't cost a heap if you want an internal hard drive.

But add the ability to record to Apple TV and, just maybe, add a slot or top-loading DVD recorder/player, and now we're talking turkey. That way, it becomes everything in one: it records TV, plays DVD, plays iTS content, plays YouTube. Hook it up to your stereo system and play MP3 or audio CDs (yes, we know; you could use your iPod for that too, but we're talking the convenience of playing any optical disc here)

Go further: let it talk to iLife apps, like iMovie and iDVD. Pull shows off Apple TV and edit them on your Mac (most likely) or Windows PC (less likely).

We know, we know: Apple wants to make dough by selling iTS shows, rather than having you record them with a PVR. But at $300 per Apple TV, conceivably it could be as big a money spinner as iPod.

Again, we reiterate - it's potentially a killer box. But it should be able to everything you want and interface seamlessly with your Mac. Apple knows better than anyone that it has to innovate and leave the competition trailing in its wake. Consumers grasp, intuitively, that iPod and iPhone are better than anything else out there. They're still to be convinced by Apple TV.