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DirecTV CEO Scoffs At Competition From Apple TV
theodp writes "In a move that evokes memories of Steve Ballmer's initial pooh-poohing of the iPhone threat, DirecTV Chairman Michael White downplayed the Apple TV hype, expressing doubts that 'Apple's interface will be so much better than DirecTVs' that people will be willing to pay for an extra box. So, will White's statement — 'It's hard to see (it) obsoleting our technology' — come back to haunt him?"
If you only watch 2 or 3 TV shows regularly, is it more expensive than a DirecTV package?
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
At one time hooked to our TV was a DirecTV box only. Today we have (in order of usage):
- Apple TV. This is what the kids hit first when looking for something to watch. Mostly Netflix cartoons, our Vimeo home videos, and our Photo Stream. We have never purchased or rented a program from Apple!
- XBox with Kinect for a gaming fix.
- Old re-purposed Dell. This is full of all the DVD's I did not want my kids destroying (locked safely away, and yes we do own them), and a way to access anything on the net the first two don't.
- A real antenna. Sports look horrible on my friends HDTV with all the compression! (needs fed through the computer... someday).
I would be OK with just the first two if Apple would open the interface up for more content. I would happily pay a small ($1-5) monthly fee for channels such as Discovery, Science, etc. I'm guessing this will only happen once these channels are replaced by new content producers that are 'net only.
The "PC" guys figured out that the best phone wasn't a complex phone but a small screen computer. Maybe they are also figuring that the best TV isn't a complex TV but a big screen computer.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
...I've been a directv subscriber since around 1994 when they had 50,000 customers and have their current HD DVR technology.
Pro's: nice picture quality, lots of channels, plenty of downloadable shows.
Cons: Cant stream anything except youtube from a search. No netflix. No hulu. Have to download all shows which can take quite a while and can only start viewing when you have buffered a lot. Most hardware platforms are slower than molasses going uphill on a cold monday morning, and if your brand new HR24 craps out, chances are they'll ship you a replacement HR 20/21/22 that are basically too slow to use. You hit a button on the remote and a while later something happens. Completely opposed to and unsupporting of anything coming through the box that isn't directv supplied and branded.
In short, unacceptable for 2012, poised for a major faceplant from someone elses set top box. Obstructionism and protectionism only work until someone has something as good for less money that works better. I don't think thats Apple TV because I can't see anyone seriously spending a couple of bucks per tv show. Netflix and hulu are incomplete. But as soon as someone puts out a streaming package with full sports, all local broadcast and pretty much everything I can get from directv minus the big dish and tons of wires and little boxes for under $100...directv will start hemorrhaging money and subscribers.
Having had the chance to speak to a number of directv senior and middle management, they consider the customer a barely necessary evil and have absolutely no idea as to how to treat customers. When you're the best show in town, you can get away with that.
iTunes is fine if it has what you watch.
As far as TV goes, there is very little you cannot get between iTunes and Netflix.
Even HBO is present, though on substantial delay (1 year wait for game of thrones on iTunes).
But if you are simply wiling to wait a while for TV shows there is almost no gap. And even for current stuff if you throw in Hulu you'd probably only be missing HBO.
So basically, all Apple has to do is bribe HBO, and get Hulu working with Apple TV to give users a box that should make DirectTV worry... that and support either OTA HD or some other way to get live sports (the real gap at the moment between the hell of cable/satellite TV boxes and freedom).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley