Replies to post #76153 on Apple Inc (AAPL)

[yofal]

Roni: I like that they've removed the reliance on a separate computer and moved the whole experience into one, cheap(er) device (like, iPod cheap).

Pricing seems favourable to me, as long as the convenience/elegance/experience is there, via reasonably quick downloads/playback and selection.

While the HD isn't 1080 high, it is somewhat better than DVD, and maybe offers enough oomph to tip the scales for curious owners of pricey big screens.

Apple won't likely have the benefit of the head start they did with the music biz, so it's hard to say if a cheaper web-enabled service will prove more agile, but there sure aren't any obvious online leaders out there yet. Netflix maybe, if they move their distribution to primarily online.

The torrent downloaders will likely continue to "borrow" so no news sales there, but the hacker types may still be interested in the device to simplify this pursuit.

[Tex]

re aTV

Without the content, it was hard to see the market. With the content, who knows. I kinda think Apple would have a better shot combining the aTV with the Time Capsule product, so it would get the movie-viewing platform into more households. As it is, you really have to want to put this stuff into your home entertainment center in order to buy it.

I was sure surprised at the scale of Apple's music business, so I won't pretend to have the real pulse of content buyers, and I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised about movie-related sales. The fact that folks are selling BluRay with made-for-iPod content on them, and Apple has tech for borrowing other computers' optical media readers, show an interesting path forward for aTV and related content.

I think the kicker is this: if a household sets up an account with a credit card and a movie player, folks will get into the habit of clicking for a download. I saw a specimen of this myself. I gave a teen an iTS gift card for XMas and, although she had been given a DVD of a movie she wanted to own, she wasn't willing to jump through the hoops to encode the DVD for use on her iPod, and thus spent iTS gift card credit on the exact same movie in order to get it on her iPod. I think teens will drive a lot of sales in this space in households that set it up. The question remains: what can Apple to do increase the likelihood of someone actually setting it up in their household?

And that, I dunno. Is $229 cheap enough? Will access to HD content mean as much, now that the BluRay/HD-DVD conflict appears over? Is it just too late?

On the other hand, CPU sales share and growing relevance in the handheld device market promise some interesting future news.

Hmm. Does Apple have worldwide availability on the movie rentals? Do HD-DVD and BluRay have the equivalent of DVD region codes? Interesting stuff.

Take care,
--Tex.

[KCMW]

AppleTV/rental ambivalence...

I can't really get worked up about it, just not my thing. I would have been interested if they made a deal with the providers to cable/satellite for shows, but nothing there.

Buy unique HW to rent movies? The 24 hour limit (one play begins) seems restrictive. I would think people would prefer Netflix, keep it until you are done, use any DVD player, then a couple days for your next one.

So we will have to see if almost-instant gratification will make some $ for Apple.

? - I read that the software update is available for current users, but does that update make the current ATV capable of DL w/o a computer? That was not clear to me.

-KCMW