A Few Thoughts On Mr.Jobs Hobby

That was pretty much my reaction when hearing SJ as well. Apple is most definitely struggling against an entrenched Hollywood who is doing their darndest to keep what happened to the music biz from happening to them. They hate “Empires” when it’s not one of their own.

So what can Apple do? What can SJ do to work WITH the Studios instead of being seen as their enemy?…. and still do what’s best for the consumer?…

I’ve had my ATV for nearly a year now, and to me it’s a bit of an anomaly. I love to watch HD movies, and I think it’s brilliant as a digital music/internet radio player. But it’s like having a high-performance car in the garage when there’s a shortage of gasoline.

I find myself in agreement with much of Eddie’s observations on this. But here are a few of my added views on this worthy subject:

1. I think we obsess a bit too much with the whole “hobby” thing… Let’s keep in mind that the target audience is the Wall Street crowd. Jobs is famous for approaching them in a “glass half full” mode. This is simply his way of making sure expectations are low, since we all know the worst thing you can do with the investment community is to over promise (and then fail to deliver). Some analysts think Jobs is waaaay too conservative with them, but that’s the way he wishes to play it. And few can argue about his success…

2. The other reason why this is just a “hobby” (expectations low) is that the only advantage Apple has over the other digital distribution peers is the popularity of the iTunes Store, and the broad usability and feature set of Apple TV. It seems that all the players have access to the same library of content, at similar timing… So, as long as Jobs is in the position of moderate advantage, he’ll play expectations moderately.

3. There will need to be a major shift — Blu-Ray and DVD will need to lose popularity — for digital distribution to really flourish (not to mention adequate delivery pipe capacity growth). And this will ultimately happen, but it will take time… Until then, Apple TV will not fulfill your every desire… Now, Jobs could hurry things along by capitulating to the studios’ wishes on pricing and packaging, but personally I think it’s good for us in the long run that he doesn’t (holds his vision).

4. I know from our perspective it sometimes seems it, but Apple is not held as the studios’ enemy — far from it… Apple moves the most content of any of the digital partners out there, so they love Apple. They just don’t desire the iTunes channel to acquire too much leverage and to start to set more confining terms (e.g., the NBC tiff). The content providers want to maximize their profits (big surprise…), and so they want to set the rules. Too, they would like their Blu-Ray cash cow to really bring home the bacon ;-)… I think they’ll be disappointed, given the instructive digital content customer trend…

5. I’ve been fairly satisfied with how things are moving along as far as content selection and timing goes. I mean, we have a reasonable library of HD choices, we’re getting more desirable titles with expectations being set for release dates, and such. Plus, we have the best library among the peers… And I personally don’t look at it like the gasoline shortage comparison. IMO the Apple TV is not starved for good content. We just want it sooner, yes?

6. My greatest wish is that the studio heads would quit screwing around and eliminate this idiotic back-assward situation with TV shows vs movies (purchase vs rent). I appreciate their quandary with respect to content piracy, I really do. I applaud their release of HD television content… And I understand they feel uncomfortable with unlocking rental titles from the ’safe surroundings’ of the Apple TV device. But the current situation is frustrating at best, illogical at worst… They need to resolve it (presently) to the betterment of the paying customer experience… We have the dollars, and what we want is not unrealistic.

That’s my take, FWIW…

Well put. And that last point you make may be the one thing that leads me to believe “hobby” means “2nd class citizen”. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks the current buy TV/rent Movies thing is mostly backwards… or at least only half-way there.

I want to RENT TV programs that I’d watch once, and BUY HD movies I would watch multiple times. I’m not asking to take away the current options, just add those two, and AppleTV would be a LOT closer to fulfilling all my dreams!

(well, my media-related ones anyways)