How Apple TV differentiates itself from other players

Michael Gartenberg | March 19, 2007, 04:04 PM

While the world waits for the iPhone, there's going to be a lot of buzz as Apple appears to be ready to ship Apple TV any day now. Some folks have wondered what the impact will be, given there are already a number of devices with similar functions on the market. We know from our research, that while consumers rank the ability to get content from their PC over to their TV sets as highly desirable in terms of something they'd like to do, it's actually pretty low on the list in terms of an activity they're actually engaged in. That type of gap between aspiration and activity is the kind of vacuum that opportunity is made from. No doubt, Apple didn't invent this category of device but they did focus on five areas that makes what they've done stand out among the other players on the market. Yes, other vendors could have done the same but as with the iPod, they didn't.

1. Ownership of the network - You've heard me rant about this before but the home network is a mess. Once you talk about moving beyond the basic utilitarian function of sharing an internet connection things break down pretty quickly. That's why it's important that Apple has taken ownership of the home network. You don't need a Macintosh running 802.11n or a new Airport Extreme that likewise runs the new protocol to make things work. If you're comfortable going it alone, that's fine. Apple, however, does offer a complete end to end solution which they will support and take ownership of issues that might result. I can't downplay how important this is, consumers can buy knowing there's a script they can adhere to and make stuff work.

2. Be True to the UI - There's a two different user experiences vying for users attention, the two foot experience of the mouse and PC and the ten foot experience for consuming content in the living room.
They key is that Apple TV understands the difference. Sure, you can hook up a Mac mini to your TV (or any other PC for that matter) but there's still a disconnect in the experience. PCs were meant to be used with a mouse and keyboard and PC interfaces were designed for a two foot and not a ten foot experience. Yes, you can go back and forth between them in either Front Row or use the Media Center shell on Windows but you're still forced to move back and forth between two worlds that essentially collide. While that will be a perfectly fine approach for many folks, it's far more seamless to the masses to let the PC stay where it is, and be used to create content, purchase new content and overall manage it (along with other traditional PC tasks best handled in the traditional manner) and use the ten foot UI for the best purpose, namely consuming content (whether that's pictures, video or music) in the living room.

3. Keeping things in Sync and across platforms - That 40gb hard disk is really important. It means that not only can I stream content but also keep things in sync which creates even better performance and that translates in greater user satisfaction. Likewise, the ability to run Apple TV through iTunes on a Windows machine shows Apple understands the market. I suspect that using a Macintosh will yield a tighter result but that's part of the core message of the Mac (and a discussion for another post). Suffice it to say, as the iPod has emerged into a hardware platform, iTunes itself is becoming a platform of sorts and taking on the role of a software digital hub that renders the larger market share of the Windows market less relevant.

4. Attention to detail - When it comes to consumer electronics, success or failure can often be measured in millimeters, both literally and figuratively. This is where Apple TV shines, in attention to detail. Most of the devices currently on the market forgo some of the basic details, like HDMI support. Apple understands these issues, so while HDMI might not be of super interest to everyone today, Apple knows that among those folks, it's a huge deal and will likely be super important to the mainstream folks buying in the near future. It's attention to stuff like this that separates this device from the others.

5. Access to first class content - Sounds like a no brainer but this is another place where folks get it wrong. The fact that Apple TV is tied directly into the iTunes economy means there's a wealth of content available for it starting on day one. Both in terms of my own content collection (already nicely integrated into iTunes) and all the music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, video podcasts that are native to iTunes. I suspect that's only the beginning. There's a couple of obvious ways Apple can extend some of this stuff and I fully expect to see more of this story told in 07.

Look for a full review of Apple TV here over the next few days.