| Apple TV will help decentralise television |
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| Written by Alex Singleton | |
| Wednesday, 10 January 2007 | |
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A recent issue of Time magazine highlighted the massive change in the media that is happening thanks to new technology. YouTube, bought last year by Google for $1.65bn, allows ordinary people, equiped with their home computer, a camcorder, and software like iMovie, to distribute their own home-made programs, fundamentally shifting power away from broadcasters like the BBC. Of course, we all like professionally produced programming like Curb Your Enthuasiasm on HBO or movies from Paramount, but the problem is that watching them when a programme controller at the BBC or ITV decides we should watch them is often just too much hassle.
The good news is that yeserday Steve Jobs demonstrated a new product, the Apple TV. Available next month, it will allow you to download programmes and films off the internet and then wirelessly watch them on your television in high definition, cutting traditional TV channels out of the equation. Apple has signed up Disney and Paramount to provide content through its iTunes Music Store, and I'm sure that other programme producers will also sign up soon. Of course, movies won't need to be bought specifically from the iTunes store, and some I'm sure some will use file sharing services to get the content. Google's CEO is on Apple's board, so it wouldn't surprise me if we see some special integration between YouTube and Apple's iTunes software. We are witnessing a fundamental shift away from the old world of limited broadcasting spectrum, with programme times set in stone, to a world in which people can enjoy the programmes they want to watch at they time that suits them. And television is becomming more global - I find myself increasingly wanting to watch Bollywood and European films, and America's HBO programming over the Beeb's output. This globalisation and greater diversity in television will increase the pressure on the BBC to become self-financing, rather than relying on taxpayer subsidy. |
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