DigitalSandbox

Halloween is now behind us. That means that Thanksgiving is barrelling down on us. And of course, you know what that means?that’s right?time to get ready for MWSF ‘07. While the rumor mill is in full swing with tantilizing bits of info about Core 2 Duo MacBooks (released before I could finsih this) and such there is very little swirling about MWSF.

Of course, this year Apple has already told us a bit of what is coming. They have pre-announced the iTV device, and of course, a more up-to-date version of Leopard will be on hand. I find the media distribution end of what Apple is doing very interesting. To that end, I have compiled this list of what I think we can see (or should see) from Apple in this arena.

iTV, iTunes, and more

With the pre-release announcement of the iTV, Apple made it very clear that they are serious about media distribution. They want to provide an end-to-end experience for acquiring and experiencing media. The iTV is the last piece of that puzzle. Apple has already conquered the handheld market with the iPod. Computer based viewing, while not a lock for Apple, is already in hand. That left the TV as the final frontier.

iTV will allow us to bridge that last gap and bring our iTunes Store media to the TV. But with the online video distribution market getting crowded &em; and fast &em; Apple needs to step up the game plan in several key areas. Microsoft’s recently announced Xbox Live Video service &em; which actually looks really good &em; serves as a blueprint for what Apple needs to do in order compete.

Movies

When it comes to movies, I don’t think that Apple can continue the “we sell movies” approach. It is a model that works exceedingly well for music. The problem I see is that I &em; and I would argue most people &em; generally don’t feel the same way about video. Sure I have a collection of movies at home. And there are some movies that I watch over and over. But by and large, I don’t consume video in the same way I do music.

Apple needs to add a rental policy to the movie store. As it stands now, I have not spent one single dollar on movies. $10-$15 is too much for me. I only buy movies that I really want to keep. And if I really want to keep them I am more likely to get the DVD with all the extras. But rentals are another matter. I would probably rent at least one movie a week if the price was right. Let me watch it X times or for X number of days and then have it delete itself. I have no problem with that model whatsoever. And if I decide to buy it, just let me pay the difference. All Apple needs to do is send a different code to the file to unlock it. I’ve already downloaded it.

TV Shows

TV shows are similar to movies. I actually prefer to download the shows I watch rather than watching them on TV. The reasons are varied, but I enjoy the ability to watch them on my own time. That said, I don’t see a lot of need to keep them once I am done with them. But rental fees for TV seems silly to me as well. You can buy it for $2 so rental would have to be like 25�-50�, which is too small to mess with. This is the market that I think having a subscription service makes sense.

It is really no different than cable. With cable (or satellite) you pay a fee and you can watch whatever you want when it is on. Why not pay a fee and you can watch X number of episodes per month. Ala Carte cable service has been talked about for years, but iTunes has the chance to make it a reality. If they did this, it would totally make up for the fact that iTV appears to have no TV Tuner.

There’s No D, like HD

The recent bump from iPod-resolution (320�240) to near standard definition (640�480) quality was a good first step. We all know that HD is the future of media. The FCC is mandating that it be adopted, everyone wants to get an HD set, and more and more content is becoming available. And now Microsoft is unleashing HD downloads int he Xbox Live Video feature. That pretty much forces Apple’s hand on the issue. Apple has to offer HD downloadable content or Microsoft’s combination of Xbox Live (already connected to your TV and the internet), and Zune becomes a potent alternative to Apple’s computer with iTunes, iTV, and iPod combination.

Ande it shouldn’t be too hard for them to add it. They already have the best codec for HD delivery in H.264. They have the customer base already. Their handheld device is already entrenched in the market. All they need is more movie studios and an increased resolution. THey don’t even need to go all the way to 1080p. 720p would be enough for all but the most avid HD snob.

Wrapping Up

If Apple pulls this off, I think that not only do they maintain their dominance over Microsoft in the digital media arena, but they insert themselves into the ranks of companies like Comcast. They have a real opportunity to become something more than the iPod company that sells some stuff to put on the iPod. They can become the source for your entertainment needs. Of course, that opens up a new can of worms, because if you think that Comcast et al will allow an upstart like Apple to nose in on their monopoly without a fight you live in a fairy tale.