Why are apps the future of TV?<p>Why should TVs have a future?<p>Why develop another ecosystem just for an larger output device?<p>The TV—or I would rather call it 'large screen' will have a future as a dumb device which will be employed by other devices just for outputting content (best example is Chromecast). Yes, there still will be TV apps from manufacturers, from Apple and from whoever who needs to push new 'marktes' but they won't be able to build relevant ecosystems. The TV with its limited remote-control based UI patterns is too inflexible compared to a touch interface like that from a smartphone. So why not just let the smartphone be the TV's brain—and again we talk about Chromecast.
The best thing that could happen to the Apple TV was the small collapse in media stocks over the summer. That was a turning point for media companies to seriously consider new over the top services that bypass cable, until then they weren't terribly worried about cord cutters. Apple's leverage has gone up and just like with the music industry, they get to ride in as the white knight rather than being feared as a barbarian at the gate.<p>I should add that you shouldn't expect to save much money from this, you'll likely end up spending the same or more trying to recreate everything you watch (the savings will only be to someone who watches a very small amount of content). The economics of bundling are almost impossible to beat. The difference will be improvements in user experience and enabling new experiences entirely (see the QVC app).<p>This isn't necessarily bad for cable either, their content acquisition costs will go down and the ISP business will only grow.
Can't happen soon enough. It's infinitely frustrating to load up a channel's Apple TV app, only to have to sign-in with my cable provider. I'll watch ads! I'd even pay a small subscription for certain channels. Just let me pick what show to watch and when. I feel like it's just these old media deals that are holding everything back.
Since Disney owns ABC, and ABC is a co-owner of the Hulu web app for watching TV and movies, it seems to me that Disney already has positive experience in this space.<p>BTW, Hulu with no commercials for $12/month is really nice.