Apple and TV and App and Plus – TMO Daily Observations 2021-08-12
Dr Mac joins Kelly to chat about Apple TV, and the TV app, and TV+, and how they all sound the same even though they are totally different.
Show Notes
- Daily Observations Archive
- The Story of Apple & TV
- Which Apple One Bundle is Right For You? [Updated]
- TMO Daily Observations Twitter feed
How do you compare the AppleTV 4k HDR dolby digital box to the cheap $40 streaming sticks when those same companies sell far more similar products that are themselves $99 and those boxes are subsidized by substantial data gathering and sale of that data? Simply ready their privacy policy to find out they will try to monetize everything you watch, locations you go, even data about devices on your local network, IP and service provider information. It is spooky.
So now how much would you spend to protect yourself from that? $5/year $10/year? figure a good 5 year life on these boxes (most of mine are all still going on other tv’s) and we are already getting to essentially the same price and that box is not going to aid in Facial recognition for your homekit cameras or give you access to Fitness+ or Arcade.
When your guest went off on Now Playing as being ineffectual because of the lack of support via Netflix I just about swerved off the road. This is not an apple problem it is a netflix problem, cancel the service and make it clear why. It is the only way this is ever going to change.
So how much is are these features worth? I get that there is a market for a lower end AppleTV and I’d argue Apple should have the older HD unit selling for closer to $89 with a more basic remote and maybe a slightly nicer one at $129 that supports 4k. But I want the $250 M1X AppleTV with HomePod microphones and a faceID style camera.
I expect premium from Apple and there is no need for them to play in the $50 stick market, that is being dealt with by the basic smart TV’s for most and my 8-10 year old AppleTV’s for me.