Tom Butts / 10.01.2012 05:00PM
Remote Possibilities
Apple TV keeps it simple
As Cupertino prepares
its fall
campaign of
new product releases,
the buzz around the
rumored forthcoming
“Apple TV” has reached
new heights of absurdity.
Recently crowned “the
world’s most valuable
company,” (again), Apple
has kept such a clamp on any proprietary
information being released on this still-mythical
product that I think even the CIA could
take a few pointers.
Six months ago, analysts were convinced
that the “new” Apple TV would be
an HDTV set released by the end of this
year. Recently though, speculation has
turned towards the idea that this so-called
Apple TV actually already exists in the
form of the $99 Apple TV box, which the
late Steve Jobs referred to as a “hobby.” Of
course, it was the release of Walter Isaacson’s
Steve Jobs biography last year that set
off the rumor-sphere with the now-famous
line that Apple had finally “cracked the
code” on the future of television.
Such speculation was fueled by a recent
report in The Wall Street Journal that
Apple is “in talks” with the nation’s largest
cable providers to allow consumers to use
a “set-top box” to access television content,
both canned and live. “The talks represent
Apple’s most ambitious
crack at infiltrating the living
room after years
of trying,” the paper
said. Whether
the device would
be an entirely new
box or a souped-up
version of the
existing product
is the big question.
When it comes
to predicting the
future of Apple TV,
I’ll leave the analysis
to the analysts.
What I’d like to
focus on instead is
that most humble
of accessories that
comes with the current Apple TV—of which
I am already a user and a fan—the humble
remote.
 |
 |
| Which would you prefer to use to control your TV? (size not to scale) |
The Apple TV remote reflects Apple’s
software-focused philosophy. With only
three buttons, it is the personification of simplicity,
especially when you compare it to
today’s mega-button cable TV remote. Apple
has combined the clean look of its hardware
with the power of its icon-based menus to
present a streamlined,
less-cluttered content
menu that simplifies navigation.
It’s not perfect by
any means, as many users
will attest to the clunkiness
of using the remote
to enter characters on the
screen, but it’s still an improvement
over old technology.
Last month, news of
an Apple patent that bypasses
the remote in favor
of automated program
(and commercial skipping)
navigation based
on a user’s preferences
surfaced. However, I don’t
think this would negate
the use of hardware entirely—
especially if pay-TV providers want
to maintain an ad-driven environment. Many
consumers will still want the security and reliability
of a remote. And others simply may
not want Apple to know too much.
In addition to content, navigation is perhaps
the key to unleashing the potential
of over-the-top TV. And the idea of a single
remote that combines all the functions of
interacting with the TV set fits in well with
Apple’s goals, especially if it wants to integrate
the Apple “eco-system” in the home.
Whether the final navigation scheme is
voice-driven by Siri, or controlled via an iPad
or iPhone (which can already be done), or
user preferences, bringing such software-based
capabilities to the simple remote may
be one of the missing ingredients for TV’s
future success.