This weekend, I purchased a new TV – my first real foray into the world of so-called SmartTVs. My previous television was a reliable, if unspectacular display that delivered a decent picture despite being about eight years old. But having hooked up my new set, I’m not sure how often I’ll be using my Apple TV. Everything I used my Apple TV for is built into my new TV.
The Apple TV didn’t really hit its straps as a great set-top box until the fourth version. When that was released in 2015, the Apple TV gained access to the tvOS store where we could download new apps, boosting the device’s capability substantially. For me, that meant having all the streaming services I wanted as well as the local free-to-air on demand services. Suddenly, there was no need to ever use the TV antenna again – although I do keep it plugged in just in case.
The TV, a gargantuan 85-inch unit from Samsung runs its own operating system, called Tizen, and has access to an app store as well as a bunch of streaming services that Samsung has licensed. The ability to easily access all those streaming services, including Apple TV+ and Apple Music has made my Apple TV redundant.
Apple has done for the TV industry the same thing it did for the mobile phone business. It has raised the bar on what we expect. In a quote in Walter Isaacson’s excellent biography, Steve Jobs said:
“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.” No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. “It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”
Steve Jobs to Walter Isaacson
While there’s little doubt Apple has experimented with making complete TVs, the Apple TV was a better business choice. Jobs said in a company meeting that the television business was terrible as margins were tight and owners didn’t turn their devices over very often. He knew the market advantage came from making TV’s easier to use. And Apple did that with the Apple TV.
But just as the smartphone and tablet industry caught up, and even overtook in some cases, the iPhone and iPad, TV makers are doing the same. And just as the iPod nano usurped the iPod mini, and the iPhone sounded the death knell for the iPod, TV makers are doing the same to the Apple TV.
Apple has not been scared of discontinuing unsuccessful products. As well as the iPod, there’s the Apple Hi-Fi, AirPort routers and the AirPort Time Capsule, Xservers and everything from the great product cull of 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to Apple.
My Apple TV remains connected to my new TV. But the remote is stashed away and I’m not sure when I’ll pull it out again.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.