Comments on: Blockbuster and the Democratization (or not) of Settop Boxes http://blog.whyos.com/2008/11/blockbuster-and-the-democratization-or-not-of-settop-boxes/ Games as Business…and vice versa Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:37:16 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Peter Hanley http://blog.whyos.com/2008/11/blockbuster-and-the-democratization-or-not-of-settop-boxes/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Peter Hanley Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:09:53 +0000 http://blog.whyos.com/?p=48#comment-17 The thing that surprises me though is that Apple seems to be in the best position (again) to win this hands down, and for the exact same reason as every time before this – "not invented (or hosted, or sold) here" syndrome – it looks to me like they'll lose. AppleTV is by far the most attractive of all these boxes that I've seen – it's a cheap-ass Mac Mini ($249) that could play every thing available on the internet right now – if apple would let Adobe (Flash) and Microsoft (Silverlight) in, they could instantly support Hulu, Netflix, etc. Would they lose some iTunes store sales? Sure. But they'd sell a ton more units, which would likely translate into more iTunes store sales… and if the AppleTV becomes to the TV set what the iPod became to the pedestrian, then the iPod touch/iPhone (aka the AppleTV remote) becomes that much more embedded in the base. But they won't, so the discussion is moot. If only a set-top box came along that was actually really open. The thing that surprises me though is that Apple seems to be in the best position (again) to win this hands down, and for the exact same reason as every time before this – “not invented (or hosted, or sold) here” syndrome – it looks to me like they’ll lose.

AppleTV is by far the most attractive of all these boxes that I’ve seen – it’s a cheap-ass Mac Mini ($249) that could play every thing available on the internet right now – if apple would let Adobe (Flash) and Microsoft (Silverlight) in, they could instantly support Hulu, Netflix, etc.

Would they lose some iTunes store sales? Sure. But they’d sell a ton more units, which would likely translate into more iTunes store sales… and if the AppleTV becomes to the TV set what the iPod became to the pedestrian, then the iPod touch/iPhone (aka the AppleTV remote) becomes that much more embedded in the base.

But they won’t, so the discussion is moot. If only a set-top box came along that was actually really open.

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