Roll Your Own TV Schedule: Apple’s Big Chance

As all but the most die-hard Mac fans will admit, the OS war between Apple and Microsoft is over. The truth is that Apple was routed so badly that the so called war was more like a sit-in staged by middle schoolers to protest the loss of tater tot Tuesday. And the middle schoolers who quit when the recess bell rang. You can blame Apple as much as Microsoft for their pathetic showing. For every slick move Bill Gates made, Apple made two steps every bit as clumsy as the moment Frankenstein stepped off the table. In short, Apple managed to screw up every chance they had to gain significant market share….so far.

While the desktop war may be over, while Microsoft may stand atop the hill, perhaps the larger computing war isn’t quite done. A hard fought battle has been going on for years, and this is the race for the living room. While a contest usually requires at least two opposing foes to go at it, the war for a space in your living room has just been Microsoft versus the reluctance of people to cram a Windows Media PC next to their TV. Reluctance, by the way, is kicking the holy hell out of Microsoft.

Before examining why Microsoft is getting so thoroughly trounced by apathy, a look at Microsoft attempts to get into the living room is in order. Microsoft’s first attempt to put their products into your TV viewing area was their acquisition of WebTV. You remember WebTV, a service designed to give you all the goodness of e-mail and the internet without requiring you to buy a computer. What seemed like a can’t fail idea soon became a can’t win. Consumers who signed up for WebTV quickly decided they wanted to experience the web completely, so they cancelled WebTV and went out and bought a full fledged PC.

Microsoft, in a somewhat bizarre move, also jumped into MSNBC. Half Microsoft and Half NBC added up to no real difference, the channel quickly became just another outlet for news. The Microsoft part of the equation, and whatever Microsoft hoped to gain by being part of a TV channel were quickly gone. In the early days there were undoubtedly plans to closely integrate the content with the internet, in the end Microsoft sold its stake to NBC. Hey, they tried.

Microsoft is nothing if not persistent. In yet another attempt to gain unfettered living room access the giant rolled out Windows Media Center. The idea being that with the software, and properly configured hardware, people could take their television addiction to an entire new level of stuporous escapism. WMC ran into a problem, the vast majority of people think that their TV experience is already “good enough.” Consumers know there is something better out there, a more automated way to do all the stuff they do with a TV, but they aren’t so fixated on incremental viewing improvements that they will go to all the expense and trouble of hooking up what they see as an already over complicated computer between the wall and the TV.

But, some will surely argue, if Apple converted a Mac mini into a computer/PVR things would be different. Why, coupling the ease of use of OS X with the mini form factor would surely result in massive sales! Nice pipe dream. Offering people a slightly simplified version of something they already don’t want is a lot like offering half a glass of milk instead of full glass to someone who is lactose intolerant, the answer will still be “no thank you.” Those that do desire something more are satisfied with the humble TiVo or the generic PVRs offered by the service providers.

It is obvious that key for this market isn’t making the PVR functionality slicker or the computer less obvious, the key is realizing that unless the computer in the living room results in something demonstrably better than the current system people aren’t going to jump on the band wagon. For example, if all cable offered was a superior picture to air broadcasts analysts would still be wondering why cable never took off (just as some folks are wondering why Hi Def hasn’t taken off like a rocket). Of course, cable did take off, not because of a superior picture but due to expanded content.

With that lesson in mind it is clear that the way to get around people’s natural reluctance to cram another bit of complexity between themselves and the television is not to make TV watching better but to give them a reason to use their TV to watch something other than current television offerings. Anyone who wants to can, using a VCR or a TiVO, time shift a show. Which is a great boon to the sports addicted who work on Sundays. Much harder is hearing about a great show at work and then having to wait until reruns to actually watch said marvel of entertainment.

The previous example omits an increasing amount of internet only content. Old shows, internet shorts, foreign television etc. They all add up to things you can’t get via the cable company and they all empower you to be your own station programmer instead of sitting through the dreck the TV traditionally spews out. When enough content becomes available, when you can move non TV content to your television, people will be motivated to put something in their living room. At this point, the company best positioned to deliver non-traditional video content that you want to watch on your TV is Apple.

Apple has a chance, with the right mix of hardware, software and delivery services to make people want to cram a Mac in their living room. Surprisingly, any successful effort will hinge not on openness but on vertical integration. Roll your own mainstream schedule with the offerings from the increasingly misnamed iTunes store. Mix in some format compatible internet only broadcasts, add an easy rip and store method for your DVDs and customers will be doing with video what they now do with audio thanks to the iPod. That might be enough to get people to finally cram another box in their living room and, if it is, Apple fans can finally declare a market share victory for Macs.