Has Apple changed the way we watch TV?

In the past in order to have TV content, you had to either get Cable, Satellite or install this big dish in your back yard. Today, we have the Internet. With services like Hulu and NetFlix we got our first taste of streaming movies and past TV shows. Then, we got AppleTV. With Apple TV we had the same Hulu and Netflix but we had Apple Movies, Music, our Photo Libraries and other individual TV channels. Apple was providing us with movies before NetFlix and even before HBO and Showtime. They provide movies to our home earlier and with better resolution than Movies on Demand

TV Channels, like HBO, ESPN, NFL, and CBS, have tried to break into the streaming content business for years but due to obligations with Cable TV and Satellite TV providers we still had to provide proof of accounts with these businesses in order to view this content online. But now with the success of Apple TV, these organizations are starting the break out of the norm. HBO now has a subscription-based service and many other big channel productions are starting to follow suite. Therefore you don’t need an account with Cable TV or Satellite TV in order to view these channels at home. It is only a matter of time that you will be able to view all of them on your computer, tablet, smart phone and Apple TV including live content.

Now Apple has released the new AppleTV, fourth generation. And with this release, we have apps and games.   Of course with games you know this means gaming on your big screen TV. But with apps…Apple Store Apps, the sky is the limit. Apple now has brought your favorite apps to every TV in the house. You can check your stocks, weather, news, health, menus, and many more from your TV. We first were checking and playing with apps on our phones. Then we were able to use them on an iPad. The screens were getting bigger but think now. You can open up apps on your 55” or 65” TV and some people their 120” projector screen. Think of the possibilities now. How about control apps? You can control your house, set your temperature, turn on your lights, and see who is at the front door right from your TV screen.

I know some people will say that we have this with the “Smart” TV but not to this scale. Your standard smart TV is lucky to have 50 apps. Some manufactures have these and others have those. There was not real consistency plus the processing speed on the TVs was really poor for most of them. Now with the Apple Store Apps, Apple has over 1.5 million apps. Wow!

Do I have your attention now? You can pick what channels you want, instead of paying for 300 channels of nothing to watch. You can watch your shows new or old anytime you want. You can also open your favorite apps and listen to your favorite music. And now with the screen size of our media TVs, there is no limit to what we can do or what we can combine. Has Apple changed the way we watch TV? TV viewing options will never be the same.