Apple unveils the Apple TV, take 2
Apple just admitted that the first Apple TV didn't quite work out — so it's back with a new model that can access iTunes directly, and streams movies from the new rental store in both DVD quality and HD with 5.1 surround.
Context & Ripple Effects
The first Apple TV was a PC-dependent accessory: content had to be synced from a computer before it could play on the television. With Take 2, Apple drops that requirement entirely — the new box connects to iTunes directly and taps a newly launched movie rental store offering DVD-quality and HD streams with 5.1 surround sound.
Gizmodo's same-day pickup priced it at $229 and framed the move bluntly as 'Netflix Screwed,' reading the rental store as a direct strike at DVD-by-mail — an early signal of how widely the living-room angle of this announcement traveled.
First-order effects
- Apple TV owners and prospective buyers no longer need a computer in the loop: purchases and rentals flow straight from iTunes to the television, converting the box from a sync peripheral into a standalone storefront.
Second-order effects
- Netflix's DVD-by-mail model now faces a same-day HD rental alternative on the TV itself, forcing a competitive response in home video delivery; cable and satellite providers likewise see on-demand movie rentals arrive without their set-top boxes.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, film distribution shifts from physical discs and scheduled broadcast windows toward internet-delivered rentals purchased inside a device-maker's store — moving the gatekeeper position in home video from studios' retail partners to whoever owns the box attached to the TV.
The trend: Set-top devices are evolving from computer-synced media accessories into direct-to-TV storefronts, with device makers rather than cable operators controlling movie rental access.