If Web broadcasting goes mainstream, you could be a star
The arrival of Apple TV and other products is pushing Internet video onto TV screens.
from the May 1, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
The next big step in this video revolution is the bridging of the gap between personal computers and television screens, analysts and industry leaders say. The transition seems inevitable.
"Whenever we've asked online consumers about their use of Internet video, the most frequently cited reason why they don't watch more is a very simple preference for watching video on TV," says Joseph Laszlo of JupiterResearch, a research firm based in New York City.
Ms. Kaplan concurs. "If you're watching a show, there's no argument that it's more comfortable to do on your couch than in the chair at your computer."
Apple TV is not the first gadget on the market that transfers Internet video to a television, and it won't be the last. (Netgear, Sling Media, Cisco, Microsoft, Sony, TiVo, and SanDisk are some of the companies that have products or are working on them.) But Apple's device is widely considered the most user-friendly of the entries so far, and that might be key to getting consumers to adopt the technology.
"Apple TV is … the first product that's come along that really makes playing Internet video on a television easy to do," Mr. Laszlo says. "The last thing that people want is a keyboard for their television sets."
There are still technical hurdles to overcome. One of the drawbacks of Apple TV is that it currently only plays videos formatted for Apple's iTunes program – meaning it won't play YouTube clips, for example.
Another problem: Because of limited broadband connection speeds in the United States, TV-quality videos on the Internet still take a long time for watchers to download and are costly for providers to host. In some countries, such as South Korea, broadband speeds are up to six times faster and Internet video on television is starting to become common, Laszlo says. Companies such as AT&T and Verizon are starting to roll out superfast broadband networks in some US cities, he adds, but it will probably be three to five years before they're widely available.
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