Apple's "It's Show Time" media event discussion thread

[John F]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It won't likely be like YoutubeTV, Hulu Live, Sling, etc. Apple tried negotiating with networks for something like that and said they couldn't reach an agreement. So no live channels.

I wonder what the "negotiating" was. Was Apple trying to set up price fixing like they did in publishing?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

You mean you just can't get locals? That's the only thing any of the live TV offerings (Hulu, YouTube, Sling, DTVN, etc.) have that are location based that I'm aware of. Channels that are "normally" cable/satellite channels aren't restricted (as long as you're not trying to use the service from outside the country or anything).

Well, it has been awhile since I tried signing up, but Hulu Live for example said ‘Not eligible’ when it determined our location. My interest is very low in the service, it is just that we like to watch the Oscars or whatever and they don’t offer live streaming without some equivalent of cable subscription.

[OtinG]

Well it is about 3 hours until the event, so we will soon learn what Apple will pull out of its core (so to speak). I plan to watch the event live and I will post my thoughts as soon as I can for those who cannot watch or listen live. I’m sure many websites like MacRumors will have detailed articles soon afterwards and probably minute by minute commentary during the event. I’m not really expecting to be impressed, but you never know with Apple.

ETA: I am going to post the information from the actual event in the first post of this thread so it will be easier to locate. I will periodically update that post during the event, but I will not be giving a minute by minute breakdown. I will list the important facts and announcements.

[OtinG]

Well if you missed that Event, and you are likely better off if you did, you can read my brief summary on the first page and first post of this thread.

The new  News+ service is available today for $9.99/month and includes magazines and digital sources. It might be okay, just not a lot of details on it yet. The  Card service looks good if it is your thing. The  Arcade service and  TV+ service will start in the Fall, but precious few details were given and no prices were given. The  TV+ service seems to have been rushed to the stage way before it should have beee as they don't seem to have thought it out completely yet. Over all a disappointing event, but I wasn't expecting much from it.

[pwalker8]

Well, it ended up being what I thought. A News service, a Game service, a new credit card and a TV service, all with their own subscription. I'll focus mostly on the TV service.

Apple will have two different things with regards to the TV Service. First is the TV app, which appears to be basic the same as the current TV app with some minor enhancements. You can watch all your programs via the TV app. By all your programs, they mean anything you bought from the iTunes store, rented from the iTunes store, plus the various streaming services, i.e. hulu, HBO, Showtime, Prime Video, ESPN etc. All that functionality is already in the TV app. The big news is that they are putting the TV app on smart TV's, roku and some other non apple devices. Doesn't matter to me, but it will introduce the TV app to many who don't have Apple TV.

The second piece is a new services or channel that will show Apple generated shows, i.e. something similar to HBO and Showtime. Included in this is Steven Spielberg rebooting Amazing Stories, plus a number of big names such as Ron Howard and Ophrah. Can't say that any made me say, "Oh yes", like Amazon's LOTR series.

I get that Apple has been preaching subscription services for a while, but while I might pay $10 for iCloud and iMusic, you run into the same problem that premium services have, it all adds up. I suspect that if there is one or two shows that I actually want to watch, then I'll be able to buy them on iTunes.

For the rest of the stuff, the news doesn't appeal to me. I already subscribe to the WSJ and to a couple of magazines via Zinio. Arcade might be interesting, though I'm not a big game player and really only play one game with any regularity. The credit card might be interesting. I have an Amazon credit card that I only use for Amazon and a credit card that I use with Apple Pay might be interesting, especially if they do have advanced purchase management.

[The Old Man]

Looks to me that Apple is trying to take over the world. The News service sounded good because of The Wall Street Journal until I read, in their News App, that it will be "selected articles." As for magazines Zinio seems to be the better bet. Buy what you want and get the entire magazine. TV+??? How about TV-? YouTube TV seems the bast solution for me.

I've been reading Graham Allison's Destined For War and after watching the event I wonder how many years the good ol' US of A has Left?

[OtinG]

I saw nothing in all of their fanfare that appealed to me.

The  TV+ looks like a major fail for me. I'm not interested in a garbage service with a garbage interface. And with no TV channels other than premium channels like HBO and Apples own channel, I am definitely not interested. It was painfully obvious that they are NOT going for streaming live TV. They kept stressing the On Demand availability of everything. One of life's little pleasures is to channel surf what is available on live TV, and the  TV+ seems to not have that capability at all. As far as using the  TV box to replace the box provided by DirecTV, Spectrum, etc., Fire TV and Roku both have that capabilty already. The problem with doing so is that you will not have DVR service through Fire TV, Roku, or  TV. My thinking on the  TV+ service is that it is really just in the early stages of planning and should not have been rushed to the stage. They tried to wow us with celebrities and the clapping from the crowd that honestly sounded like a clap track similar to the laugh track used by mini sitcoms.

The  News+ service is not worth a penny IMO, especially since it only gives you access to a select few articles. When they mentioned magazines, I briefly perked up my ears, but then when I found that it was for only a handful of articles I quickly said, "Meh!!!!!!!"

I don't need the  Card service.

I never play computer games, so the  Arcade service is of no interest to me at all.

So from my perspective, it was a total washout. IMO, they would have had a marginally interesting event had it covered no services and instead had focused on the new hardware updates they quietly released last week.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I saw nothing in all of their fanfare that appealed to me.

So from my perspective, it was a total washout. IMO, they would have had a marginally interesting event had it covered no services and instead had focused on the new hardware updates they quietly released last week.

[AnemicOak]

Nothing really surprising from what I saw. News+, Arcade, Apple Card and some form of TV service were all anticipated.

The TV service is much what it was thought to be. Apple gave up (for now anyway) on live TV over a year ago when negotiations with various channel providers didn't go the way they wanted them to. So we get Apple's take on Amazon's Channels (and Roku's similar offering) and some Apple original content with more details to come for TV+.

For me personally the biggest news was probably that Roku and Fire TV are going to get the TV app. It was known Roku was getting Airplay2 (also knew it was coming to some Smart TV's already), but AFAIK the full TV app is news. It shows Apple going away a little bit from their have the content only to sell our hardware and keep people in our garden stance.

Kind of an odd event in that almost everything is coming quite a bit in the future and little to no pricing info for most of it.

[OtinG]

I just updated my iPad Pro 9.7” to iOS 12.2 and checked out the News+ service. I signed up for a free 30 trial. Might as well since it is free.

[OtinG]

I opened the Smithsonian magazine. Apparently magazines open in the News app and you can pinch to zoom, but the interface sux! It will make for tiny text and be like browsing a PDF. Here are a couple of screen captures. I didn’t see any options for formatting. I will have to investigate further.

...

[AnemicOak]

A warning for anyone doing a News+ trial. You'll want to set a reminder and cancel around the time your month will actually run out. Apparently unlike a lot of these sub services that give you the remainder of the month once you cancel News+ ends immediately after you hit cancel.

[OtinG]

The first thing I did after signing up for the News+ trial was to add a calendar entry three days before it expires reminding me to cancel the subscription. I doubt I keep that long though as it is not very easy to read the text in the magazines.

[kyteflyer]

Singularly unimpressed. I didnt even watch the entire event, just sped through. Missed the pricing announcement... $9.99 US for stuff we now get for free? I do not think so. And in any case, not outside the US yet. That $9.99 will translate to >$12AUD and be damned if I will pay for a service which is spoonfed to me by someone else who decided what I need to see. Whenever I see/hear "curated" I shudder. Even trying to find stuff in the app store these days is a nightmare because its "curated". GAHHHHHHHH. APPLE!! FFS get back to your roots.

I will continue to use separate apps for my TV viewing, Australia will likely never get FTA TV channels in the TV app anyway, and I like Netflix and Amazon Prime just the way they are. I dont need some third party stuffing up my watchlists.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I doubt I keep that long though as it is not very easy to read the text in the magazines.

A bunch of the screen shots I'm seeing show an Aa menu to change font size. Perhaps that's only for certain magazines?