“I Only See My Wrist”

Colbert surely twisted the shiv in Cook’s gut with that one. “I Only See My Wrist.” That was the money quote that day. Classic Colbert.

Yes, yes: Everyone’s waiting and anticipating the Apple Watch. Except, maybe, me. I do so enjoy being the odd one in the bunch.

I’ve played the latest Apple keynote through three times + the iPad Air 2 intro video this morning. I’m still perplexed at how the Watch fits in.

If THIS is Apple’s answer for the TV remote I’m not sold. Yet. I reserve the right to be sold later. But, just now, I’m not buying.

The Apple TV IS the undisputed battleground of tomorrow and Google, Microsoft, Amazon, everybody is going to be vying for the choice spot at the digital nucleus of the family. It simply makes a ton of sense.

In my house, Apple’s already won that battle. They don’t need to fight for the right to be my remote (I keep finding the damn things in my couch!). How many of those have I purchased as a replacement only to find it later? I AM looking forward to the day Apple gets it’s head out of the clouds and unveils the potential of the Apple TV: home security, home automation, home communication, home entertainment… Hell, Apple HOME right?

So, while Apple TV is coined a “fascination” of Cooks and technically a “hobby” of Apple’s… Why is Apple Watch being billed as something entirely Full Born? Shouldn’t Apple Watch be at the Hobby 1.0 stage? No? Hmmm. So, I’m left scratching my noggin wondering if Apple TV is going to be rechristened as something entirely different at some point. And billing it as something less than what it is to become is distasteful to Tim Cook. Possibly. I wonder if Apple TV will simply be discontinued. We consume so stinking much content on our iPads these days don’t we? It’s intimate. It’s personal. It’s a private window into whatever is going on. Five people can be watching five different things. AirPlay bridges the sharing gap nicely (Kudos Apple! Nailed that one). So, Apple TV doesn’t need Watch to make it a complete product. Apple TV needs a better interface and a better solution for content access. And, perhaps THAT is the rub. Apple TV is a “hobby” until Apple can perfect the user experience. Maybe they feel they have the Watch 1.0 experience pretty nicely tailored. At least well enough to warrant “non-hobby” status. I could hop on board if that’s the rationale.

Apple TV could be so much better. So much nicer. If Apple IS about a delightful experience, Apple TV falls short of their expectations and deserves the arm’s length relationship it has with mothership Apple.

Apple TV “Search” Needs Improving

It’s been on my mind lately and needs flogging again: Apple TV Search leaves a lot to be desired.

We jettisoned Cox Cable Television (kept internet, for now). The only content we subscribe to now is Hulu Plus and Netflix.

Unfortunately, Apple TV doesn’t make it easy to search ONE place for content across all my services. That’s just plain stupid and not at all EASY (as Apple would have us believe their stuff inherently “is”). Um, yeah. If I want to find a show I do NOT want to have to type that into the three different search screens to determine IF it’s even available on Apple TV.

Hell, Google’s figured that out. One search input for all their platforms (web, news, YouTube, etc). Imagine if Apple highlighted content available on the other services we weren’t already subscribed to… Hey, Apple… that’s called an “UPSELL”. Your retail guys have this one figured out nicely. Have your people talk to their people.

Meanwhile, you are rapidly wearing out your welcome in my living room due to missing intuitive ease-of-use features.

For instance, why the hell can I not control my Apple TV with my iPad. No, not AirPlay! I want to be able to type on my iPad to my Apple TV screen. If I **can** do this, I apologize for not being able to find it on the App Store. Heh! Funny. ME apologizing to Apple for not being able to find something on THEIR App Store. Sick.

There are other annoying things about Apple TV too. For instance, why can’t I consolidate my accounts directly on the device? I’ve somehow managed to create two accounts. Let me merge them and keep my content under the one I prefer. Why can’t I rent something on my iPad and play it through to my TV or the other way around?

It’s at points like this when a company so overextends itself and takes it’s CUSTOMERS for granted that the house of cards begins to wobble precipitously. Hate seeing that happen at such a neat and special place as Apple. But, we’ve seen it happen at places like Disney before. Heck, it’s happened at Apple before! Fortunately, “The Suck” doesn’t have to last forever.