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http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/09/20/itv.has.small.hard.drive/

Disney CEO: iTV has small hard drive

updated 09:30 am EDT, Wed September 20, 2006

 

iTV has small hard drive


Disney's CEO Robert Iger yesterday revealed more details about Apple's forthcoming iTV media hub, which is expected to ship in early 2007 for $299. At the Goldman Sachs conference, Iger not only discussed movie sales during the first week, but also said that the set-top device has a small hard drive so "it can download what you put on the device [from] your computer," which alleviated worries that the iTV would retain its price without having the option of a local cache to reduce load times. Electronista also notes that iTV users choose a particular computer to "feed" their hub, rather than aggregating the content from every connected system automatically. The Disney CEO was impressed with the simplicity and functionality, calling Apple's project a "game changer" that could make Disney and similar media outlets rethink their existing strategies.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    09/20, 12:57pm | report spam | Reply |

    So

    When does Jobs go over to Iger's house, beat him over the head with an iTV until he's unconscious?

    And is he sure that the final product would have said hard drive (a small amount of flash memory would work better than the drive, more instant playback, rather then waiting for a drive to spin up).

  1. pdot

    Senior User

    Joined: Aug 2000

    0
    09/20, 02:14pm | report spam | Reply |

    hd upgrade

    I think it would be a good idea for apple to include a standard HD (desktop or laptop) in the iTV. Apple can put in the most economical one (i.e. low capacity that's still sufficient for most talks that they can mass purchase for a great low price) and let users upgrade them on their own. This will allow Apple to keep the cost of the iTV low enough (or margins high enough if you want to be cynical) to be attractive and flexible enough for consumers to feel that they can get even more out of it with an unofficial upgrade.

  1. davelentz

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2005

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    09/20, 06:27pm | report spam | Reply |

    hd

    I suspect that only the initial units will have spinning disk drives. As the second-gen product rolls out, those will switch to flash (or some similar solid-state storage tech) in order to drive the costs down. Only a few GB of space should be needed to buffer the data and provide a delayed viewing of another program. If they decide to go after the Tivo market, then a larger spinning disk would be appropriate, but my guess is that Apple has no desire to build a Tivo-like device, but rather to use Macs in concert with iTVs and eyeTVs to perform that function. A Tivo device does not sell more Macs, and is way too limited to fit into Apple's plans for home computing.

  1. ZinkDifferent

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2005

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    09/20, 07:58pm | report spam | Reply |

    Ha!

    Why else do you think Apple sneaks in a living room device with a built-in hard drive - if not to provide 'delayed buffering of programming content' -- think timed and delayed downloads.

    It allows iTv to download the wanted programming from whatever Mac it is attached to, and then is capable of playing it back without the need of the Mac, or at the very least, allows sufficient buffering of several programs to cut down on response time. If anything, it may debute with a low end internal drive, but will grow capacity as it matures, to potentially evolved into a HD capable TiVO like device.

    TiVo should start getting worried, or integrating the same technology in their set-top boxes - in fact, if TiVo were smartly managed, they would license this technology for inclusion in their future set top boxes, and save their company. But, they won't.

  1. ccsccs7

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Nov 2001

    0
    09/20, 11:13pm | report spam | Reply |

    What else?

    Okay, so it's got a drive. Is there going to be anything on it (outside of "practical"/technical uses)? I'm still wondering: What's it running?

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