Farhad Manjoo: ‘Why Microsoft, Not Apple, Will Dominate Television Streaming’

Farhad Manjoo, writing for Slate:

Apple’s television set will, of course, be an actual television, so it will probably sell for hundreds more. But why buy the TV when you’ve already got one? And, if you’re one of the millions of people who already own an Xbox and a Kinect, why buy anything else?

Manjoo may well be right that the Xbox’s maximal approach has given Microsoft a lead over Apple (which has taken a decidedly minimal approach, hardware-wise). But he’s making an awful lot of assumptions about what Apple will do. I remain unconvinced, for one thing, that the “Apple TV” we have today — $99 super-simple iOS boxes — is not Apple’s actual strategy.

★ Wednesday, 28 March 2012