There was a lot of new Apple services announced today, so I wanted to give you some of my initial thoughts. I’ll dig in a bit deeper in the next couple of days.
Apple TV+
I am more impressed with Apple’s lineup of original content after being at the event and hearing from the people involved in making these shows a reality. Hearing from Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and Ron Howard was exceptional.
Of course, watching these shows will be the true measure of how good they are, but there is no doubt Apple has assembled some of the best talent in the world to make this a success. While not all of the shows are in genres that I might regularly watch, I’m going to give them all a try.
I really wish there were some more pricing details available. That is one of the critical points for me—what is the bundle price or is there even a bundle available. Still a lot of questions with the service.
Apple TV channels and Apple TV app
This is a good start for Apple. Choosing à la carte channels from the likes of HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX is a great way to introduce customers to this type of viewing.
One of the most exciting points with the Apple TV app is that it will be available on Smart TVs as well. This clearly shows how seriously Apple is about its services business. It’s not trying to lock people into buying an Apple TV to use its video service, instead opting to make the service available in many different places.
Apple Card
I don’t know why I wasn’t more interested in this before. I should have known that Apple would do something completely different from other companies, and they did.
From the application process to the reporting of transactions, everything here is easy. I was really impressed with the Apple Card. From the start of the presentation to the very end, everything made perfect sense to me.
It’s like Apple took its hardware and software strategy to make the perfect credit card.
Apple News+
This brings us to Apple News+, the companies new service that allows consumers to subscribe to a variety of magazines and premium news services for $9.99 a month.
I will give this a try, but I’m not sure yet about how long I’ll keep it. Part of my concern is that I stopped reading magazines a long time ago. I get a lot of my interesting tidbits from podcasts now and thoroughly enjoy listening to them throughout the week.
Even as part of a subscription, I’m not sure that I would take advantage of what the new service is offering. This is something I’m going to have to try before I make a final determination.