Apple CEO Tim Cook says watching TV is like entering a 1970s time capsule, but stopped short of a vow to do something about it in an interview this weekend.
The chief executive, who was centre stage as Apple revealed two new iPhone 6 handsets and the Apple Watch last week, claims while everything else in the tech world has changed, the way we watch television in our living rooms has not barely altered.
He told American broadcaster Charlie Rose: “TV is one of those things that, if we’re really honest, is stuck back in the 70s. Think about how much your life has changed. And all the things around you that have changed.
“And yet TV — when you are in your living room to watch the TV or wherever you might be — it almost feels like you’re rewinding the clock, and you’ve entered a time capsule, and you’re going backwards.
“The interface is terrible. I mean it’s awful. And you watch things when they come on, unless you remembered to record them.”
Rose asked why Apple doesn’t fix the television experience and mentioned the rumoured Apple iTV project, to which Cook re-emphasised Apple’s longstanding ‘interest’ in the area citing the company’s ongoing work with the Apple TV set-tip box.
“Ahh…..So I choose my words carefully here,” he said with a smile. “There are lots of things we’d like to work on and have interest in, but we know we can’t do everything great. TV is one we continue to have great interest in.
“I don’t want to get into what were doing in the future. But we’ve taken steps with Apple TV. And Apple TV has over 20 million users. It has far exceeded the hobby label we placed on it. And we’ve added more content to it.”
Part 1 of the two-part wide-ranging interview aired in the United States over the weekend on the Hulu platform, while the second part will be screened on Monday night on the PBS network.
Read more: iPhone 6 camera: A photographer's perspective
Via: Venture Beat