I am aware that this has been news for some time. But I have noticed a trend recently and I wanted to get some opinions on the matter. In the Biography of Steve Jobs, it is mentioned that he had finally cracked the problem of Television and Apple. While the Apple TV is a fantastic device, and does all the things I need and love in my Apple household, it is still limited to media that I put on my computer. In that respect, the Apple TV can feel very limited at times. There is a stark difference between browsing through channels and finding something interesting on, and having to go to my computer, download something, then stream it to my TV. There is the element of preparation that kills the mood of channel surfing. While this does cut down my time spent mindlessly in front of the television, it still interrupts when I want to sit and relax.

The iTV, that the media has taken to calling this hopefully future endeavor of Apple’s, would change that. Rather than streaming media from a computer, there would be more of an al’a carte way to browse interesting channels. Many TV service providers make you choose packages that generally include a lot of channels that you may not want to watch. This generally is not too bad of a thing, but in the end, they are things you are paying for and not using. The iTV would end that. Choosing to subscribe to the channels you want and like, and not the ones you have no interest in, would be a  great thing for consumers. There are so many different demographics that would benefit from this kind of television service.

However, my question is this. Recently, there are more and more apps being allowed into the App Store that allow streaming of live television straight to an iPad or iPhone. Time Warner has an app, and recently Cox television is doing the same. If there are already apps that are pushing certain subscriptions to Apple products, then how would Apple fight against that. Why allow and host those apps, when there could be something coming down the pipeline to replace them all? Either Apple simply doesn’t care that they will be direct competition, or they have no plans to attack the Television companies as of yet. Whichever it is, I hope something definitive happens soon.