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While Apple might never be
Even though market saturation has nearly reached critical mass and iTunes is a general cluster-muck, Apple is finally launching a streaming service worthy of Apple itself. High standards must be adhered to and met, even if that means entering the streaming market a bit late. This is not stuffing a turkey, this is stuffing a quail. Precision and perfection.
Which is what Apple's streaming service must be. Original programming mixed with network deals mixed with the most revolutionary delivery system. There is that word again. I do not think it means what we think it means, or want it to mean. Rather, the à la carte nature of the service is what might justify anything near revolutionary.
Also see: Which Streaming TV Service Is Best Streaming TV Service For You?
Netflix still ships DVDs, to the point that it is a very profitable side of the business. There is still market share to be had when it comes to streaming services. Consumers might rent DVDs from Netflix, but stream original programming via Apple, Hulu, Crave TV, Disney+, Sling,
Apple streaming services are un-tethered. Not just for Apple users within the Apple ecosystem, Apple streaming services are for all takers. All you must be willing to do is find yourself amazed by the promised breadth of content and not in the slightest, bored and impatient for things to watch while you play on your phone and ignore your family. A show from the creators of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is not something to binge like It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is. You might also want to have a Roku or Amazon FireTV device, or a Samsung, LG, Sony or Vizio smart TV handy.
We need to binge, we are addicts. The Apple ecosystem is its own addiction. Hence, Apple streaming services will change the paradigm. There is no binging yet, the cycle can be broken. We can consume fresh content, we can stop watching the same episodes of Friends over and over and over — or keep doing exactly that. Never will we have to see a promo for some B-level action movie and think to ourselves, "is this what I'm paying for? Is this what it's come to?"
Subscribe to and pay for only the channels you want to watch, assuming they are available through the Apple TV app and assuming you have some semblance of self control. Or sit back and consume the new content with Apple TV+. You can now live the streaming life you want with little side effects besides falling into the void of content. At least you can pay for it with your Apple Card.
So now we can stream with Apple. We can add another streaming service to the cadre of subscriptions we have. But this one is different, it is awake and breathing. It is not yet bogged down by the slog of television and movies from the 1990s that keep us scrolling through menus for a great portion of our lives. It is fresh. It is a blister that has not yet been popped, soaking our socks with something. It is sunshine through the clouds after a long, hard rain.
Apple knows that streaming entertainment is as integral to our lives now as is the ability to turn the lights on in our houses without wasting precious energy flipping a switch. The market being saturated with streaming services is the perfect time for Apple to release its own. It is the Coast Guard boat, cutting through the waves to save all of us, drowning in a sea of wrecked and aging content, by deftly lifting us onto its own content with a smile and a wink. This one will be better, different content. I can tell already.
