Foundation (Asimov) on AppleTV+ Trailer - Are You In or Out?

[Tonguez]

Apple TV?

 

[Mallus]

Apple TV?

Their streaming service. $5/month. You can usually get a year free when you buy an Apple gizmo.

 

[payn]

Ted Lasso is really, really good TV.

...and thats fine, but I still haven't seen any new star trek on Paramount+, or caught up on some hulu things I want to see. Too many subs too little time.

 

[Morrus]

...and thats fine, but I still haven't seen any new star trek on Paramount+, or caught up on some hulu things I want to see. Too many subs too little time.

Yeah it’s a bit different for us. Trek is on Netflix, and I don’t know what content originated on Hulu over there but if it’s available here it will be on one of the existing big ones.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Their streaming service. $5/month. You can usually get a year free when you buy an Apple gizmo.

Yeah, it was a really really strange choice to call their streaming service AppleTV+ (IMO). Especially because the app is called (IIRC) AppleTV. And so is the hardware. So I think it is really really common (as we've already seen here!) for people to think that you have AppleTV (the hardware) to have the streaming service.

It would be like if they never had Apple Music or iTunes, and announced that they had a new music service .... iPhone+.

Given that there is a significant number of people that just don't like Apple (walled garden, hate fruit, whatever), but might want to watch the cool shows, it seems like a strange decision.

Then again, who am I to speak? It's not like I'm running the most profitable company in the world. ....yet.

 

[the Jester]

My answer is, "I'd like to, but not enough to subscribe to another service".

 

[payn]

Yeah it’s a bit different for us. Trek is on Netflix, and I don’t know what content originated on Hulu over there but if it’s available here it will be on one of the existing big ones.

The only thing on Hulu for me really is season 3 of Fargo, Archer, and maybe Mr. Inbetween. I could probably get caught up during a free trial. The trek stuff though might have enough content on paramount+ to need a month or two. Thats all moot tho NFL football is about to launch a new season so I wont be watching much of anything else.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Thats all moot tho NFL football is about to launch a new season so I wont be watching much of anything else.

 

[Deset Gled]

So I think it is really really common (as we've already seen here!) for people to think that you have AppleTV (the hardware) to have the streaming service.

As a side point here (only defending myself a little bit ) AppleTV has not made any universally available app for Android or Windows. They have only released device specific support. They've done a good job expanding the list in the last few months, but they started with just Apple, Roku, and Amazon Fire. I still can't access it on my phone, and can only use on it on my computer via a browser interface. The "walled garden" is a bigger garden, but it's still got walls.

That being said, HBO was one of the original "walled garden" companies as a premium cable channel, and they have some of the most watched TV series ever. So there's no reason to think this will stop them from being successful. What are the odds we'll see hotels advertising "Free AppleTV+" the way you used to see "Free HBO" on signs?

 

[Umbran]

and can only use on it on my computer via a browser interface.

How many people actually use standalone desktop apps for streaming content?

 

[Yora]

I've never heard of Apple TV, but since it has Apple in the name I don't want it.
I have heard about Foundation and had friends praising it a lot, but it always sounded like the most uninteresting sci-fi series I've ever heard of. (Though I couldn't tell you the difference between Foundation and Inheritance.)

 

[Deset Gled]

How many people actually use standalone desktop apps for streaming content?

Netflix Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022)

Netflix was conceived in 1997 by Reed Hastings (the current CEO) and Marc Randolph. Both had previous ventures in the West Coast tech scene, Hastings was the owner of debugging software firm Pure Atria, while Randolph had co-founded and then sold MicroWarehouse for $700 million. Originally a...

www.businessofapps.com

For Netflix, globally, 40% of people sign up with PCs, and they account for 15% of all viewing hours. That may not be the majority, but an it's a notable chunk of the market. The article also notes that many new users go through a phase of watching on desktop before switching to TV, so it's a significant part of getting new users.

 

[Umbran]

For Netflix, globally, 40% of people sign up with PCs

That doesn't say they're using a standalone app - they could be using a web browser for viewing.

I would expect the typical path to be web-search to Netflix's home page, signup and... start viewing right there in the browser. Why bother with the extra step to get the standalone app?

 

[GreyLord]

So here it is, coming SEPTEMBER 24-


A bit of background; there was a time that Isaac Asimov's Foundation was so big, so absolutely huge, so really impressive, that ... in 1966, when they gave out a Hugo Award for the best series of all time, Foundation edged out Lord of the Rings.

And now it's coming to AppleTV+.

So I have two thoughts about this (and no, I haven't read the series since ... um ... yeah, I'm not going to say because then I will feel really really old)-

Thought the first-
The original series hasn't aged well. I remember it, and while it was pretty darn good for the time (I was young, it was a long time ago), I never thought that this was the type of awesome series that needed to be put to screen.
Also, while Asimov was a giant back then, his writing while prolific, wasn't ... good.
Finally, there's that ... other thing ... with Asimov.

Thought the second-
AppleTV+ has gone from being a poorly-populated wasteland and joke to ... good? Not great. It doesn't have enough content to be great. But it's kind of like early HBO- it doesn't have much, but what it does have is pretty good. Ted Lasso, Dickinson, Mythic Quest and For All Mankind (to name four programs) are genuinely good to great and would be coveted by any other streamer. IMO. Apple has the budget and the werewithal to make good shows. But then again, budget and desire ain't everything (The Morning Show!).
Also? Lee Pace was awesome in Halt & Catch Fire!!!!!

So what do you think? I put in a poll, and feel free to write in the comments. I mean, I'm feeling mixed on this myself. Is this 30 years too late, or is this a perfect idea for now?

PS- I also found this:
In pitching the series to Apple, David S. Goyer (Man Of Steel, Blade, The Dark Knight) condensed the elaborate story into one sentence: “It’s a 1,000-year chess game between Hari Seldon and the Empire, and all the characters in between are the pawns, but some of the pawns over the course of this saga end up becoming kings and queens.” His vision for the series spans a potential 80-hour story spread across 8 seasons. source

I don't have apple TV so that's a hard no for me. I'm not paying for a streaming service for just one show, no matter how much a may like a book series.

Edit: From reading more in this thread it sounds like it is hard to get Apple TV anyways, so another obstacle I'd not want to deal with.

 

[Nikosandros]

That doesn't say they're using a standalone app - they could be using a web browser for viewing.

I would expect the typical path to be web-search to Netflix's home page, signup and... start viewing right there in the browser. Why bother with the extra step to get the standalone app?

Indeed. I subscribe to several streaming services and whenever I watch them on a PC, I do exactly what you describe. I use the apps on my mobile devices and smart TVs, but not on computers.