It’s good to have a hobby

Photo courtesy of Apple Inc.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs this morning introduced the second-generation model of his “hobby” project, or as he put in during the news conference “one more hobby,” Apple TV.

Black is a slimming color and the new black box is indeed a svelte version of the original Apple TV in white. It has no hard drive, is about 1/4 the size of an already trim package, and it’s price has been slashed to $99.

Plugged into your television set (HDMI), via Wi-Fi or ethernet, it’ll stream TV shows from ABC and Fox, ABC Family, Disney Channel and BBC America for just 99 cents (Jobs suggests other broadcast networks will follow) as rentals (buyers have 30 days to start watching and then 48 hours to finish or view repeatedly). There will also be first-run movies at $4 for high-definition and and $3 for standard-definition on the day of DVD release. Netflix subscribers can stream content from Netflix’s library. And anyone can tap into YouTube videos, as well as photos on Flickr, and videos and photos on MobileMe. Movies, music and photos stashed on your Mac, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch may also be tapped by Apple TV for display on your living room big screen.

Sounds pretty good as far as it goes, but I suspect this will remain an Apple hobby, not another consumer technology monster. There’s just not enough selection. Specifically, where do consumers used to the hundreds of channels available on cable or satellite to do for their fix of the Food Network, ESPN SportsCenter or Comedy Central? Another issue for many TV viewers in our diverse San Joaquin community will be the lack of foreign-language programming.

You’ve gotta have an answer when the kids start chanting, “I want my MTV.”