Is desktop AirPlay Apple’s big gift to cord cutters?
Beam hulu.com from your browser to your TV for free. Or watch CNN.com on your TV without subscribing to CNN. When Apple releases Mountain Lion, anybody with an Apple TV will be able to mirror their desktop browser onto their television.
This is huge. Content publishers have been dictating what internet media can be displayed on our televisions and portable devices. Now they won’t be able to discern between laptop/desktop viewers and those who are simply beaming it to their television.
And this is the way it ought to be.
Is Apple subtly sticking it to them?
Of course it’s always been possible to hook your computer up to your television. It’s just been a maddening task, and your spouse will hate you for it (unless they’re as geeky as you and have a high tolerance for this sort of pain).
Yes, this is Apple’s big gift to cord cutters, and I believe it will slowly change the industry. Content publishers have long struggled to retain control over *where* their content can be viewed, often citing that they need to reduce piracy — leaving users scratching their heads over why non-paying Hulu.com users can watch a particular show on their desktop but paying Hulu Plus users have no access on their devices. Now users will just watch it on their computer and beam it to where they want, leaving it up to the content publishers to fix their broken models.
And this is the way it ought to be.
