Apple Exec: TV Channels Are Old Fashioned
Television channels are, according to Eddie Cue, dreadfully old fashioned. They should be apps instead.
Since 2007 and the launch of the iPhone, the Cupertino-based firm has been trying to turn everything into apps, and mostly succeeding.
Now, television is in its sights, with the launch of the new Apple TV.
Advertisement
Cue is a senior Apple executive who has been at the company since 1989 and who heads its software efforts.
He told Sky News: "Looking at the world by channels is sort of backwards.
"The numbers of a TV guide never made much sense.
"What you really want to say, is I want to watch Sky News, I don’t want to say what channel number Sky News is."
The new Apple TV turns your screen into a series of tiles.
Users browse with the new remote, which has a touch sensitive panel, or by barking orders at Siri.
It's slick and quick, and Siri works effectively.
Ask it to show you the episode of Friends with Brad Pitt in it, and it takes you straight there.
Over the last few months, he has also overseen the launches of Apple News and Apple Music.
That has put Apple even closer in competition with the other tech giants: Facebook (which has its own news effort with Instant Articles), Amazon (with its own video services), and Google (with YouTube).
The battle for your attention is fierce.
Each of these technology companies wants people to spend more time on their services, meaning that they can sell more advertising, devices and subscriptions.
Apple thinks privacy and security is a useful weapon in that war.
Cue said: "Those are things that we are building and thinking about as we're designing the product, building the product and shipping the product, and while we're running the product. It can't be an afterthought."
Security for Apple means encryption. Minister for internet safety and security Baroness Shields recently described it as "alarming" and it is expected to provoke debate in the forthcoming Investigatory Powers Bill, which will legislate how security services intercept people's communications.
Asked about the UK government's less-than-enthusiastic attitude towards end-to-end encryption, Cue said: "If you want to protect something, you can't have back doors.
"You can't have other ways out. Because once that exists, then others can take advantage of it.
"Encryption is necessary and it's effective."