Tag Archives: user experience

Whoa, AppleTV

We’ve had an AppleTV sitting at home, boxed, for a couple months now. I purchased it when I bought our ridiculous TV, and have been one HDMI cable shy of getting it hooked up. Today I picked one up from Freddie’s.

Whoa, AppleTV is an amazing experience now. My parents had a version one or two several years back which was a bit meh — ok, so I can play the media I already have in my library, or purchase from the iTunes Store. With the addition of AirPlay and content from Netflix, YouTube, and other providers, it’s become much, much better.

Speaking of, Fusion has some real estate in the AppleTV digital storefront (not sure what the appropriate terminology is). When the channel launched in December, I didn’t think much of it. But it’s really neat! And Fusion produces great content. I’ve watched more clips in the past half hour than I’ve watched on the website in the last month.

Experiencing Fusion through AppleTV underscores how version 1.0 this whole post-cable video business is though. I have my iPhone out, and I’m just using it as a remote. The experience could be so much more.

While I’m watching a given clip, I want a synchronized second screen experience where I can dive deeper into the story — videos with links. When the clip is over, I want answers to "what next?" Stories like that of San Pedro Sulas shouldn’t dead end, they should take me deeper into the issue — from informational to educational to empowering.

Integration ideas:

  • Every video has a unique URL.
  • Web experience for the video is highly visual and interactive — engagement that doesn’t take me 100% away from the video like text does.
  • When I visit the video’s web page, I’m promoted to sign in via Facebook or Twitter so Fusion can keep track of the clips I’ve watched and let me follow topics, personalities, or series.
  • Like Amazon has on product pages, functionality so I can ask a question of the clip and have the producer or other viewers answer.