Netflix naysayer Steven Spielberg launches Apple TV+

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at the Steve Jobs Theatre to announce the Cupertino-based company’s first foray into streaming services. Apple TV+.

Rob Wainfur, the founder of The Bearded Trio and fellow Steven Spielberg fan, reacts to the news the Oscar-winning director is reviving eighties anthology series Amazing Stories exclusively on Apple TV+.

Guest post by Rob Wainfur

There was no denying that today’s announcement by Apple of its new streaming service, Apple TV+, was a glitzy affair with a bunch of A-Listers making an appearance such as Star Wars director JJ Abrams, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Oprah, Jason Momoa, Ron Howard, Hailee Steinfeld and even Big Bird from Sesame Street!



Of course, my interest was piqued when Steven Spielberg also joined the Apple hype train on stage. Apple, it seems, has really pulled out all the stops on this announcement and, with a hefty billion dollar investment in the fledgeling streaming service, is desperate to become one of the leading subscription-based providers and sit alongside the likes of Amazon Prime and, of course, Netflix.

But, and this may be slightly controversial, especially from a huge Steven Spielberg fan such as myself, with Spielberg and Apple now the best of buddies, I can't help but wonder if the recent attack by the director on Netflix, and whether or not it should be eligible for Academy Awards, was nothing more than a strategic plan by them to just muddy the waters a little? It does seem unlikely, but when the budgets are in the billions of dollars, and Amblin have a vested interest with Amazing Stories being one of the launch titles, then asking Mr Spielberg to just rock the boat ever-so-slightly could easily be a possibility, however remote.

Apple TV+ will be available on first and third-party devices including Samsung, LG and Sony smart TVs. This is an inspired, and necessary, move if the company is serious about rivalling Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, which launches later this year bolstered by Fox’s extensive film and television catalogue.

One thing is for certain, with a new streaming service joining the party, and more on the horizon, we are most definitely going to need a bigger boat... And wallets [Apple has an app for that - Ed].

Apple TV+ is set to launch in over a hundred countries later this year. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple put the "i" into Mac twenty years ago

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today and affords an ideal opportunity to reflect on the launch of the original iMac twenty years ago.



Jony Ive's product would become a cultural phenomenon, appearing in everything from Jennifer Lopez's iconic pop promo for If You Had My Love to television series, foreshadowing the Cupertino-based company's rise, Lazarus-like under the auspices of the then returning co-founder Steve Jobs, from imminent collapse into the consumer electronics giant we know today.



I purchased an iMac DV SE - affectionately dubbed 'the bubble' by my late mum - in the summer of 1999 to replace an ageing Macintosh Performa 5200. And have continued to champion the all-in-one desktop machine to this day.

An amusing anecdote from the start of the new millennium. During an interview at AOL, in the wake of purchasing Warner Bros., I was sarcastically asked by a company director, which colour had I chosen and that Apple should roll over and die! I countered by suggesting a strategic alliance between Apple and AOL. Whatever happened to AOL, again?

Apple is expected to announce an iMac refresh later today. Please add a Space Gray model to match my iPad Pro, Tim Cook.

Without the iMac, there would be no iPod, iPhone or iPad and, quite possibly, no Apple.

What are your iMac memories? Let me know in the comments below.

Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 10 years ago

Ten years ago today, the late Steve Jobs announced the iPhone during his keynote speech at MacWorld 2007. The device had been mooted for sometime and the then Apple co-founder and CEO confirmed such.

"This is the day I've been waiting for the last 2 years", he said.

At the time, competitors like Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft, and BlackBerry dismissed Apple's ambition to change the phone industry forever.

Apple's fortunes would be transformed in the wake of the iPhone's launch. Propelling the Cupertino-based company to become one of the world's wealthiest corporations.

"iPhone is an essential part of our customers' lives, and today more than ever it is redefining the way we communicate, entertain, work and live," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "iPhone set the standard for mobile computing in its first decade and we are just getting started. The best is yet to come."

The iPhone hasn't been without its controversies. From "bendgate" to "antennagate". Laterly, the competition has caught up and the touchscreen user experience (UX), as depicted in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is now commonplace in many people's lives.

However, Apple, under the stewardship of CEO Steve Jobs, once again popularised the way consumers interact with technology. Jobs' second act will be an enduring legacy. He may have been regarded as a controversial figure, with his so-called 'reality distortion field', but I sure miss his keynote speeches.

What are your iPhone memories? Let me know in the comments below.