There’s been a lot written about Apple TV since its formal launch in January 2007. A common opinion is that it is underspecified and less functional that other media recording or distribution devices. It doesn’t even record television!

But, that’s exactly its unique selling point.

Apple foresees the day when entertainment will come via the internet, surpassing traditional terrestrial, satellite and cable services. You’ll subscribe directly to the programmes and series you want to watch, delivered by content providers, whilst keeping an eye on websites that announce, promote and review other stuff you may be interested in. This is how digital music is evolving at present.

Let’s talk a little bit more about music in this context: Amazon’s recommendation system is rubbish – it constantly suggests music that I have no interest in (and yes, I’ve trained it) – and suggests I buy music which I’ve already purchased from them. Contrast this with last.fm, whose fuzzy community based recommendation system has led me to discover some really great new music. Most of it from Canada, strangely. Then there’s Apple’s own iTunes Alerts: I’ve set mine up to let me know whenever new stuff appears by artists I’ve already bought from the iTunes Store. iTunes also has its mini store which acts a bit like Amazon’s system, and is similarly incompetent.

These kinds of services will eventually happen for television shows and other entertainment (games?) too. For Apple, content and recommendations will be delivered via iTunes – and that’s why iTV got renamed.