He laid out the reasons NOT to build an Apple television at All Things D in 2010
Jobs at All Things D8
There’s been a lot of talk about Apple (AAPL) launching a full-fledged interactive television ever since Walter Isaacson quoted Steve Jobs saying he’d “finally cracked it.”
But before the company can successfully market such a product, it must overcome the formidable hurdles that Jobs laid out the year before he died at All Things D8.
He was asked in a Q&A what was needed to fix television’s broken interface. It’s not a problem of technology or vision, Jobs replied. It’s the lack of a viable go-to-market strategy.
“The television industry,” he explained, “has a subsidized business model that gives everybody a set top box for free or for $10 a month. And that pretty much squashes any opportunity for innovation.”
Below: All Things D’s video.