At the end of the day it's not going to be about who is selling what end-play device, it's going to be about who is sitting in the middle. And Apple wants to be that benevolent dictator, parsing DRM-protected content to whatever device you're using at the time.

This is a very lengthy but very fascinating look at Apple's long term strategy. The best digital media article/post I've read in a long time.

...And if you don't think video on demand is here. It is. Recently we used Cinema Now to watch a video on demand. Yes, there were problems, but within a short time of selecting a movie and paying we were able to watch it. I believe the technology for VOD is around today. The barriers to adoption are one, the user interface, and two, the pricing model.
2:25:20 PM   []

The FCC also authorized about a dozen other technologies as meeting broadcast flag standards, including Sony's "Magic Gate" recording technology, Philips Electronics and Hewlett-Packard's Vidi Recordable DVD Protection System, and Microsoft's Windows Media Digital Rights Management.

1:18:21 PM   []