AirPlay is a technology that seamlessly moves audio and video from device to device in the Apple ecosystem. It's built into the iPhone, iPad, and -- most importantly -- the Apple TV set-top box. Among other things, AirPlay can be used to send video from iPhone apps like YouTube, MLB.tv, or WatchESPN to the AppleTV.

Espnairplay
Apple hasn't advertised AirPlay as strongly as some other features, like the iPhone 4S's Siri, though it did run a television ad after the iPhone 4 was introduced in 2011. That said, it's surprising that Glenn A. Britt, the chief executive of Time Warner Cable said he hadn't heard of the service, according to the New York Times.

"I’m not sure I know what AirPlay is," he said, though he noted that he was an enthusiastic Apple customer. "Today we want to be on every screen. Today it’s a little bit clunky to get programming from the Internet onto the TV — not so hard to get it on your iPad. What’s hard is the plumbing, what wires do you connect, what device do you use. So the current Apple TV, the little thing, the hockey puck, really doesn’t do anything to help enable you to get Internet material on your TV."


Ironically, Apple has solved Britt's problem -- though he wasn't aware of it -- but the company is not pushing AirPlay too strongly upon its users, nor the media companies. The Apple TV natively supports only a handful of third party services like streaming MLB, NHL, and NBA games, as well as Netflix.

However, AirPlay support has allowed many apps to send "programming from the Internet onto the TV", just as Britt wants, and could foreshadow the market segment a rumored Apple television set would fill.

Top Rated Comments

CBJammin103 Avatar
163 months ago
Can't wait until we can say "good riddance" to the network television providers.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0815 Avatar
163 months ago
*That* is why cable tv is doomed ... made by dinosaurs for dinosaurs. They have no idea what is going on in the world and have no interest in improving things as long as the old model brings money. Once they wake up, it will be too late and they will blame the pirates for it.

Honestly, I'm willing to bet a lot of people don't know what AirPlay is.
Sure, and nobody is expecting that everybody knows it - my Mom does not know and there is no need for her to know (at least not yet). BUT: from someone running a huge media company, I would expect that they know what is going on in THEIR market segment (or is potentially either improving or threatening it, depending on how well informed they are)
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
163 months ago
the CEO of a company has no clue ... shocker

how else could anyone explain their 90s business models
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
163 months ago
Honestly, I'm willing to bet a lot of people don't know what AirPlay is.
Very true, but they’re probably not CEOs paid massive salaries to deal with (and speak about) challenges like the following:

"Today it’s a little bit clunky to get programming from the Internet onto the TV — not so hard to get it on your iPad.”

If only there were some easy way to get video from that iPad to your TV!

Perhaps Apple TV? Where does it get video from? Maybe from the Internet?

"So the current Apple TV, the little thing, the hockey puck, really doesn’t do anything to help enable you to get Internet material on your TV.”

Nope, I guess Apple TV gets material from... somewhere else. The grocery store, I think. :p
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Basefree Avatar
163 months ago
Who is Time Warner Cable?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
highdough Avatar
163 months ago
I still don't know what airplay does or why it exists. Probably because whatever it does I have no need for.

Am I an idiot as well?

Are you the CEO of a major technology company whose business it is to know what's going on in that area. It's like hearing an orthopedic surgeon saying he's never heard of using platelet rich plasma to speed up healing time. I'll bet most people haven't heard of that, but if you're a surgeon and you don't know that, you're an idiot.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

election results 2024 live activities

Track 2024 U.S. Election Results Live on Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday November 5, 2024 5:02 am PST by
Apple News is providing Live Activities support for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing iPhone and iPad users to track electoral results in real time directly from their Lock Screen. The feature is rolling out for U.S. users over the course of Election Day, November 5, providing continuous updates of the electoral count. So if you're interested, you don't need to repeatedly check...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
iCloud General Feature

Here's What's New in Apple's Updated iCloud Terms and Conditions Taking Effect Next Week

Friday September 13, 2024 7:39 am PDT by
Apple has started notifying users about an upcoming revision to its iCloud Terms and Conditions, which takes effect on Monday, September 16. We compared the text of the upcoming iCloud Terms and Conditions with the current U.S. version from September 18, 2023 and identified four key changes: "Apple ID" references have been changed to "Apple Account" throughout. iCloud users must agree to ...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
ipads early bf deals

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Tuesday November 5, 2024 7:02 am PST by
Black Friday is still a few weeks away, but you can already find great prices on numerous iPads, including the 9th generation iPad, 10th generation iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Of course, there is a chance that ...
M4 M4 Pro vs M4 Max Feature

When to Expect New M4 MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro Models

Monday November 4, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Apple's fall 2024 Mac announcements have included new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models, all of which debuted with variants of Apple's M4 chip. Apple intends to update the rest of its Mac lineup with M4 series processors over the next 12 months, which will make it the first time that Apple has used the same chip generation across all of its Macs. This means we can expect new M4...