For months, rumors flew about Amazon building an internet TV device similar to
Apple TV or
Roku–a
box that lets you shuttle movies, TV shows, music, and other stuff
across the internet to your television. Now, sources are telling
Recode that Amazon
will unveil its box next month.
For almost any other company, such a launch would look like little more
than a copycat product entering a years-old market that has never
really taken off. But when that company is Amazon, you have to ask
whether the definitive disruptor has finally arrived.
The answer is a strong maybe. Amazon has shown it has the expertise
to pull off the transformation of television. What’s less clear is
whether the play makes sense for Amazon as a business.