Jobs says Internet on TV unlikely for now

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif., June 2 (UPI) -- Steve Jobs, chief executive officer of U.S. technology innovator Apple Co., said the television and the Internet were likely to remain separate for some time.

"The only way that's ever going to change is if you can really go back to square one, tear up the set top box, redesign it from scratch … and get it to consumers in a way that they're willing to pay for it," Jobs said at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., the Apple Insider reported Wednesday.

The problem with combining Internet functions with television services starts with the basic pricing for set boxes, Jobs said.

Currently, cable companies subsidize the cost of set top boxes in order to secure a customer's cable service contract. As such, "that pretty much squashes opportunity for innovation, because nobody's willing to buy a set top box," Jobs said.

"Ask Tivo, ask Replay TV, ask Roku, ask Vudu, ask us, ask Google in a few months," he said, taking a jab at Google, which recently announced it would provide televisions -- usually the largest screen in the house -- with Internet capabilities.

"It's not a problem with technology, not a problem with vision, it's a fundamental go to market problem," he said.