Would putting a standard slot-loading DVD drive in the Apple TV make sense right now?

Please read this post before voting - thank you.

Myself and 'gugy' have been arguing this one to no end in that other thread. I started this poll because of how strongly I feel on the subject. Gugy thinks putting a slot-loading DVD drive in an Apple TV doesn't make sense for Apple because it would compete with their whole downloading movies over the internet through iTunes strategy.

I disagree though, here's why:

Apple could sell millions of these things if it could play peoples DVD's, it's not hard to imagine. They could chuck their old, bulky DVD player, and go with this modern easy-to-use, minimal, understated set-up. Without a DVD slot, right now, it's just a fancy media streamer--a niche product--they'll be very lucky to sell over two million of them. When we get to a point when downloading movies makes more sense than physical disks, then he'd have a point, but even at that people would still need an additional device taking up space in their set-up to play their DVD's. Right now, and in the future putting a DVD slot in this device just makes sense, it's that simple.

More people are starting to choose downloading music over buying CD's now cause it makes more sense. Yet they still have the option of doing the latter, their computers have the drive to play and rip that content. They choose to download cause it's quicker, easier, and more efficient. The same would be true for Apple TV at a point, even if it could still play regular old DVD disks too. Downloading movies over using DVD's doesn't make sense right now, we're just not there yet, infrastructure-wise or content-wise. And in the mean time, Apple aint selling many Apple TV's.

Oh, and here's how it could look:


Gugy you may as well vote no now and get it out of the way.

This you may find humorous, or interesting, or perhaps, a bit of both.

I appreciate you voting yes, but with iPTV as a dead certain down in the pipeline, we wont need a DVR in the future.

Well the current model for iPTV is PPV, but future models could be pay monthly viewing. Two packages. One for a lot of TV, and one a normal amount. So when you want to watch that show, you use your Apple TV, find the show you want to watch over a direct internet connection and watch it.

You get your TV programming for free?

I agree, to a point, but Blu-ray drives simply aren't cheap enough at this point. Which is why we aren't seeing them in Macs yet. I'm talking about the Apple TV as it stands right now, not at a point in the future when Apple could sell them with a Blu-ray drive, and still make it some way affordable.

Saying you don't get it may sound a bit condescending, so I wont go there. What I will say is this; Apple makes far more money on hardware than it does selling any form of downloadable media, far more. DVD drives are dirt, dirt cheap, and if you were fully aware of the size they can be, you wouldn't have said it would double the height of the Apple TV.

If Apple did include a DVD drive, many more people would buy them, as they would be much more useful to people, and would give them more functionality, a nicer, more user-friendly experience, and a cooler, cleaner set-up. Then, when the bandwidth infrastructure is there, and more importantly, when quality content is there, people could get their new movies and such from the Apple store using the same Apple device. And they would choose to download then, just as they do now with music, for the simple reason, it would be more convenient, and probably cheaper too. If that's not a win win for everyone, including Apple, I don't know what is.

The Apple TV would then be a nicely profitable DVD player for Apple, that is software up-datable, future-proofed, and future-ready. And compatible with all your old content too.

Wow, it doesn't play DVD's and it doesn't allow you to watch movies as good as DVD quality downloaded from the iTunes store. I see you're point. Apple are really pulling another iPod for the living room here.

Notice the more logical posts tend to be shorter, cause they are true.

I never said they were zero hight, the drive may raise the height of the Apple TV a little bit, but saying it will double it is just sensationalist. There's a small bit of room in the Apple TV, and I'm sure with a bit a clever Apple engineering, they could nearly make it the exact same size.

I agree, but that's not economically viable. If the Apple TV cost $1000 I'd say they'd sell only a few thousand of them.

Tend to be.