Here you go. Not sure if the bit of the screen I captured has the data you're looking for though. Since it's a lower resolution you can't see the whole screen. Let me know if I need to capture a different section.
EDIT: Hmm..the raw TIFF look much better than the PNG, but it's 6 MB in size. Not sure if I can upload that to ImageShack or not. Let me give it a try.
Must have had preview zoomed or something. With both the TIFF and the PNG set to 100% they look pretty much identical. I'll try uploading the TIFF anyway just in case you want to see the original image.
Display resolution is 1824 x 1006
Scratch the TIFF. ImageShack automatically converts it to a PNG anyway
Let me know if this has what your looking for. Make sure you zoom the image in if you view it in Safari, or just download it locally and open it in Preview.
You're quoting the price of a 1/2 height (~1.75" thick) desktop BD reader, most of Apple's computers don't have space for them inside. I can't find a 9.5mm *slot loading* drive that would work in an Apple notebook.
Apple hardware supports HDCP, you can install Windows on a Mac Pro and play BD content just fine. I wonder if Apple doesn't offer a way for third party software makers to use HDCP in OS X.
I don't see any BRDs that are 9.5mm -AND- slot-loading. Even the 12.7mm slot-laoding drives or the 9.5mm tray-loading drives are $500+, that isn't something that would satisfy many people, especially when the common theme is "it should cost only $100". The point remains that it's just not viable on so many fronts for Apple to include BRDs in their notebooks.
You've never been to a Walmart, then? Not quite a "corner" in my local store. More front and center Blu-ray stands!
And since you seem to agree that Blu-ray is "on its way out"...care to enlighten us on what is replacing it?
Ask Steve Jobs he's on the Blu-ray standards board. That's why he's not going to support it. It's sales are just starting to sky rocket and it takes money out of his pockets. I love Netflix and Hulu downloads, I use them all the time to hook my PC via HDMI up to my High Def TV and it's Free (Netflix with a subscription that I can rent Blu-ray discs on).
Blu-ray like Flash is here to stay for many years. Regardless of what the foaming at mouth die hard haters of technology in this room may think.
I don't see any BRDs that are 9.5mm -AND- slot-loading. Even the 12.7mm slot-laoding drives or the 9.5mm tray-loading drives are $500+, that isn't something that would satisfy many people, especially when the common theme is "it should cost only $100". The point remains that it's just not viable on so many fronts for Apple to include BRDs in their notebooks.
Then Apple should get off their lazy ass and make a device or make a thicker notebook.
Blu-Ray is here to stay as is Flash for many, many years.
Read some other media than Apple sites and Fan forums. Maybe get a room outside of your mom's basement and see that there are many PC users have been very easily unhooking their Blu-ray players and hooking up their notebooks and along with a wireless mouse you have 5.1 dolby sound and Free TV. Not the greatest resolution but it's as good as DVD for most current content.
HDMI is the future, Apple's DVI is a sleazy solution to keep you hooked into their eco system.
The image is irrelevant. I don't think anyone here needs to know what an HDMI connector looks like. You seem the be the only person excited by the fact that the image is a mock-up. Mock-ups are used all of the time for electronics. It doesn't matter if you 'agree with me' or not. No where in the article does it claim that the image is an actual image of this new hardware. You made that assumption on your own.
he was not the only person...
and nowhere in the article? excuse me? a photo with its caption edited in an article is what? is it a google ad?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmf2
There is no mention of AI having obtained images of the mac mini in the article. They have two sources telling them that an hdmi connector is there. That is it. If you look at the image, it has an AppleInsider watermark which means they are laying claim to the photoshopped image as their own. I'm sorry they didn't connect the dots for you.
are you sure? doesn't Watermark on a picture say the originality of the source and the rights for that site?
so when iFixit posts a photo with its watermark, for you it means a mock-up? very funny
Firstly, the 9.5mm blu-ray burner sells for $342. I updated the link. Keep in mind that burning could be limited to the high-end models, with playback available across the board, just as it was when Apple adopted DVD.
Secondly, Apple is one of the only PC manufacturers that use slot-load drives; I honestly don't know of any other to be honest. They're also probably the only laptop manufacturer who doesn't limit 9.5mm drives to some premium "ultra slim" series, instead making their entire line-up equally thin. So it's no surprise that, given Apple's reluctance to adopt blu-ray, no slot load blu-ray drive is available on the market.
But given that Panasonic was producing samples of a tray-load 9.5mm blu-ray drive two years ago, I highly doubt any technical challenge remains for producing a 9.5mm slot load blu-ray drive if Apple expressed interest in ordering 12 million of the things per year. I don't recall any slot load DVD players being on the market before Apple put them in the 1999 iMac DV series, either. Lots of hardware components have seemed to not exist before showing up in a new Mac or other Apple product over the years.
Everything I stated was a objective point on what is preventing Apple from including BRDs in their systems. Stating that Apple could make Panasonic make them if they wanted doesn't change anything I stated.
Look, personally I don't care if BRDs come or not so if ODDs are going to be around in notebooks for awhile I am all for the option as it doesn't affect me either way, but that doesn't mean I think Apple will go that route. I absolutely think Apple is holding out until they remove the internal ODD from their notebooks altogether.
Then Apple should get off their lazy ass and make a device or make a thicker notebook.
Blu-Ray is here to stay as is Flash for many, many years.
Read some other media than Apple sites and Fan forums. Maybe get a room outside of your mom's basement and see that there PC users have been very easily unhooking their Blu-ray players and hooking up their notebooks and along with a wireless mouse you have 5.1 dolby sound and Free TV.
I see your court apponted anger management class get out early tonight?
It's hard for me to decide which I like less - the apologists or the trolls.
- HDMI in this case is an output - it's for hooking an external display to your computer. Every HDTV made in the last few years has an HDMI input. This has absolutely zero to do with whether or not you have an internal BD player.
- If you do have an internal BD player and you want to transmit not only 1080p video but high resolution audio as well, once again, the industry standard solution is called HDMI. Have you naysayers ever heard Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio played through a compatible sound system? The difference is huge. TOSLink is nearly an order of magnitude less bandwidth.
- Ditto with video bandwidth. There is not currently any other video source (other than stolen ripped BD movies) that approaches the quality of Blu-ray.
Granted not all that many people hook a computer up to their living room TV, but those of us who do know that it's an elegant way to not only consume media in the absolute highest available quality, but also pretty cool for casual web browsing as well. I'm typing this from the couch while playing back NBC Nightly News in a window.
Microsoft currently owns this space, and before anyone has a stroke because of this statement, have you actually seen Windows 7 Media Center? It's a very capable DVR with a great interface. I strongly prefer it over any other DVR I've ever seen. Apple could do well here if they wanted to.
I have a theory on the matter, might sound crazy but still..
Maybe Apple holds off on the audio because of licensing issues concerning HDMI. I don't know how the licensing models look, but if they were to enable audio they would almost certainly have to sell an adapter for mDP to HDMI since that would be the sole purpose of the audio.
And maybe that would require HDMI licensing. A bag of hurt someone called it. Or was that Blue-Ray.?
Well. Who Knows.. except Steve.
Interesting thought. They wouldn't have to sell a mDP-to-HDMI cable if they didn't want to and they already pay the required $1000(?) for the HDMI license and 04¢ per device for each AppleTV. I don't think the license is for each device type, just each company.
I really hope they add audio and data for the mDP port. mDP USB data is already 50% faster than USB2.0. With any luck we'll get USB3.0 on the next builds since waiting 3 more seasons for another release will put them woefully behind, LightPeak isn't ready and ever increasing NAND capacities makes restoring an iPhone a slow process.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory Bauer
That day will be a sad commentary indeed on the company who these days is first and foremost a whore for the record companies and movie studios.
That will be a happy day, just like when Apple shocked the world by removing the floppy drive. I haven't used the ODD for years, except to restore the OS, but we have other, better options for that. The ODD is taking up 25% of the case and 5" of port-side real-estate in the 13" MB/MBP. If not for the MBA being so thin that only a small capacity 1.8" HDD or SSD can be used I'd have gone with that. The HP Envys already go that route in their 13" and 15" models, but with sufficient performance, ports and storage capacity. It's the wave and way of the future.
I've posted so many times so I'll only put up a link this time to an xray of the MacBook. Check out that huge, slow, power-consuming component that rarely gets used these days: http://mikepk.com/wp-content/uploads...ok-xray-01.jpg (image)
I see your court apponted anger management class get out early tonight?
I see by your typo and lack of a 15 page reply that you've hit the bottle again.
Can I be banned for commenting on an arrogant posting with the same disregard for feelings?
Go to bed and get up ad post a relevant coherent posting. This is really starting to become a habit for you and I rarely log on to call you out on your lack of knowledge and incoherent postings.
*call for pricing* - NOT a good sign. I've found a couple others being sold by dealers that I've never heard of, for $300. I'm going to have to assume they're scammers.
Newegg doesn't have them, Amazon doesn't have them (however, a dubious sounding seller in AMZN market place has one for $900), OWC doesn't have them.
One drive I found on eBay was a tray-loader, another, 12.5mm.
That will be a happy day, just like when Apple shocked the world by removing the floppy drive. I haven't used the ODD for years, except to restore the OS, but we have other, better options for that. The ODD is taking up 25% of the case and 5" of port-side real-estate in the 13" MB/MBP. If not for the MBA being so thin that only a small capacity 1.8" HDD or SSD can be used I'd have gone with that. The HP Envys already go that route in their 13" and 15" models, but with sufficient performance, ports and storage capacity. It's the wave and way of the future.
I've posted so many times so I'll only put up a link this time to an xray of the MacBook. Check out that huge, slow, power-consuming component that rarely gets used these days: http://mikepk.com/wp-content/uploads...ok-xray-01.jpg (image)
There's nothing more useful that the optical drive's space could be used for in a laptop. More ports for what? More storage space than the TB you can already get with a single drive? More battery life than the 7hrs you can already get? Professionals exchange GBs of data every day, and it has to be done in a manner that's 1.) cheap enough you can send a disc away and not care if you never get it back, 2.) reliable, and 3.) shelve-able. Even if they were cheap, you can't shelve a flash drive, because you can't label it. Posting 4GB of data on the internet sucks, let alone 50GB; too many people work daily off slow, unreliable wi-fi connections to post files that large.
To eliminate the optical drive would be an extremely foolish thing to do. It's nothing like the floppy drive, whose demise was a no brainer given it's 1.3MB storage capacity and terrible reliability. People never had floppy drive players in their living rooms, game consoles, and SUVs like they do DVDs. When the floppy drive died, you could already email it's maximum storage quickly and without issue; we're nowhere near being able to easily share 4GB of data quickly and electronically — And if Apple would get with the times, we could be using optical drives whose storage is 6-12 times that which Apple offers its customers now. When you can attach 4GB of data to an email and send it in less than 3 minutes, we can talk about getting rid of the optical drive.
But hey, what am I talking about? Doing work with a Macintosh? That's so 2001. People shouldn't be doing anything with their computers these days besides buying movies, music, books and tv shows from the iTunes Store.
If they make a Mac-Min with an HDMI port the Apple-TV is dead. At least for me it is. I hardly use mine as it is.
It's a shame Apple more or less hasn't touched the Front Row interface since it's introduction in late 2005. It's missing a ton of features that would be necessary for it to be a real Apple TV replacement; you can't even browse available movie rentals.
I think the point is, why would you need the rest of the computer if it only plays media? do you really want a keyboard and mouse hooked up to your TV? A mac mini would require that in it's current form. I've done it and I'm much happier with the Apple TV. Surfing the internet and working on a television display just isn't practical. People want something more like a traditional appliance than a computer. Put the server in a closet and forget the extra hassle.
A computer, with the right SW, can play back any format.
The ATV only plays back whatever iTunes allows. If I download a movie for another vendor, want to stream some Netflix movies, pop in a DVD/BR, etc, a computer can do that; the Apple TV can't.
I have my current PC hooked to my 1080p TV though VGA, I control it with a Logitech PS3 (Bluetooth) KB/trackpad, it works great. When I get the parts for my new build, it will be through HDMI, and I'll be adding a BR drive to it too.
I don't necessarily want to surf the web on my HDTV; I want a true multimedia PC, that can also play games. Even my 360 can't do all of that.
I would at some point like a NAS, but companies put too much control in traditional settop boxes, Apple, Sony, and MS among them. If you can't control the content, you can't control the revenue.
Comments
Here you go. Not sure if the bit of the screen I captured has the data you're looking for though. Since it's a lower resolution you can't see the whole screen. Let me know if I need to capture a different section.
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/4...ncapturevj.png
EDIT: Hmm..the raw TIFF look much better than the PNG, but it's 6 MB in size. Not sure if I can upload that to ImageShack or not. Let me give it a try.
Must have had preview zoomed or something. With both the TIFF and the PNG set to 100% they look pretty much identical. I'll try uploading the TIFF anyway just in case you want to see the original image.
Display resolution is 1824 x 1006
Scratch the TIFF. ImageShack automatically converts it to a PNG anyway
Let me know if this has what your looking for. Make sure you zoom the image in if you view it in Safari, or just download it locally and open it in Preview.
Front porch and back porch is for analog TVs and CRT monitors. The term doesn't apply with a digital connector.
Not sure where you got the idea that Front and Back porch are not used in LCD technology.
Just search Google for "lcd front porch" for thousands of examples.
This. So very well stated.
You've never been to a Walmart, then? Not quite a "corner" in my local store. More front and center Blu-ray stands!
And since you seem to agree that Blu-ray is "on its way out"...care to enlighten us on what is replacing it?
You're quoting the price of a 1/2 height (~1.75" thick) desktop BD reader, most of Apple's computers don't have space for them inside. I can't find a 9.5mm *slot loading* drive that would work in an Apple notebook.
Apple hardware supports HDCP, you can install Windows on a Mac Pro and play BD content just fine. I wonder if Apple doesn't offer a way for third party software makers to use HDCP in OS X.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=...5aa4278f68e4a4
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=...5aa4278f68e4a4
I don't see any BRDs that are 9.5mm -AND- slot-loading. Even the 12.7mm slot-laoding drives or the 9.5mm tray-loading drives are $500+, that isn't something that would satisfy many people, especially when the common theme is "it should cost only $100". The point remains that it's just not viable on so many fronts for Apple to include BRDs in their notebooks.
You've never been to a Walmart, then? Not quite a "corner" in my local store. More front and center Blu-ray stands!
And since you seem to agree that Blu-ray is "on its way out"...care to enlighten us on what is replacing it?
Ask Steve Jobs he's on the Blu-ray standards board. That's why he's not going to support it. It's sales are just starting to sky rocket and it takes money out of his pockets. I love Netflix and Hulu downloads, I use them all the time to hook my PC via HDMI up to my High Def TV and it's Free (Netflix with a subscription that I can rent Blu-ray discs on).
Blu-ray like Flash is here to stay for many years. Regardless of what the foaming at mouth die hard haters of technology in this room may think.
I don't see any BRDs that are 9.5mm -AND- slot-loading. Even the 12.7mm slot-laoding drives or the 9.5mm tray-loading drives are $500+, that isn't something that would satisfy many people, especially when the common theme is "it should cost only $100". The point remains that it's just not viable on so many fronts for Apple to include BRDs in their notebooks.
Then Apple should get off their lazy ass and make a device or make a thicker notebook.
Blu-Ray is here to stay as is Flash for many, many years.
Read some other media than Apple sites and Fan forums. Maybe get a room outside of your mom's basement and see that there are many PC users have been very easily unhooking their Blu-ray players and hooking up their notebooks and along with a wireless mouse you have 5.1 dolby sound and Free TV. Not the greatest resolution but it's as good as DVD for most current content.
HDMI is the future, Apple's DVI is a sleazy solution to keep you hooked into their eco system.
The image is irrelevant. I don't think anyone here needs to know what an HDMI connector looks like. You seem the be the only person excited by the fact that the image is a mock-up. Mock-ups are used all of the time for electronics. It doesn't matter if you 'agree with me' or not. No where in the article does it claim that the image is an actual image of this new hardware. You made that assumption on your own.
he was not the only person...
and nowhere in the article? excuse me? a photo with its caption edited in an article is what? is it a google ad?
There is no mention of AI having obtained images of the mac mini in the article. They have two sources telling them that an hdmi connector is there. That is it. If you look at the image, it has an AppleInsider watermark which means they are laying claim to the photoshopped image as their own. I'm sorry they didn't connect the dots for you.
are you sure? doesn't Watermark on a picture say the originality of the source and the rights for that site?
so when iFixit posts a photo with its watermark, for you it means a mock-up? very funny
Firstly, the 9.5mm blu-ray burner sells for $342. I updated the link. Keep in mind that burning could be limited to the high-end models, with playback available across the board, just as it was when Apple adopted DVD.
Secondly, Apple is one of the only PC manufacturers that use slot-load drives; I honestly don't know of any other to be honest. They're also probably the only laptop manufacturer who doesn't limit 9.5mm drives to some premium "ultra slim" series, instead making their entire line-up equally thin. So it's no surprise that, given Apple's reluctance to adopt blu-ray, no slot load blu-ray drive is available on the market.
But given that Panasonic was producing samples of a tray-load 9.5mm blu-ray drive two years ago, I highly doubt any technical challenge remains for producing a 9.5mm slot load blu-ray drive if Apple expressed interest in ordering 12 million of the things per year. I don't recall any slot load DVD players being on the market before Apple put them in the 1999 iMac DV series, either. Lots of hardware components have seemed to not exist before showing up in a new Mac or other Apple product over the years.
Everything I stated was a objective point on what is preventing Apple from including BRDs in their systems. Stating that Apple could make Panasonic make them if they wanted doesn't change anything I stated.
Look, personally I don't care if BRDs come or not so if ODDs are going to be around in notebooks for awhile I am all for the option as it doesn't affect me either way, but that doesn't mean I think Apple will go that route. I absolutely think Apple is holding out until they remove the internal ODD from their notebooks altogether.
Then Apple should get off their lazy ass and make a device or make a thicker notebook.
Blu-Ray is here to stay as is Flash for many, many years.
Read some other media than Apple sites and Fan forums. Maybe get a room outside of your mom's basement and see that there PC users have been very easily unhooking their Blu-ray players and hooking up their notebooks and along with a wireless mouse you have 5.1 dolby sound and Free TV.
I see your court apponted anger management class get out early tonight?
- HDMI in this case is an output - it's for hooking an external display to your computer. Every HDTV made in the last few years has an HDMI input. This has absolutely zero to do with whether or not you have an internal BD player.
- If you do have an internal BD player and you want to transmit not only 1080p video but high resolution audio as well, once again, the industry standard solution is called HDMI. Have you naysayers ever heard Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio played through a compatible sound system? The difference is huge. TOSLink is nearly an order of magnitude less bandwidth.
- Ditto with video bandwidth. There is not currently any other video source (other than stolen ripped BD movies) that approaches the quality of Blu-ray.
Granted not all that many people hook a computer up to their living room TV, but those of us who do know that it's an elegant way to not only consume media in the absolute highest available quality, but also pretty cool for casual web browsing as well. I'm typing this from the couch while playing back NBC Nightly News in a window.
Microsoft currently owns this space, and before anyone has a stroke because of this statement, have you actually seen Windows 7 Media Center? It's a very capable DVR with a great interface. I strongly prefer it over any other DVR I've ever seen. Apple could do well here if they wanted to.
I absolutely think Apple is holding out until they remove the internal ODD from their notebooks altogether.
That day will be a sad commentary indeed on the company who these days is first and foremost a whore for the record companies and movie studios.
solipsism..
I have a theory on the matter, might sound crazy but still..
Maybe Apple holds off on the audio because of licensing issues concerning HDMI. I don't know how the licensing models look, but if they were to enable audio they would almost certainly have to sell an adapter for mDP to HDMI since that would be the sole purpose of the audio.
And maybe that would require HDMI licensing. A bag of hurt someone called it. Or was that Blue-Ray.?
Well. Who Knows.. except Steve.
Interesting thought. They wouldn't have to sell a mDP-to-HDMI cable if they didn't want to and they already pay the required $1000(?) for the HDMI license and 04¢ per device for each AppleTV. I don't think the license is for each device type, just each company.
I really hope they add audio and data for the mDP port. mDP USB data is already 50% faster than USB2.0. With any luck we'll get USB3.0 on the next builds since waiting 3 more seasons for another release will put them woefully behind, LightPeak isn't ready and ever increasing NAND capacities makes restoring an iPhone a slow process.
That day will be a sad commentary indeed on the company who these days is first and foremost a whore for the record companies and movie studios.
That will be a happy day, just like when Apple shocked the world by removing the floppy drive. I haven't used the ODD for years, except to restore the OS, but we have other, better options for that. The ODD is taking up 25% of the case and 5" of port-side real-estate in the 13" MB/MBP. If not for the MBA being so thin that only a small capacity 1.8" HDD or SSD can be used I'd have gone with that. The HP Envys already go that route in their 13" and 15" models, but with sufficient performance, ports and storage capacity. It's the wave and way of the future.
I've posted so many times so I'll only put up a link this time to an xray of the MacBook. Check out that huge, slow, power-consuming component that rarely gets used these days: http://mikepk.com/wp-content/uploads...ok-xray-01.jpg (image)
I see your court apponted anger management class get out early tonight?
I see by your typo and lack of a 15 page reply that you've hit the bottle again.
Can I be banned for commenting on an arrogant posting with the same disregard for feelings?
Go to bed and get up ad post a relevant coherent posting. This is really starting to become a habit for you and I rarely log on to call you out on your lack of knowledge and incoherent postings.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=...5aa4278f68e4a4
Sadly, that's a list of mostly dry holes, or 12.5mm slot loading, or 9.5mm tray loading.
I did manage to find this: http://store.fastmac.com/product_inf...roducts_id=338
$999.95 for the PATA version. No SATA version for current models. I do not recall hearing of this dealer before.
http://www.digistor.com/Panasonic-9-...lot-Load-Drive
*call for pricing* - NOT a good sign. I've found a couple others being sold by dealers that I've never heard of, for $300. I'm going to have to assume they're scammers.
Newegg doesn't have them, Amazon doesn't have them (however, a dubious sounding seller in AMZN market place has one for $900), OWC doesn't have them.
One drive I found on eBay was a tray-loader, another, 12.5mm.
That will be a happy day, just like when Apple shocked the world by removing the floppy drive. I haven't used the ODD for years, except to restore the OS, but we have other, better options for that. The ODD is taking up 25% of the case and 5" of port-side real-estate in the 13" MB/MBP. If not for the MBA being so thin that only a small capacity 1.8" HDD or SSD can be used I'd have gone with that. The HP Envys already go that route in their 13" and 15" models, but with sufficient performance, ports and storage capacity. It's the wave and way of the future.
I've posted so many times so I'll only put up a link this time to an xray of the MacBook. Check out that huge, slow, power-consuming component that rarely gets used these days: http://mikepk.com/wp-content/uploads...ok-xray-01.jpg (image)
There's nothing more useful that the optical drive's space could be used for in a laptop. More ports for what? More storage space than the TB you can already get with a single drive? More battery life than the 7hrs you can already get? Professionals exchange GBs of data every day, and it has to be done in a manner that's 1.) cheap enough you can send a disc away and not care if you never get it back, 2.) reliable, and 3.) shelve-able. Even if they were cheap, you can't shelve a flash drive, because you can't label it. Posting 4GB of data on the internet sucks, let alone 50GB; too many people work daily off slow, unreliable wi-fi connections to post files that large.
To eliminate the optical drive would be an extremely foolish thing to do. It's nothing like the floppy drive, whose demise was a no brainer given it's 1.3MB storage capacity and terrible reliability. People never had floppy drive players in their living rooms, game consoles, and SUVs like they do DVDs. When the floppy drive died, you could already email it's maximum storage quickly and without issue; we're nowhere near being able to easily share 4GB of data quickly and electronically — And if Apple would get with the times, we could be using optical drives whose storage is 6-12 times that which Apple offers its customers now. When you can attach 4GB of data to an email and send it in less than 3 minutes, we can talk about getting rid of the optical drive.
But hey, what am I talking about? Doing work with a Macintosh? That's so 2001. People shouldn't be doing anything with their computers these days besides buying movies, music, books and tv shows from the iTunes Store.
That day will be a sad commentary indeed on the company who these days is first and foremost a whore for the record companies and movie studios.
I think it's the other way around, they just don't realize it yet.
If they make a Mac-Min with an HDMI port the Apple-TV is dead. At least for me it is. I hardly use mine as it is.
It's a shame Apple more or less hasn't touched the Front Row interface since it's introduction in late 2005. It's missing a ton of features that would be necessary for it to be a real Apple TV replacement; you can't even browse available movie rentals.
I think the point is, why would you need the rest of the computer if it only plays media? do you really want a keyboard and mouse hooked up to your TV? A mac mini would require that in it's current form. I've done it and I'm much happier with the Apple TV. Surfing the internet and working on a television display just isn't practical. People want something more like a traditional appliance than a computer. Put the server in a closet and forget the extra hassle.
A computer, with the right SW, can play back any format.
The ATV only plays back whatever iTunes allows. If I download a movie for another vendor, want to stream some Netflix movies, pop in a DVD/BR, etc, a computer can do that; the Apple TV can't.
I have my current PC hooked to my 1080p TV though VGA, I control it with a Logitech PS3 (Bluetooth) KB/trackpad, it works great. When I get the parts for my new build, it will be through HDMI, and I'll be adding a BR drive to it too.
I don't necessarily want to surf the web on my HDTV; I want a true multimedia PC, that can also play games. Even my 360 can't do all of that.
I would at some point like a NAS, but companies put too much control in traditional settop boxes, Apple, Sony, and MS among them. If you can't control the content, you can't control the revenue.