This possibility of hooking up an iPod to the iTV is completely possible. On the back of the system is a *gasp* USB port. It would be very easy to hook a dock up to the iTV, but to have iPods dock straight into the system would probably defeat the purpose. I think Apple is more concerned about getting your own media to the TV, through the wireless, then ipod connectivity, which is why there is a USB port but not a built in dock.
What I was thinking was that the iTV wasn't just a transmitter, but it actually enhances the video to true, by the definition, HD 1080 HDMI output.
Wait, would that be even possible? To take a non-HD video and stream it into HD?
My only concern about the wireless is that 802.11g doesnt provide enough bandwidth to reliably stream HD content. Right now, my wireless network has a hard time consistantly streaming audio through my airport expresses... lots of drop outs.
Could Apple possibly be waiting for the 802.11n standard to come closer to finalization in order to ensure that someday if they wanted to be able to stream HD content to the iTV consumers wouldnt be stuck having to buy an add-on or a whole new device?
Being able to dock/connect an iPod directly would remove the bandwidth limitations of 802.11g and ensure that HD playback is smooth.
Quote:
What looks horrible on a large screen television depends on lot on the ability of that television to upgrade SD. The newest Sony televisions make SD look really good.
If your intent is to view videos from an iPod on a television you need some way to connect it. I don't see one wire as being overly inconvenient.
I have relatively new Sony and Pioneer TVs and neither is able to take a composite video input and scale it to anywhere near what I would consider a decent picture. I refuse to watch OnDemand movies from the cable company (SD content over DVI/HDMI connections) because the picture quality is absolutely attrocious (although the bitrate on that video is horrible too).
I'm not asking for the world, would I like HD, yes. Am I going to take a $500-$1000 gamble on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, no. If apple can provide an easy, convenient way for me to watch movies with an acceptable picture quality on a 50"+ television with the possibility that in the future they we be able to deliver HD content, will i jump onboard? Of course.
I'm not so concerned with the resolution or the bitrate or whatever. I would just like it to have comparable quality to a DVD with increased convenience.
Heres another question that jumps to mind. I've recently stopped buying as many DVDs as I used to because of services like NetFlix and Blockbuster's movie pass (the in-store one). As convenient as both of those services are, I find myself wishing that NetFlix had a faster turnaround time (due to no fault of their own, its limited by the speed of mail. I normally have a 2 day turn around time). I also find that the catalogue of movies at my local Blockbuster pales in comparison to NetFlix.
Apple could make a killing on a $XX per month X out at a time rental service. Negotiations with studios (once more hop on board) would be tough, but if I was Apple I would lay it out to the studios like this:
"We're both in this business to make money. You need to find a new business model to combat piracy. Right now, people with services like NetFlix/Blockbuster can copy as many movies a month as they can get their hands on. We have a locked down service that doesn't allow for copies to be made, yet the consumers still can have access to your movies with lower overhead on your part; its a win-win"
I would love something like an "Instant Netflix" obviously there are details to be worked out, like how many you can check out a day (so as to stop people from essentially having unlimited access to any movie they want).
"Lower than DVD quality. A 16:9 DVD movie is 720x480. An iTunes movie is 640x360. Really. Not bad, not noticeable."
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WERE FOR THE BLACK BARS!!!
YOU GET TRUE WIDESCREEN MOVIES from Itunes,NO BLACK BARS! THATS WHERE THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WENT... THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN.
buy with confidence folks...
No, you dont.
The width is different. with iTunes you get 640 pixels wide. A DVD provides 720. Depending on the aspect ratio of the DVD (1.85:1, 2.35:1, or whatever) up to 480 lines of vertical resolution can be seen.
The movies from iTunes do not have the black bars, you are correct, but they do not offer quite the resolution of a DVD. The guy quoted in your post was saying that 640x360 vs. 720x480 is a negligable difference in defense of the iTunes movies store. You'de be hard pressed to notice a difference unless viewing on the larges of large displays.
I'de make sure I knew my stuff before going on an all-caps rant next time.
* Can't burn to DVD, so can't take a movie to a friend's house without a video-capable iPod and cable....
Why not burn the file onto a data DVD, take it to your friend's house, copy to their iTunes and temporarily authorise them to play it? - if it's a good friend you can leave the authorisation on. If it's a really good friend, forget the movie!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme
Meanwhile, iTunes TV just got pretty good! Higher res! I can watch Galactica on iTunes FAR cheaper than I could get the sci-fi channel via cable.
I like the second point. Did anyone else notice the 'sleight of hand'? The way Apple got us to think so much about movies & pixels that the TV shows are now able to directly compete in quality with existing TV services? (iTunes is more open/convenient than a cable/sat-specific DVR & if you run out of time, watch it on the train!)
Steve's obviously had difficulty attracting other studios because he's the only player who can re-invent TV/Movies and they're scared of the power shift in distribution control ("I own SteveTV what can you do for me?") - nice way around it!
By the way - "Front Row" iTV should just be called "Front Row" (& make sure there's a stand-alone version with a Mac hidden inside)
We'll find out soon enough. If they did in fact sell more, they will have to say so. Silence likely equals less. Anyway, I'll take your bet, and say Apple sold more (I'll even disclose they sold none to me. I have an HDTV, so I'll not be buying something lower than DVD quality).
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
Uh... 125,000/7 = 17,857 downloads per day. That's the only math you can accurately do, as I assure you there were far more downloads for Pirates than there were for The Shaggy Dog. The losers in the bunch (how many folks do you think have downloaded Scorpius Gigantus?) throw your average way off.
This early in the game 17,900 movie downloads in a day is a lot, no matter how it breaks down to individual title sales. I think other movie studios will recognize this.
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
This has to be an initial burst, it's always the way with Apple. The iTunes (like the Mac) communities are seriously interconnected and Apple's not slow at push-marketing. The only way to sustain or improve this figure is to add more content or open internationally both of which are extremely likely. Although the BBC no doubt put the breaks on UK TV Shows they won't have this leverage with movies so expect UK to go live soon - I think it's Apple's biggest market outside the US.
My only concern about the wireless is that 802.11g doesnt provide enough bandwidth to reliably stream HD content. Right now, my wireless network has a hard time consistantly streaming audio through my airport expresses... lots of drop outs.
Apple actually did not say explicitly that iTV will use 802.11g. It could be 802.11n which is expected to be officially certified by June 2007.
Apple began using 802.11g a few months before it was officially certified. This is likely the reason why Apple is waiting until the first quarter of 2007.
Quote:
I have relatively new Sony and Pioneer TVs and neither is able to take a composite video input and scale it to anywhere near what I would consider a decent picture. I refuse to watch OnDemand movies from the cable company (SD content over DVI/HDMI connections) because the picture quality is absolutely attrocious (although the bitrate on that video is horrible too).
This can depend on how you have your TV set up. It can also depend on your opinion of atrocious.
I am quite often watching digital projection of 2K dailies as well as color grading images shot on film transfered to HD on a $14,000 monitor. Pretty much everything on DVD and broadcast television pales in comparison to that. But I take it in stride.
Ringtones are used hundreds or thousands of time, depending on number of calls you get. Tough to watch a movie that many time.
With the proper software you can make a ringtone yourself. I refuse to pay 2.50 for a low quality MP3 snippet, but millions of people do just that. That's the point; Quality is not such a big deal to the majority of people. if it was, the iTMS wouldn't be as successful as it is. ;-)
Ringtones are used hundreds or thousands of time, depending on number of calls you get. Tough to watch a movie that many time.
Life of Brian
Kevin and Perry go large
I've seen them more times than I've had hot dinners!!!
Seriously, I work in the conference industry, and I am typing this from backstage at the moment. I would love to be able to download a film while I am setting up and then watch it during the show.
Thanks for the clarification about the chapters. That's news to me... maybe it's studio optional.
When I said restrictive, I also meant the practical restrictions of owning a digital format movie... as opposed to a physical DVD which can travel, be sold, traded, etc.
Chapters are, I believe, optional by studio (at least it says to in Apple's FAQ). My guess is that Apple provides guidlines for studio submissions in encoding, etc. The chapter menu within iTunes is pretty slick: pull down menu with a thumbnail and a chapter name (similar to what's on the DVD, I presume) plus a timecode.
My reply was more directed at the article than you. I hope that the future review on iTunes movie downloads says on that fact. If one can get past the idea of DRM (and I'm wishy-washy on it), having 5 computers to watch movies is, really, hardly any restriction at all for most people.
Uh... 125,000/7 = 17,857 downloads per day. That's the only math you can accurately do, as I assure you there were far more downloads for Pirates than there were for The Shaggy Dog. The losers in the bunch (how many folks do you think have downloaded Scorpius Gigantus?) throw your average way off.
I agree that your method may provide an analysis more meaningful than mine.
Quote:
This early in the game 17,900 movie downloads in a day is a lot, no matter how it breaks down to individual title sales. I think other movie studios will recognize this.
Can anyone do similar math on "hard" DVD sales of [i]POTC[i] and maybe one or two other top Disney releases, (or for that matter, on the same 75-film portfolio) to see how those sales compare to the iTunes store rate? (pls understand, i hold a substantial amount of AAPL stock, i want it to succeed in all ventures; the initial sales figure report just wasn't (isn't, yet) a sign of break-through consumer response)
Yeah, but it's a fuckin' ringtone...I mean, come on, a RINGTONE.
If we're going to go down the 'but the ringtone is used hundreds or thousands of times' path then I've got a bit of math for you.
Ringtone = 4 seconds of sound (annoying sound really) * 2000 calls = 8000 seconds of sound
Movie = 7200 seconds of sound and moving pictures
Watch the movie twice and you've used it quite a bit more than your ringtone.
edit: oh...and I'd be pleasantly surprised if someone got 2000 calls using the same ring tone. It's a bit of stretch, eh?
I've seen lots of crazy, stupid commercial products and lemme tell, $9.99 for a 640x480 downloadable movie isn't it.
Yikes, looks like someone has some ringtone rage. Why stop at watching the movie 2 times? Why not watch it 20 times to really get your money's worth? Not only would we not be stupid, we would be brilliant.
I realize that many articles are written with one interest, or another, in mind, but it's funny to me to re-read the complaint of no way to get the content to the TV now... "maybe in 6 months".
I bought my girlfriend a 60g 5 gen, a crappy dock (which remote doesn't work adequately),and a $10.00 cable for her to take w/the ipod when she visits family, and can entertain the nieces & nephews on their tv. Because of the simplicity of the cable, I have no idea what happened to the dock, but she has bought a 2nd cable which now lays very discretely next to her bedroom TV. I realize not everyone has a video capable ipod, but my point is this.. my girlfriend has no interest in computers, and probably hasn't heard of the iTV, and she easily watches her videos where ever she likes. The picture is fine, and I haven't heard it mentioned once.
As mentioned already in this thread, you can view iTunes content just about anywhere that has a video input. As far as the picture is concerned, I was surprised by the quality the first time I saw the picture on a 65" TV, and I have yet to hear anyone complain.
I wonder what would happen if a hack were to show up on the net that would allow for the decrypting of iTunes purchased content so that people could burn DVDs, etc. I wonder if Apple would wait until after Christmas to deal with it.
There's something I haven't seen mentioned, that could really make these things FLY off the shelves. That being if Apple could broker a deal where movies area available not on the same day as the DVDs are released, but the same day the movies come to cable or satellite. That would eliminate the whole special feature argument, since you don't get those with cable movies anyway. And unlike cable, you'd be able to watch it long after it was no longer a new release. Of course this would no doubt piss off other content distributors, so I don't know if it's even possible. Maybe if it was the day after like the TV shows.
The other thing I was thinking was that this has the potential to take the wind out of the sails of the HD DVD:Blu-Ray format war, at least as far as movies are concerned. I still seeing them being viable for storage and video games, at least for the moment. This of course assumes that HD content will be available once there's a larger installed base of people with HDTVs in their homes.
Comments
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WERE FOR THE BLACK BARS!!!
YOU GET TRUE WIDESCREEN MOVIES from Itunes,NO BLACK BARS! THATS WHERE THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WENT... THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN.
buy with confidence folks...
This possibility of hooking up an iPod to the iTV is completely possible. On the back of the system is a *gasp* USB port. It would be very easy to hook a dock up to the iTV, but to have iPods dock straight into the system would probably defeat the purpose. I think Apple is more concerned about getting your own media to the TV, through the wireless, then ipod connectivity, which is why there is a USB port but not a built in dock.
What I was thinking was that the iTV wasn't just a transmitter, but it actually enhances the video to true, by the definition, HD 1080 HDMI output.
Wait, would that be even possible? To take a non-HD video and stream it into HD?
My only concern about the wireless is that 802.11g doesnt provide enough bandwidth to reliably stream HD content. Right now, my wireless network has a hard time consistantly streaming audio through my airport expresses... lots of drop outs.
Could Apple possibly be waiting for the 802.11n standard to come closer to finalization in order to ensure that someday if they wanted to be able to stream HD content to the iTV consumers wouldnt be stuck having to buy an add-on or a whole new device?
Being able to dock/connect an iPod directly would remove the bandwidth limitations of 802.11g and ensure that HD playback is smooth.
What looks horrible on a large screen television depends on lot on the ability of that television to upgrade SD. The newest Sony televisions make SD look really good.
If your intent is to view videos from an iPod on a television you need some way to connect it. I don't see one wire as being overly inconvenient.
I have relatively new Sony and Pioneer TVs and neither is able to take a composite video input and scale it to anywhere near what I would consider a decent picture. I refuse to watch OnDemand movies from the cable company (SD content over DVI/HDMI connections) because the picture quality is absolutely attrocious (although the bitrate on that video is horrible too).
I'm not asking for the world, would I like HD, yes. Am I going to take a $500-$1000 gamble on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, no. If apple can provide an easy, convenient way for me to watch movies with an acceptable picture quality on a 50"+ television with the possibility that in the future they we be able to deliver HD content, will i jump onboard? Of course.
I'm not so concerned with the resolution or the bitrate or whatever. I would just like it to have comparable quality to a DVD with increased convenience.
Heres another question that jumps to mind. I've recently stopped buying as many DVDs as I used to because of services like NetFlix and Blockbuster's movie pass (the in-store one). As convenient as both of those services are, I find myself wishing that NetFlix had a faster turnaround time (due to no fault of their own, its limited by the speed of mail. I normally have a 2 day turn around time). I also find that the catalogue of movies at my local Blockbuster pales in comparison to NetFlix.
Apple could make a killing on a $XX per month X out at a time rental service. Negotiations with studios (once more hop on board) would be tough, but if I was Apple I would lay it out to the studios like this:
"We're both in this business to make money. You need to find a new business model to combat piracy. Right now, people with services like NetFlix/Blockbuster can copy as many movies a month as they can get their hands on. We have a locked down service that doesn't allow for copies to be made, yet the consumers still can have access to your movies with lower overhead on your part; its a win-win"
I would love something like an "Instant Netflix" obviously there are details to be worked out, like how many you can check out a day (so as to stop people from essentially having unlimited access to any movie they want).
"Lower than DVD quality. A 16:9 DVD movie is 720x480. An iTunes movie is 640x360. Really. Not bad, not noticeable."
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WERE FOR THE BLACK BARS!!!
YOU GET TRUE WIDESCREEN MOVIES from Itunes,NO BLACK BARS! THATS WHERE THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WENT... THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN.
buy with confidence folks...
No, you dont.
The width is different. with iTunes you get 640 pixels wide. A DVD provides 720. Depending on the aspect ratio of the DVD (1.85:1, 2.35:1, or whatever) up to 480 lines of vertical resolution can be seen.
The movies from iTunes do not have the black bars, you are correct, but they do not offer quite the resolution of a DVD. The guy quoted in your post was saying that 640x360 vs. 720x480 is a negligable difference in defense of the iTunes movies store. You'de be hard pressed to notice a difference unless viewing on the larges of large displays.
I'de make sure I knew my stuff before going on an all-caps rant next time.
* Can't burn to DVD, so can't take a movie to a friend's house without a video-capable iPod and cable....
Why not burn the file onto a data DVD, take it to your friend's house, copy to their iTunes and temporarily authorise them to play it? - if it's a good friend you can leave the authorisation on. If it's a really good friend, forget the movie!
Meanwhile, iTunes TV just got pretty good! Higher res! I can watch Galactica on iTunes FAR cheaper than I could get the sci-fi channel via cable.
I like the second point. Did anyone else notice the 'sleight of hand'? The way Apple got us to think so much about movies & pixels that the TV shows are now able to directly compete in quality with existing TV services? (iTunes is more open/convenient than a cable/sat-specific DVR & if you run out of time, watch it on the train!)
Steve's obviously had difficulty attracting other studios because he's the only player who can re-invent TV/Movies and they're scared of the power shift in distribution control ("I own SteveTV what can you do for me?") - nice way around it!
By the way - "Front Row" iTV should just be called "Front Row" (& make sure there's a stand-alone version with a Mac hidden inside)
McD
We'll find out soon enough. If they did in fact sell more, they will have to say so. Silence likely equals less. Anyway, I'll take your bet, and say Apple sold more (I'll even disclose they sold none to me. I have an HDTV, so I'll not be buying something lower than DVD quality).
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
Uh... 125,000/7 = 17,857 downloads per day. That's the only math you can accurately do, as I assure you there were far more downloads for Pirates than there were for The Shaggy Dog. The losers in the bunch (how many folks do you think have downloaded Scorpius Gigantus?) throw your average way off.
This early in the game 17,900 movie downloads in a day is a lot, no matter how it breaks down to individual title sales. I think other movie studios will recognize this.
i'm not sure how good disney's sales pace really is. With 75 titles, 125,000 sales translates to around 1,667 sales per title, or about 240/day. Is that really a lot? I doubt that would be a satisfactory pace once things are geared up.
This has to be an initial burst, it's always the way with Apple. The iTunes (like the Mac) communities are seriously interconnected and Apple's not slow at push-marketing. The only way to sustain or improve this figure is to add more content or open internationally both of which are extremely likely. Although the BBC no doubt put the breaks on UK TV Shows they won't have this leverage with movies so expect UK to go live soon - I think it's Apple's biggest market outside the US.
McD
My only concern about the wireless is that 802.11g doesnt provide enough bandwidth to reliably stream HD content. Right now, my wireless network has a hard time consistantly streaming audio through my airport expresses... lots of drop outs.
Apple actually did not say explicitly that iTV will use 802.11g. It could be 802.11n which is expected to be officially certified by June 2007.
Apple began using 802.11g a few months before it was officially certified. This is likely the reason why Apple is waiting until the first quarter of 2007.
I have relatively new Sony and Pioneer TVs and neither is able to take a composite video input and scale it to anywhere near what I would consider a decent picture. I refuse to watch OnDemand movies from the cable company (SD content over DVI/HDMI connections) because the picture quality is absolutely attrocious (although the bitrate on that video is horrible too).
This can depend on how you have your TV set up. It can also depend on your opinion of atrocious.
I am quite often watching digital projection of 2K dailies as well as color grading images shot on film transfered to HD on a $14,000 monitor. Pretty much everything on DVD and broadcast television pales in comparison to that. But I take it in stride.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WERE FOR THE BLACK BARS!!!
YOU GET TRUE WIDESCREEN MOVIES from Itunes,NO BLACK BARS! THATS WHERE THE OTHER LINES OF RESOLUTION WENT... THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN.
here you go capman:
World's Easiest Explanation of Anamorphic 16:9 Widescreen Enhancement in DVDs
Ringtones are used hundreds or thousands of time, depending on number of calls you get. Tough to watch a movie that many time.
With the proper software you can make a ringtone yourself. I refuse to pay 2.50 for a low quality MP3 snippet, but millions of people do just that. That's the point; Quality is not such a big deal to the majority of people. if it was, the iTMS wouldn't be as successful as it is. ;-)
Ringtones are used hundreds or thousands of time, depending on number of calls you get. Tough to watch a movie that many time.
Life of Brian
Kevin and Perry go large
I've seen them more times than I've had hot dinners!!!
Seriously, I work in the conference industry, and I am typing this from backstage at the moment. I would love to be able to download a film while I am setting up and then watch it during the show.
Please release it in the UK soon.
Thanks for the clarification about the chapters. That's news to me... maybe it's studio optional.
When I said restrictive, I also meant the practical restrictions of owning a digital format movie... as opposed to a physical DVD which can travel, be sold, traded, etc.
Chapters are, I believe, optional by studio (at least it says to in Apple's FAQ). My guess is that Apple provides guidlines for studio submissions in encoding, etc. The chapter menu within iTunes is pretty slick: pull down menu with a thumbnail and a chapter name (similar to what's on the DVD, I presume) plus a timecode.
My reply was more directed at the article than you. I hope that the future review on iTunes movie downloads says on that fact. If one can get past the idea of DRM (and I'm wishy-washy on it), having 5 computers to watch movies is, really, hardly any restriction at all for most people.
Cheers.
Uh... 125,000/7 = 17,857 downloads per day. That's the only math you can accurately do, as I assure you there were far more downloads for Pirates than there were for The Shaggy Dog. The losers in the bunch (how many folks do you think have downloaded Scorpius Gigantus?) throw your average way off.
I agree that your method may provide an analysis more meaningful than mine.
This early in the game 17,900 movie downloads in a day is a lot, no matter how it breaks down to individual title sales. I think other movie studios will recognize this.
Can anyone do similar math on "hard" DVD sales of [i]POTC[i] and maybe one or two other top Disney releases, (or for that matter, on the same 75-film portfolio) to see how those sales compare to the iTunes store rate? (pls understand, i hold a substantial amount of AAPL stock, i want it to succeed in all ventures; the initial sales figure report just wasn't (isn't, yet) a sign of break-through consumer response)
Ringtones are used hundreds or thousands of time, depending on number of calls you get. Tough to watch a movie that many time.
Yeah, but it's a fuckin' ringtone...I mean, come on, a RINGTONE.
If we're going to go down the 'but the ringtone is used hundreds or thousands of times' path then I've got a bit of math for you.
Ringtone = 4 seconds of sound (annoying sound really) * 2000 calls = 8000 seconds of sound
Movie = 7200 seconds of sound and moving pictures
Watch the movie twice and you've used it quite a bit more than your ringtone.
edit: oh...and I'd be pleasantly surprised if someone got 2000 calls using the same ring tone. It's a bit of stretch, eh?
I've seen lots of crazy, stupid commercial products and lemme tell, $9.99 for a 640x480 downloadable movie isn't it.
Yeah, but it's a fuckin' ringtone...I mean, come on, a RINGTONE.
If we're going to go down the 'but the ringtone is used hundreds or thousands of times' path then I've got a bit of math for you.
Ringtone = 4 seconds of sound (annoying sound really) * 2000 calls = 8000 seconds of sound
Movie = 7200 seconds of sound and moving pictures
Watch the movie twice and you've used it quite a bit more than your ringtone.
edit: oh...and I'd be pleasantly surprised if someone got 2000 calls using the same ring tone. It's a bit of stretch, eh?
I've seen lots of crazy, stupid commercial products and lemme tell, $9.99 for a 640x480 downloadable movie isn't it.
Yikes, looks like someone has some ringtone rage. Why stop at watching the movie 2 times? Why not watch it 20 times to really get your money's worth? Not only would we not be stupid, we would be brilliant.
I bought my girlfriend a 60g 5 gen, a crappy dock (which remote doesn't work adequately),and a $10.00 cable for her to take w/the ipod when she visits family, and can entertain the nieces & nephews on their tv. Because of the simplicity of the cable, I have no idea what happened to the dock, but she has bought a 2nd cable which now lays very discretely next to her bedroom TV. I realize not everyone has a video capable ipod, but my point is this.. my girlfriend has no interest in computers, and probably hasn't heard of the iTV, and she easily watches her videos where ever she likes. The picture is fine, and I haven't heard it mentioned once.
As mentioned already in this thread, you can view iTunes content just about anywhere that has a video input. As far as the picture is concerned, I was surprised by the quality the first time I saw the picture on a 65" TV, and I have yet to hear anyone complain.
I wonder what would happen if a hack were to show up on the net that would allow for the decrypting of iTunes purchased content so that people could burn DVDs, etc. I wonder if Apple would wait until after Christmas to deal with it.
The other thing I was thinking was that this has the potential to take the wind out of the sails of the HD DVD:Blu-Ray format war, at least as far as movies are concerned. I still seeing them being viable for storage and video games, at least for the moment. This of course assumes that HD content will be available once there's a larger installed base of people with HDTVs in their homes.