I am not sure who this service is going to attract. Are they expecting someone that just bought a high end LCD Sony TV to be happy with the audio/video quality of highly compressed streaming content?
And what about all these ISPs that are starting to experiment with bandwidth caps? Each time someone in your household wants to watch the same thing it will have to be downloaded again. And make no mistake, Amazon's contention that the content isn't downloaded is just silly. It has to be downloaded to play, the difference here is it isn't saved locally.
I have an Apple TV but I use it to stream downloaded content from my iTunes library. It just seems odd to be that anyone would find a service like Amazon's to be appealing.
This whole concept just smells wrong. Wouldn't I upgrade or change out my Internet-TV
control box and/or software far more often than my HD Television?
Who wants to pay extra for built-in service tied to one source? It limits choice.
Americans like choice.
Apple's model seems like it would better over the long-term.
There could conceivably be replaceable/upgradeable components in the imagined television. The main point, though, is that AppleTV is standing still while Amazon and especially Netflix (who already have access to large libraries of content) are aggressively moving into hardware to create the end-to-end experience Apple has. Steve needs to push forward by including digital tuners in the iMacs, and also advertise them as "digital TV's" as well as computers.
I have a 46" Bravia connected to a mini & would like to try it out!
TIA
Dick
All I had to do was visit the Amazon Unbox site and there was a little blurb about the service in the upper right with a link to a page. Once there, I just had to agree to the terms of service by checking the box and push the submit button.
I think it said it even credited my account $5 to use toward Unbox purchases/rentals.
To other things people have said, I like how Amazon (and Netflix) are reaching out to make partnerships to distribute their content. It seems like there wouldn't be anything stopping a hardware manufacturer from putting both Unbox and Netflix services on one unit, whereas I feel Apple will always try to limit you to iTunes content. Sure I could waste away my life ripping DVDs, but if I want to watch a DVD, I'll watch a DVD. Maybe if you own an 8-core Mac Pro ripping is a quick process, but on my C2D iMac it takes about as long to rip one movie as it does to just watch the thing in the first place.
I like the idea of getting my digital content from multiple sources so that they would actually have to compete in terms of price, service and quality (just like brick and mortar stores have to do).
People keep mentioning how Amazon will be shut down because ISP's will put caps on download limits. But how will that not also affect AppleTV? Unless you are just ripping your content from DVD, how many times are you getting to watch that one movie or show you downloaded from iTunes before you would need to go download something else? How long before your AppleTV reaches the same download cap that Unbox would?
Instead of a $229 Apple TV (in which you can add your own RIPped DVDs, music and photos,etc.), users can purchase a $1500 television which includes the the ability to watch movies from Amazon (like the $99 Roku box for Netflix) ?
Instead of a $229 Apple TV (in which you can add your own RIPped DVDs, music and photos,etc.), users can purchase a $1500 television which includes the the ability to watch movies from Amazon (like the $99 Roku box for Netflix) ?
And what about the PS3s, XBOXs new ability with rentals now and HD disc drives?
I have ripped all of my DVDs and AppleTV plays them fine. iTunes is only required for the syncing -- there is no "lock-in" if you don't want it. Also, on AppleTV I can listen to all my music, view all my photos, subscribe to podcasts, check out my friends Flickrs, watch YouTube, and I'm sure in the future, play games downloaded from the App Store with the iPhone as my remote. That last part is just a guess...
I wonder if these Sony TVs will do all of that?
Yes and surf the web and 1,000s of channels and no connectors!
It was my understanding that ISPs so called download cap, isnt about stopping your broadband half way through the month and saying "tough, you have exceeded your limit.
its more about throttling back on the bandwidth so that instead of a megabyte rate your into the realms of kilobytes, ala dialup!
now tell me where your streamed content ends up?
meanwhile the AppleTV will download TO DISC and leave it there ready for you to watch any time up to the 30 day limit.
this is the problem I have with these streaming services it takes just one blip and your movie watching experience is ruined. I really don't think the "web" is up to it JUST yet..
..gimmie a call when they get round to replacing those 4 undersea cables that were cut earlier in the year.
There could conceivably be replaceable/upgradeable components in the imagined television. The main point, though, is that AppleTV is standing still while Amazon and especially Netflix (who already have access to large libraries of content) are aggressively moving into hardware to create the end-to-end experience Apple has. Steve needs to push forward by including digital tuners in the iMacs, and also advertise them as "digital TV's" as well as computers.
No offense, but I'm always a bit perplexed when people say Apple should put a tuner in the computer or AppleTV. I just can't imagine that the percentage of people who would benefit from that is very high. In the US, most people get their television service from cable or satellite, not broadcast. And if you limit the discussion to only those who can afford an HDTV, the percentage using cable/sat is going to be even higher.
For my Comcast service, the unscrabled signals that you'd be able to tune in with a TV's tuner are the local channels, ESPN, FX, and a handful of cable access channels. All in SD. You could tune in your local over-the-air broadcast channels in HD, but for most people that means only NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and PBS. I guess if your veiwing is limited to only those channels, you'd benefit from the digital tuner in an AppleTV; but how many people is that? Enough to pay to put a tuner in, even as an option?
I really can't see Apple putting any kind of DVR/tuner in their devices until the cable industry is forced to do a better job of working with 3rd party boxes (the CableCard mandate was an utter failure). Even then it's unlikely as it would compete with iTunes. The new OCAP (?) cable standard might clean up the mess a bit, but by then we might all be getting our TV over the internet anyway!
It was my understanding that ISPs so called download cap, isnt about stopping your broadband half way through the month and saying "tough, you have exceeded your limit.
its more about throttling back on the bandwidth so that instead of a megabyte rate your into the realms of kilobytes, ala dialup!
now tell me where your streamed content ends up?
meanwhile the AppleTV will download TO DISC and leave it there ready for you to watch any time up to the 30 day limit.
this is the problem I have with these streaming services it takes just one blip and your movie watching experience is ruined. I really don't think the "web" is up to it JUST yet..
..gimmie a call when they get round to replacing those 4 undersea cables that were cut earlier in the year.
And if you don't finish an AppleTv rental in a night you're neurotic for 24 hours trying figure out how to finish watching it in time before it expires. At least there you have a full 30 days.
As part of its new service, Amazon says it will store video purchases in a video library so that customers can then watch that show or movie whenever they return to Amazon.com, even if it is from a different computer or portable device.
And what happens to your purchases if Amazon closes or shuts down their servers?
I don't think it would be good for Sony's customers to be locked into being able to stream video only from Amazon. Sony will need to be able to add other providers to the mix in order for this to make sense for the long term. There is a very good chance that these TVs will last a lot longer then this new service from Amazon.
To other things people have said, I like how Amazon (and Netflix) are reaching out to make partnerships to distribute their content. It seems like there wouldn't be anything stopping a hardware manufacturer from putting both Unbox and Netflix services on one unit, whereas I feel Apple will always try to limit you to iTunes content. Sure I could waste away my life ripping DVDs, but if I want to watch a DVD, I'll watch a DVD. Maybe if you own an 8-core Mac Pro ripping is a quick process, but on my C2D iMac it takes about as long to rip one movie as it does to just watch the thing in the first place.
I like the idea of getting my digital content from multiple sources so that they would actually have to compete in terms of price, service and quality (just like brick and mortar stores have to do).
People keep mentioning how Amazon will be shut down because ISP's will put caps on download limits. But how will that not also affect AppleTV? Unless you are just ripping your content from DVD, how many times are you getting to watch that one movie or show you downloaded from iTunes before you would need to go download something else? How long before your AppleTV reaches the same download cap that Unbox would?
Well said. i fully agree with you, except I am ripping my DVD collection.
I hope all this new competition makes Jobs open up the Apple TV finally to web radio and Safari. It could do so much more if only allowed.
I hope this makes Apple open up the AppleTV too.
Apple improved internet radio with the AppleTV 2.1 update. If you can play the radio station via iTunes, put that station into a playlist and sync it with your AppleTV. It will play the stream just fine.
Comments
And what about all these ISPs that are starting to experiment with bandwidth caps? Each time someone in your household wants to watch the same thing it will have to be downloaded again. And make no mistake, Amazon's contention that the content isn't downloaded is just silly. It has to be downloaded to play, the difference here is it isn't saved locally.
I have an Apple TV but I use it to stream downloaded content from my iTunes library. It just seems odd to be that anyone would find a service like Amazon's to be appealing.
-Keith
This whole concept just smells wrong. Wouldn't I upgrade or change out my Internet-TV
control box and/or software far more often than my HD Television?
Who wants to pay extra for built-in service tied to one source? It limits choice.
Americans like choice.
Apple's model seems like it would better over the long-term.
There could conceivably be replaceable/upgradeable components in the imagined television. The main point, though, is that AppleTV is standing still while Amazon and especially Netflix (who already have access to large libraries of content) are aggressively moving into hardware to create the end-to-end experience Apple has. Steve needs to push forward by including digital tuners in the iMacs, and also advertise them as "digital TV's" as well as computers.
How did you get access to the bata?
I have a 46" Bravia connected to a mini & would like to try it out!
TIA
Dick
All I had to do was visit the Amazon Unbox site and there was a little blurb about the service in the upper right with a link to a page. Once there, I just had to agree to the terms of service by checking the box and push the submit button.
I think it said it even credited my account $5 to use toward Unbox purchases/rentals.
To other things people have said, I like how Amazon (and Netflix) are reaching out to make partnerships to distribute their content. It seems like there wouldn't be anything stopping a hardware manufacturer from putting both Unbox and Netflix services on one unit, whereas I feel Apple will always try to limit you to iTunes content. Sure I could waste away my life ripping DVDs, but if I want to watch a DVD, I'll watch a DVD. Maybe if you own an 8-core Mac Pro ripping is a quick process, but on my C2D iMac it takes about as long to rip one movie as it does to just watch the thing in the first place.
I like the idea of getting my digital content from multiple sources so that they would actually have to compete in terms of price, service and quality (just like brick and mortar stores have to do).
People keep mentioning how Amazon will be shut down because ISP's will put caps on download limits. But how will that not also affect AppleTV? Unless you are just ripping your content from DVD, how many times are you getting to watch that one movie or show you downloaded from iTunes before you would need to go download something else? How long before your AppleTV reaches the same download cap that Unbox would?
One more death knell to the Apple TV.
Sure.
Instead of a $229 Apple TV (in which you can add your own RIPped DVDs, music and photos,etc.), users can purchase a $1500 television which includes the the ability to watch movies from Amazon (like the $99 Roku box for Netflix) ?
Sure.
Instead of a $229 Apple TV (in which you can add your own RIPped DVDs, music and photos,etc.), users can purchase a $1500 television which includes the the ability to watch movies from Amazon (like the $99 Roku box for Netflix) ?
And what about the PS3s, XBOXs new ability with rentals now and HD disc drives?
I have ripped all of my DVDs and AppleTV plays them fine. iTunes is only required for the syncing -- there is no "lock-in" if you don't want it. Also, on AppleTV I can listen to all my music, view all my photos, subscribe to podcasts, check out my friends Flickrs, watch YouTube, and I'm sure in the future, play games downloaded from the App Store with the iPhone as my remote. That last part is just a guess...
I wonder if these Sony TVs will do all of that?
Yes and surf the web and 1,000s of channels and no connectors!
It was my understanding that ISPs so called download cap, isnt about stopping your broadband half way through the month and saying "tough, you have exceeded your limit.
its more about throttling back on the bandwidth so that instead of a megabyte rate your into the realms of kilobytes, ala dialup!
now tell me where your streamed content ends up?
meanwhile the AppleTV will download TO DISC and leave it there ready for you to watch any time up to the 30 day limit.
this is the problem I have with these streaming services it takes just one blip and your movie watching experience is ruined. I really don't think the "web" is up to it JUST yet..
..gimmie a call when they get round to replacing those 4 undersea cables that were cut earlier in the year.
And what about the PS3s, XBOXs new ability with rentals now and HD disc drives?
What about them?
What would this new Bravia/Amazon thing do for those?
You can plug them into your current television.
There could conceivably be replaceable/upgradeable components in the imagined television. The main point, though, is that AppleTV is standing still while Amazon and especially Netflix (who already have access to large libraries of content) are aggressively moving into hardware to create the end-to-end experience Apple has. Steve needs to push forward by including digital tuners in the iMacs, and also advertise them as "digital TV's" as well as computers.
No offense, but I'm always a bit perplexed when people say Apple should put a tuner in the computer or AppleTV. I just can't imagine that the percentage of people who would benefit from that is very high. In the US, most people get their television service from cable or satellite, not broadcast. And if you limit the discussion to only those who can afford an HDTV, the percentage using cable/sat is going to be even higher.
For my Comcast service, the unscrabled signals that you'd be able to tune in with a TV's tuner are the local channels, ESPN, FX, and a handful of cable access channels. All in SD. You could tune in your local over-the-air broadcast channels in HD, but for most people that means only NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and PBS. I guess if your veiwing is limited to only those channels, you'd benefit from the digital tuner in an AppleTV; but how many people is that? Enough to pay to put a tuner in, even as an option?
I really can't see Apple putting any kind of DVR/tuner in their devices until the cable industry is forced to do a better job of working with 3rd party boxes (the CableCard mandate was an utter failure). Even then it's unlikely as it would compete with iTunes. The new OCAP (?) cable standard might clean up the mess a bit, but by then we might all be getting our TV over the internet anyway!
Download Cap
It was my understanding that ISPs so called download cap, isnt about stopping your broadband half way through the month and saying "tough, you have exceeded your limit.
its more about throttling back on the bandwidth so that instead of a megabyte rate your into the realms of kilobytes, ala dialup!
now tell me where your streamed content ends up?
meanwhile the AppleTV will download TO DISC and leave it there ready for you to watch any time up to the 30 day limit.
this is the problem I have with these streaming services it takes just one blip and your movie watching experience is ruined. I really don't think the "web" is up to it JUST yet..
..gimmie a call when they get round to replacing those 4 undersea cables that were cut earlier in the year.
And if you don't finish an AppleTv rental in a night you're neurotic for 24 hours trying figure out how to finish watching it in time before it expires. At least there you have a full 30 days.
How did you get access to the bata?
I have a 46" Bravia connected to a mini & would like to try it out!
TIA
Dick
You need a $300 add on to the sony TV to be able to use the service! They're doing this for DRM. No way you will be able to do it with a mini.
You need a $300 add on to the sony TV to be able to use the service! They're doing this for DRM. No way you will be able to do it with a mini.
You can access the beta version from Amazon's website via a Mac right now. That would include a Mini.
As part of its new service, Amazon says it will store video purchases in a video library so that customers can then watch that show or movie whenever they return to Amazon.com, even if it is from a different computer or portable device.
And what happens to your purchases if Amazon closes or shuts down their servers?
I don't think it would be good for Sony's customers to be locked into being able to stream video only from Amazon. Sony will need to be able to add other providers to the mix in order for this to make sense for the long term. There is a very good chance that these TVs will last a lot longer then this new service from Amazon.
Yes and surf the web and 1,000s of channels and no connectors!
Surf the web? Can these Sony TV do that already?
To other things people have said, I like how Amazon (and Netflix) are reaching out to make partnerships to distribute their content. It seems like there wouldn't be anything stopping a hardware manufacturer from putting both Unbox and Netflix services on one unit, whereas I feel Apple will always try to limit you to iTunes content. Sure I could waste away my life ripping DVDs, but if I want to watch a DVD, I'll watch a DVD. Maybe if you own an 8-core Mac Pro ripping is a quick process, but on my C2D iMac it takes about as long to rip one movie as it does to just watch the thing in the first place.
I like the idea of getting my digital content from multiple sources so that they would actually have to compete in terms of price, service and quality (just like brick and mortar stores have to do).
People keep mentioning how Amazon will be shut down because ISP's will put caps on download limits. But how will that not also affect AppleTV? Unless you are just ripping your content from DVD, how many times are you getting to watch that one movie or show you downloaded from iTunes before you would need to go download something else? How long before your AppleTV reaches the same download cap that Unbox would?
Well said. i fully agree with you, except I am ripping my DVD collection.
No offense taken, but you can count me as one of the invisible who refuses to pay for cable or satellite service.
Great for you. But I only have one station in my area, and a covenant that says no outside antenna. So its satellite, cable or internet for me.
I hope all this new competition makes Jobs open up the Apple TV finally to web radio and Safari. It could do so much more if only allowed.
I hope this makes Apple open up the AppleTV too.
Apple improved internet radio with the AppleTV 2.1 update. If you can play the radio station via iTunes, put that station into a playlist and sync it with your AppleTV. It will play the stream just fine.