Mossberg confirms: Apple TV runs Mac OS

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 89
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wally007 View Post


    couldnt agree more with your post. IN January Netgear had some kind of AppleTV-like product at the expo and it looked everthing AppleTV should be. If Apple spent as much time and effort on this as Netgear and used their OS for GUI it'd be killer product.



    I dont consider myself videophile or audiophile but i dont see why i'd downgrade to AppleTV.



    Maybe because you want something you can actually use. See the Pogue review here. It includes a review of the Netgear 'offering'



    Pogue Apple TV Review
  • Reply 62 of 89
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wally007 View Post


    couldnt agree more with your post. IN January Netgear had some kind of AppleTV-like product at the expo and it looked everthing AppleTV should be. If Apple spent as much time and effort on this as Netgear and used their OS for GUI it'd be killer product.



    I dont consider myself videophile or audiophile but i dont see why i'd downgrade to AppleTV.



    Or a product reviewer either. Like Netgear? Go for it. But I suggest you do a little more background before you give any more opinions.



    For sure I am glad Apple didn't spend as much time or effort as Netgear and used their OS for GUI. I admit however that it would have been a killer product.



    Netgear or Apple? Mossberg or wally007? Anyone?
  • Reply 63 of 89
    [QUOTE=

    In other words, you are restricted to the iTunes store, period. It won't play or stream DVDs, CDs or lossless music formats. Not for me.



    Read the specs, it will play ANYTHING that itunes will play, imported cd's and any movie you could be bothered formatting in the proper specs.
  • Reply 64 of 89
    pt123pt123 Posts: 696member
    I have never watched a movie in itunes. How do you format a movie in itunes?
  • Reply 65 of 89
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ouragan View Post


    Why would you buy an AppleTV if it's not to get a better quality video, DVD film, TV program or photo slideshow?



    That's a non-sequitur. You get it to view/listen to content in your living room that otherwise resides in your office.



    Quote:

    In other words, you are restricted to the iTunes store, period. It won't play or stream DVDs, CDs or lossless music formats. Not for me.



    No, not period. It's restricted to anything that's either already compatible with AppleTV, or anything you can convert to any of the AppleTV-compatible formats, which is, well, everything.
  • Reply 66 of 89
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Abster2core View Post


    "Apple TV is tiny, just about eight inches square and an inch high, far smaller than a typical DVD player or cable or satellite box, even though it packs in a 40-gigabyte hard disk, an Intel processor and a modified version of the Mac operating system. And it has a carefully limited set of functions."



    So then, it's not necessarily Mac OS (X) as this story's headline claims. Mossberg doesn't really say how he knows what it is, he may very well be assuming it without any means to back it up.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    Exactly what did people THINK it was going to be running on... DOS?



    Why does every Apple device have to be powered by (Mac) OS X? iPods don't. The iPhone does a greater variety of things and it's OS is simply called "OS X", no Mac. The functionality is so limited that it can easily be its own custom platform not derived from Mac OS X.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay View Post


    Yes, I would be out for the rare occasions when I might like some live programming, or something that iTunes doesn't offer. But I'm willing to sacrifice a little if it means saving money. All I watch is Law and Order, SG-1, Atlantis...... MythBusters... a few other things here and there. Assuming 30 bucks for an iTunes season pass, and 50 bucks a month for Dish, all of that would cost me about 120 bucks. And that's a little less than 3 months of Dish. So I could save around 400 bucks a year that I can put towards an iPhone =)



    I don't know about the others, but only a half-season of Mythbusters is up, out of (I think) five seasons. They look like old episodes too (2004), certainly none of the latest shows are in that list. Only a total of about ten Discovery shows (of eight available Discovery channels) are on the list.
  • Reply 67 of 89
    sjksjk Posts: 603member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bikerdude View Post


    Read the specs, it will play ANYTHING that itunes will play, imported cd's and any movie you could be bothered formatting in the proper specs.







    iTunes can import and play content that's incompatible with Apple TV (according to its specs).



    Btw, I thought Pogue's article was more interesting and informative than Mossberg's.
  • Reply 68 of 89
    frawonfrawon Posts: 4member
    If you want internet access, you could throw in a Mac Mini instead of the iTV. The Apple TV is to simply the downloading process and content management. It would be very difficult to do it with a remote control. There are many good reason to leave the content management and conversion to the computer...................if you not think out loud.
  • Reply 69 of 89
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    um...what else would it be running???
  • Reply 70 of 89
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    Prior to this news I thought AppleTV was running Windows Vista
  • Reply 71 of 89
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    So then, it's not necessarily Mac OS (X) as this story's headline claims.



    Per Mossberg's claim, it is OS X, not Mac OS X. Just like on the iPhone.



    Quote:

    Mossberg doesn't really say how he knows what it is, he may very well be assuming it without any means to back it up.



    Correct.



    Quote:

    Why does every Apple device have to be powered by (Mac) OS X?



    In this case in particular, it would allow third-party developers to provide their own codecs.



    Quote:

    iPods don't.



    Chances are they eventually will. At the time, OS X wasn't exactly mature, so Pixo was a much better choice.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bodhi View Post


    um...what else would it be running???



    A third-party embedded OS, like the iPod's.
  • Reply 72 of 89
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BRussell View Post


    You get it to view/listen to content in your living room that otherwise resides in your office.



    That's really the key to it all. BTW, it's not *just* downloaded movies/tv/music....don't forget about home movies or video clips from your digital camera. Those things often sit on your computer unless you burn to DVD. Watching photo slideshows on TV is also nice, though I admit it's a rather expensive option if that's the only thing you're going to use it for.



    Not that this device is without issues: the inability to expand storage capacity might be an issue, but if the streaming works properly, then I suppose you can add the extra storage to your computer and access that way.
  • Reply 73 of 89
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by caliminius View Post


    You're forgetting the $300 investment int the AppleTV which makes your first year savings only $100.



    And assuming this thing takes off, by this time next year AppleTV 2 might be out so you might shell out another $300 for that version so you're still at only $130 in savings (I factored out SG-1 since this is the last season).



    This all presumes, of course, that you already have a widescreen TV otherwise you'll be back in the red.



    Stupid logic



    factoring out the costs of using Apple TV. It's a pretty good deal to only use iTunes *IF* the content is available and *IF* you're not a heavy TV watcher.
  • Reply 74 of 89
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    It's amazing how many people claim certainty about a product which virtually nobody has used. Heck, even mossberg has seen it and he's talking out of his ass about certain things.



    This thread is mostly informative about the social skills of us forum geeks. If anything, I'd say reading this thread makes one less informed about AppleTV and related markets. Yes, I'm guilty too; for spouting off about what AppleTV _should_ be.



    One thing is for sure, there is tremendous interest in networked video players and none of them seem to be perfect. My bet is, that while the AppleTV has shortcomings, it will be a wildly successful product. The world is clamoring for an easy to use network video player...
  • Reply 75 of 89
    sjksjk Posts: 603member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by whimvestor View Post


    BTW, it's not *just* downloaded movies/tv/music....don't forget about home movies or video clips from your digital camera.



    The majority of which will require conversion to the limited video formats Apple TV supports, which is unnecessary with similar products like the Netgear EVA8000 Pogue mentions in his article:

    Quote:

    Still, if you stay within the Apple ecosystem — use its online store, its jukebox software and so on — you get a seamless, trouble-free experience, with a greater selection of TV shows and movies than you can find from any other online store.



    But in Netgear’s opinion, that approach is dictatorial and limiting. Its new EVA8000 box plays back many more video formats, including high-def video; can play the contents of any folders on your Mac or PC, not just what’s in iTunes; offers Internet radio and YouTube videos; and works with any kind of TV. It can even play copy-protected music — remarkably, even songs from the iTunes store (Windows only).



    (emphasis added)



    Even if Apple TV could at least access the ~/Movies folder it probably wouldn't find much compatible content there.



    Interesting that Gizmodo's First Video: Setting Up Apple TV shows 480i in the TV Resolution setup, but the Tech Specs don't mention it. I'm sure we'll know soon enough whether or not it's really supported.
  • Reply 76 of 89
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sjk View Post


    The majority of which will require conversion to the limited video formats Apple TV supports, which is unnecessary with similar products like the Netgear EVA8000 Pogue mentions in his article:

    (emphasis added)



    Can you name *any* sources of legally downloaded video content that this doesn't support? besides WMV. (honest question)
  • Reply 77 of 89
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dfiler View Post


    It's amazing how many people claim certainty about a product which virtually nobody has used. Heck, even mossberg has seen it and he's talking out of his ass about certain things.



    This thread is mostly informative about the social skills of us forum geeks. If anything, I'd say reading this thread makes one less informed about AppleTV and related markets. Yes, I'm guilty too; for spouting off about what AppleTV _should_ be.



    A pretty good strategy is to see what the teenage boys on the internet say about a product, and then it's a pretty good bet that whatever they say will be the opposite of what actually happens. The iPod was supposed to be a complete flop according to the internet boys because it was only 128 AAC, etc. etc.
  • Reply 78 of 89
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BRussell View Post


    A pretty good strategy is to see what the teenage boys on the internet say about a product, and then it's a pretty good bet that whatever they say will be the opposite of what actually happens. The iPod was supposed to be a complete flop according to the internet boys because it was only 128 AAC, etc. etc.



    I think you are mixing them up. iPod was supposed to flop because it had less space than a Nomad and didn't have wireless, and thus, lame. iTunes was supposed to flop because it only sold 128kbps AAC.
  • Reply 79 of 89
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dfiler View Post


    It's amazing how many people claim certainty about a product which virtually nobody has used. Heck, even mossberg has seen it and he's talking out of his ass about certain things.



    Could you enlighten me on what Mossberg said that drew you to such a conclusion?
  • Reply 80 of 89
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Abster2core View Post


    Could you enlighten me on what Mossberg said that drew you to such a conclusion?



    Check out the title of this thread for one.
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