Keep your nitpicking to yourself. I've been watching TV shows, movies, video podcasts and photos in everything from 240 to 1080 on my AppleTV and it's a blast. A fun, easy, convenient blast. That's worth my money.
So people should never express an opinion that is different from yours?
People have the right to say what it is on their mind, as long as they are not insulting you I don't see why you should be upset about it.
We are supposed to be exchanging ideas and opinions at a forum, there is no point if we all have the same exact opinion.
It is my #1 question too. They have to be working on something ... the way technology leaps forward I am 100% sure we will start to see 'higher' definition movies soon. Maybe a new codec is in the wings?
I wonder if it is related to the Burst.com lawsuit
Because there are too man comments saying the AppleTV is crap because they only saw an iTuens Store purchased movie. It's like me saying that your monitor is crap based on you showing me a YouTube video or me saying yout stero is crap because you played audio encoded as a 64-bit MP3.
Well then, I don't agree, and I think your analogy is pretty bad. But let's modify your example to create the equivalent of the Apple TV phenomenon:
YouTube/Google releases a free downloadable app called "YouTube Library" for managing and saving your favorite YouTube videos.
Google releases a streaming device called "YouTube TV HD" with HDMI hookups.
YouTube TV only displays full-screen, and only streams from YouTube Library.
A customer buys YouTube HD, hooks it up and his YouTube videos look terrible.
Now he could have put his own high quality videos in YouTube library, but come on. He's using the product exactly as intended and the overall result is underwhelming.
You don't judge this product as stand-alone hardware. It's an endpoint to a system that has the iTunes Store at its hub. You can say "well, the system's the problem, not the endpoint", but the customer is buying his way into the system with the endpoint. The hardware can be used other ways, but this is not some "bonus feature" we're talking about, like using your iPod to play Tetris. I think it's pretty obvious what the intended message is here: buy movies from Apple, watch them on your TV. Well, the quality of that experience isn't that great, and I don't agree with separating that assessment from the assessment of the hardware.
I'll say this though: One poster mentioned that Apple should have demoed this product with HD content. I have to give Apple credit for not doing this. That would been a completely dishonest representation of what the consumer can expect from the whole Apple/iTunes experience.
I shop frequently at Target and I never ask the clerks for help because I don't need it. I'm usually trolling the clearance racks for cheap electronics (I got some 512 MB USB memory for five bucks yesterday) My wife does ask occasionally and is usually able to get the help she needs.
But here's the deal with the clerks at the Target electronics. They will find out about they're interested in and chances are the teenagers and twenty somethings working there will know about the Apple TV because they'll think it's cool. They'll be able to talk to the customers about it because it'll be like talking to their mom or dad or big brother or sister. Trust me. If you want help with video games or components, you can get help at Target. My kid, who's eleven, always talks to the kids at Target about video games. Apple TV will be the same thing.
Also, if Apple doesn't go mass market on this how else will anyone see it? In my area, we have three Targets, two Best Buys, two Circuit Citys but NO Apple Store. Apple needs to put this item where people look at TVs. Lots of people.
Target may lose out on some sales of DVD's on account of this but if they push iTunes gift cards with it, they can easily make up these sales.
I can almost guarantee Target will not lose any DVD sales due to AppleTV. 1) Target employees won't be able to explain it. 2) Once customers understand what it can do, will decide not to buy it.
I think it's gonna be a hard candy Christmas for AppleTV... and I'm an Apple fanboy!
You know, there isn't more than a couple of minutes of training needed.
All that has to be said is that it either hooks to your computer with an Ethernet wire, or works through your wireless. If people are already using those, then that's it for the hookup talk. If not, then it simply has to be said that it has to be turned on, and it finds the computer itself. Big deal!
The rest is taking the remote, and going through the menu. Everybody knows how to do that. It doesn't even have to be explained.
Average Joe consumers don't know AppleTV only works with a modern digital television, they don't know you can't use it like a TiVo, and they don't know you must have a computer stream the content to the unit.
Apple has got a lot of 'splainin' to do before AppleTV is even recognized at retail for what it does. I've explained it numerous times to people who like iPods, and know precious little else about Apple.
Average Joe consumers don't know AppleTV only works with a modern digital television, they don't know you can't use it like a TiVo, and they don't know you must have a computer stream the content to the unit.
Apple has got a lot of 'splainin' to do before AppleTV is even recognized at retail for what it does. I've explained it numerous times to people who like iPods, and know precious little else about Apple.
That's why I also said in another post that Apple needs to advertise the product, and how to advertise it.
Perhaps that will happen. This is a mass merchant product. It's pretty simple. If you have a computer already, you can certainly figure this out in a couple of minutes. People shouldn't be making more of a problem out of this than there is.
And as for quality, people here have to be kidding!
I go to friends homes and see them sitting 12 feet away from their 42" HD Tv. Wow! Apple really needs 720p.
Even the magazine and Tv ads for HD Tv's show people seated 15, even 20 feet away. Those people can't even see 480i from there.
[QUOTE=halhiker;1072885] chances are the teenagers and twenty somethings working there will know about the Apple TV because they'll think it's cool. [QUOTE]
Thats pretty unrealistic. How is ATV "cool" for that generation? It means they have to stream the things they can see in private on their parents' TV sets in the living room. Most of them are more interested in porn and BitTorrent downloads than borrowing mommy's credit card and buying movies on iTunes. Also, low-res is "uncool" unless your watching movies on YouTube... Furthermore, it doesn't play games. I think is you ask any gamer, Apple is the lamest company going anyways...
Why the help, if you can find it never knows the product and guides people to the products they know?
The help in a Target store is there to stock shelves mostly. each department has someone who oversees the stocking of shelves as well as inventory and posting merchandise in the exact place the department buyer has designated for it. Target does not allow point of purchase displays unless they coordinate their design (rare to have them). Best Buy loves POP and asks the venders to foot 500% of their cost!
So, if one is looking for product knowledge or information beyond a department where an item might be found - one needs the department manager or what ever it is they are calling that person now. open to buy is much like department stores - that is why out of stock on hot items sometimes goes way way too long. Stocking shelves is not limited to one department, so the person you meet in Hardware might be in Electronics next. get my drift? these people are not there to serve YOU. they are there to stock the shelves.
How on earth can a store be over 100,000 square feet in size, have numerous distinct product categories, millions of Stock keeping units and a roaming "stock clerk" be expected to know what you - the genius customer ...can't even find? The challenge most employees have is to be nice to disgruntled ambling consumers who don't know where they are or what kind of store they are shopping in?
Behind glass sales (jewelry and electronics for example) does have qualified people who are supposed to staff these areas. But their knowledge is sometimes very very limited - they are there to shove the advertised item your way when you come in looking for it. they also may know something about product in the area and beyond the covered glass area they are postioned in.. but that might be lucky to find. These people are not trained for product knowledge like you are in your field of work. they are trained to stock shelves correctly and to be courtious to the customer.
if you can't find a product in an area of the store cause it is not in the store - then why would a stock person know where it is? It isn't in the store for them to put out. product on advertised flyers is behind glass right inside the front door - sometimes rain checks can be found right there too.
The real question with Apple TV is when are they going to begin their media push with the hardware that they released. Sure there is a little out there with the current iTMS offerings, and they are probably going to be using those numbers to bring on more studios and TV stations, but this is a little minimalist for the potential of this product. One thing for sure is that the iPhone is taking a lot of resources at Apple to get up and running, and as a consumer device Apple TV is probably better marketed in the fall than in the early spring. I would expect that their real marketing campaign is coming with a more feature rich product and services by September. I guess we will know more of Apple's strategy for this year by what they tell us about Leopard, iPhone and Apple TV.
Comments
Keep your nitpicking to yourself. I've been watching TV shows, movies, video podcasts and photos in everything from 240 to 1080 on my AppleTV and it's a blast. A fun, easy, convenient blast. That's worth my money.
So people should never express an opinion that is different from yours?
People have the right to say what it is on their mind, as long as they are not insulting you I don't see why you should be upset about it.
We are supposed to be exchanging ideas and opinions at a forum, there is no point if we all have the same exact opinion.
I bought 2 of the new pink ones and one brown Zune. In other words, I got two in the pink and one in the stink.
Do you have HD video of THAT???!!??!!???!!!
It is my #1 question too. They have to be working on something ... the way technology leaps forward I am 100% sure we will start to see 'higher' definition movies soon. Maybe a new codec is in the wings?
I wonder if it is related to the Burst.com lawsuit
http://burst.com/new/newsevents/pressrelease0014.htm
Because there are too man comments saying the AppleTV is crap because they only saw an iTuens Store purchased movie. It's like me saying that your monitor is crap based on you showing me a YouTube video or me saying yout stero is crap because you played audio encoded as a 64-bit MP3.
Well then, I don't agree, and I think your analogy is pretty bad. But let's modify your example to create the equivalent of the Apple TV phenomenon:
- YouTube/Google releases a free downloadable app called "YouTube Library" for managing and saving your favorite YouTube videos.
- Google releases a streaming device called "YouTube TV HD" with HDMI hookups.
- YouTube TV only displays full-screen, and only streams from YouTube Library.
- A customer buys YouTube HD, hooks it up and his YouTube videos look terrible.
Now he could have put his own high quality videos in YouTube library, but come on. He's using the product exactly as intended and the overall result is underwhelming.You don't judge this product as stand-alone hardware. It's an endpoint to a system that has the iTunes Store at its hub. You can say "well, the system's the problem, not the endpoint", but the customer is buying his way into the system with the endpoint. The hardware can be used other ways, but this is not some "bonus feature" we're talking about, like using your iPod to play Tetris. I think it's pretty obvious what the intended message is here: buy movies from Apple, watch them on your TV. Well, the quality of that experience isn't that great, and I don't agree with separating that assessment from the assessment of the hardware.
I'll say this though: One poster mentioned that Apple should have demoed this product with HD content. I have to give Apple credit for not doing this. That would been a completely dishonest representation of what the consumer can expect from the whole Apple/iTunes experience.
But here's the deal with the clerks at the Target electronics. They will find out about they're interested in and chances are the teenagers and twenty somethings working there will know about the Apple TV because they'll think it's cool. They'll be able to talk to the customers about it because it'll be like talking to their mom or dad or big brother or sister. Trust me. If you want help with video games or components, you can get help at Target. My kid, who's eleven, always talks to the kids at Target about video games. Apple TV will be the same thing.
Also, if Apple doesn't go mass market on this how else will anyone see it? In my area, we have three Targets, two Best Buys, two Circuit Citys but NO Apple Store. Apple needs to put this item where people look at TVs. Lots of people.
Target may lose out on some sales of DVD's on account of this but if they push iTunes gift cards with it, they can easily make up these sales.
I can almost guarantee Target will not lose any DVD sales due to AppleTV. 1) Target employees won't be able to explain it. 2) Once customers understand what it can do, will decide not to buy it.
I think it's gonna be a hard candy Christmas for AppleTV... and I'm an Apple fanboy!
You know, there isn't more than a couple of minutes of training needed.
All that has to be said is that it either hooks to your computer with an Ethernet wire, or works through your wireless. If people are already using those, then that's it for the hookup talk. If not, then it simply has to be said that it has to be turned on, and it finds the computer itself. Big deal!
The rest is taking the remote, and going through the menu. Everybody knows how to do that. It doesn't even have to be explained.
Average Joe consumers don't know AppleTV only works with a modern digital television, they don't know you can't use it like a TiVo, and they don't know you must have a computer stream the content to the unit.
Apple has got a lot of 'splainin' to do before AppleTV is even recognized at retail for what it does. I've explained it numerous times to people who like iPods, and know precious little else about Apple.
Average Joe consumers don't know AppleTV only works with a modern digital television, they don't know you can't use it like a TiVo, and they don't know you must have a computer stream the content to the unit.
Apple has got a lot of 'splainin' to do before AppleTV is even recognized at retail for what it does. I've explained it numerous times to people who like iPods, and know precious little else about Apple.
That's why I also said in another post that Apple needs to advertise the product, and how to advertise it.
Perhaps that will happen. This is a mass merchant product. It's pretty simple. If you have a computer already, you can certainly figure this out in a couple of minutes. People shouldn't be making more of a problem out of this than there is.
And as for quality, people here have to be kidding!
I go to friends homes and see them sitting 12 feet away from their 42" HD Tv. Wow! Apple really needs 720p.
Even the magazine and Tv ads for HD Tv's show people seated 15, even 20 feet away. Those people can't even see 480i from there.
Apple's crappiest product in one of America'a crappiest stores!
Thats pretty unrealistic. How is ATV "cool" for that generation? It means they have to stream the things they can see in private on their parents' TV sets in the living room. Most of them are more interested in porn and BitTorrent downloads than borrowing mommy's credit card and buying movies on iTunes. Also, low-res is "uncool" unless your watching movies on YouTube... Furthermore, it doesn't play games. I think is you ask any gamer, Apple is the lamest company going anyways...
Why the help, if you can find it never knows the product and guides people to the products they know?
The help in a Target store is there to stock shelves mostly. each department has someone who oversees the stocking of shelves as well as inventory and posting merchandise in the exact place the department buyer has designated for it. Target does not allow point of purchase displays unless they coordinate their design (rare to have them). Best Buy loves POP and asks the venders to foot 500% of their cost!
So, if one is looking for product knowledge or information beyond a department where an item might be found - one needs the department manager or what ever it is they are calling that person now. open to buy is much like department stores - that is why out of stock on hot items sometimes goes way way too long. Stocking shelves is not limited to one department, so the person you meet in Hardware might be in Electronics next. get my drift? these people are not there to serve YOU. they are there to stock the shelves.
How on earth can a store be over 100,000 square feet in size, have numerous distinct product categories, millions of Stock keeping units and a roaming "stock clerk" be expected to know what you - the genius customer ...can't even find? The challenge most employees have is to be nice to disgruntled ambling consumers who don't know where they are or what kind of store they are shopping in?
Behind glass sales (jewelry and electronics for example) does have qualified people who are supposed to staff these areas. But their knowledge is sometimes very very limited - they are there to shove the advertised item your way when you come in looking for it. they also may know something about product in the area and beyond the covered glass area they are postioned in.. but that might be lucky to find. These people are not trained for product knowledge like you are in your field of work. they are trained to stock shelves correctly and to be courtious to the customer.
if you can't find a product in an area of the store cause it is not in the store - then why would a stock person know where it is? It isn't in the store for them to put out. product on advertised flyers is behind glass right inside the front door - sometimes rain checks can be found right there too.
I stopped at Best Buy today and they actually had an Apple TV hooked up to a 23" Samsung. It didn't look too shabby.
I haven't seen it in person yet, but I did see some really bad looking still photos from an Apple Store.