Maybe a system like the one Sears has would work here. You order your Apple product online and go pick it up in the parking lot drive through without interacting wth the salesperson that probabily sold washing machines the day before.
I've got a friend who works at a best buy. when i mentioned to him a while back about how appleTV would be selling at best buy locations, he gave me a very strong impression that none of their sales people would make any effort in pushing them.
Good! About the only story I've heard of Best Buy/any-big-name-electronics-retailer-you-care-to-mention employees giving out good advice.
Looks to me either he was an inept salesman or you did not make your argument very clear to him . More often than not, I sort of always know in advance what I want to get, but still enjoy playing their game until the very last minute, that is before I tell them "Sir your input totally sucks... Thanks but no thanks" . I think you should go back and persuade him to switch to Macs .
Some sales people are just to dense to argue with.
I walked into Circuit City to purchase a PowerMac, yes this was back in the days when Circuit City sold Macs, so I walk up to where the Macs are located and tell the sales guy the model I wanted and asked him if he could get it for me. This guy proceeds to discourage me from buying an Apple product and goes on to tell me that I will have nothing but problems with it and that the Mac was dead. Get this, I didn't even ask for his opinion. Even as I was paying for my PowerMac this moron kept basically telling me that I was a fool. At that time this was the only location where I could get a Mac off the shelf, suffice it to say that was the last time Circuit City saw any money from me.
Humour? No, obviously you haven't noticed that the AppleTV sucks.
Maybe so, anyhow I wouldn't have bought it either for 199.00 GBP (= 405 USD). Nonetheless, I have to say that for the price here in the US (299 USD), I was tempted. I think although we have a different sense of humor (obviously), we're on the same page with regards to Apple TV. Unless the video content on iTunes gets upgraded to HD, there's absolutely no point getting one. As a product though I don't think it sucks!
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
Plus:
1.) Ability to purchase content from iTunes directly.
2.) Blu-Ray/HD-DVD.
OK, maybe it sucks a little. Just meant that as a product it does what it says on the tin, and it does it well. What differentiates Apple TV from other similar devices is a) huge variety of content and b) the easy setup, that's where Apple is betting. Is it losing so far, hell yeah \!
The Apple Shop in the Best Buy near me was surprisingly busy with people trying out the Macs. There was also dedicated Apple rep there who worked ONLY for sales assistance with the Apple products. These store-in-store set-ups are very different from previous Apple/BB efforts.
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
The Netgear may be nice, but the reviews are a bit mixed and mention that the UI is clunky and unintuitive, and the user reviews on Amazon say that the support is horrible.
Quote:
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
If you want all that and 1080p, go for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. The media is readily available, nearly three hundred titles already for each format, with the list growing every week. You can get the players for a very similar price, the A20 is 1080p capable and can be found for about the price of an AppleTV. Personally, I've chosen the PS3, though I'm not averse to getting an A20 or some successor model eventually if I think it's worthwhile. I'm quite happy to rent the movies from Netflix.
I don't think those demands make sense unless you want your movie downloads to be in the 20+GB range. DTS-MA and TrueHD would take about 2GB for a two hour movie, making the audio track larger than the entire file of the same movie encoded for iPod.
1080p doesn't make that much of a visual difference unless you sit less than two screen widths away from the display anyway. Heck, my buddy's 720p projector is quite nice even at those distances. I did buy the 1080p version of the same unit when it came available, which I think was very well worth it, but it's not absolutely necessary to enjoy HD media.
As a BB employee that loves Apple, I assure you that I mention the macbook and the macbook pro a few times each day. Most people look at me funny but there is always one or two people that get really interested. We don't physically have the macs in the store I work in but we are able to order them from our warehouse for customers.
This back to school season, I've sold mostly HPs and Toshibas but I have sold a few macs. I'm sure if we had the macs at our store I'd sell more.
I do get annoyed with BB sometimes because they have never trained us on the macs. When anyone comes to our store with a mac question or if they want one the other employees send them to me.
Just wanted to let you guys know that at least someone at BB is fighting for Apple!
As a BB employee that loves Apple, I assure you that I mention the macbook and the macbook pro a few times each day. Most people look at me funny but there is always one or two people that get really interested. We don't physically have the macs in the store I work in but we are able to order them from our warehouse for customers.
This back to school season, I've sold mostly HPs and Toshibas but I have sold a few macs. I'm sure if we had the macs at our store I'd sell more.
I do get annoyed with BB sometimes because they have never trained us on the macs. When anyone comes to our store with a mac question or if they want one the other employees send them to me.
Just wanted to let you guys know that at least someone at BB is fighting for Apple!
Perhaps you should wear a black shirt with an large Apple logo to work.
I wish I could do that. Maybe on my last day. Or I'll wear it under my BB shirt everyday I work; secretly wishing I worked at the Apple store!
Working of BB is at least second best to working at the Apple Store; at least the BB I work at. The managers are cool and that helps, the managers can totally ruin the job if they are pushy and all about the numbers (if anyone knows what I mean).
The Netgear may be nice, but the reviews are a bit mixed and mention that the UI is clunky and unintuitive, and the user reviews on Amazon say that the support is horrible.
Sure, the UI is clunky, which is a disappointment. If you could just merge the promise of the EVA8000 with the execution of the AppleTV, you'd have a good product. Both are flawed, but I think the AppleTV is flawed in a more fundamental way. However, what makes it especially frustrating is that the AppleTV hardware is capable of Dolby Digital and DTS output through the optical port, capable of higher resolution, and capable of decoding more video codecs, but Apple haven't bothered to implement any of those features
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
If you want all that and 1080p, go for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. The media is readily available, nearly three hundred titles already for each format, with the list growing every week.
I realise that those two features (H.264 high-profile and HD surround-sound formats) were pushing it; that's why I mentioned them as "would be nice" features rather than their absence being deal-breakers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
I don't think those demands make sense unless you want your movie downloads to be in the 20+GB range. DTS-MA and TrueHD would take about 2GB for a two hour movie, making the audio track larger than the entire file of the same movie encoded for iPod.
I don't view the main purpose of these devices as enabling you to watch online content. It's much more exciting that they enable you to build a system similar to a kaleidescape one for a tiny fraction of the cost. In much the same way that Roku SoundBridges enable you to build a multi-room audio system for a fraction of the cost of custom installations. The idea of having one big NAS storing your entire audio and video collections that are then accessible anywhere around the house is an attractive one.
I don't view the main purpose of these devices as enabling you to watch online content. It's much more exciting that they enable you to build a system similar to a kaleidescape one for a tiny fraction of the cost. In much the same way that Roku SoundBridges enable you to build a multi-room audio system for a fraction of the cost of custom installations. The idea of having one big NAS storing your entire audio and video collections that are then accessible anywhere around the house is an attractive one.
While I agree with the sentiment I don't think Apple will provide this capability. At least as long as the DVD Consortium insists that physical DVDs must be present in order enable playback.
Kaleidescape prevailed on a narrow interpretation of the validity of their license agreement. Apple can't make the same claim. Besides Apple has to remain on the good side of the DVD Consortium or lose the whole multimedia thing.
While I agree with the sentiment I don't think Apple will provide this capability. At least as long as the DVD Consortium insists that physical DVDs must be present in order enable playback.
Kaleidescape prevailed on a narrow interpretation of the validity of their license agreement. Apple can't make the same claim. Besides Apple has to remain on the good side of the DVD Consortium or lose the whole multimedia thing.
Apple don't have to provide the "complete" solution. All they have to do is ensure discrete surround-sound support on the optical port, and MPEG-2 video codec support, and you can do the rest with third-party DVD ripping software. Pretty much every other network video player out there supports discrete surround-sound on optical port and MPEG-2 video.
It would be nice if Apple could sit down with the DVD consortium and figure something out, so that they could implement an "iTunes for DVD". How about the ripping software just requires you, from time to time, to insert into your computer a random DVD that you've already ripped, in order to verify that you still have the DVD and didn't just rip a rented DVD or acquire disk images from elsewhere? Drives can differentiate between pressed (original) DVDs and optically burnt DVDs, so you wouldn't be able to circumvent that by copying rented DVDs to DVD+R/-R.
How about the ripping software just requires you, from time to time, to insert into your computer a random DVD that you've already ripped, in order to verify that you still have the DVD ...
Ouch, I was planning to put my ripped DVDs in a box in the garage.
Comments
Amazon = no tax for most people.
Great News! My First "First" Post!!!
Congratulations!!! Now you can try to actually say something useful!!!
I've got a friend who works at a best buy. when i mentioned to him a while back about how appleTV would be selling at best buy locations, he gave me a very strong impression that none of their sales people would make any effort in pushing them.
Good! About the only story I've heard of Best Buy/any-big-name-electronics-retailer-you-care-to-mention employees giving out good advice.
Good! About the only story I've heard of Best Buy/any-big-name-electronics-retailer-you-care-to-mention employees giving out good advice.
British humor...erm always refreshing like the british weather I guess
British humor...erm always refreshing like the british weather I guess
Humour? No, obviously you haven't noticed that the AppleTV sucks.
Looks to me either he was an inept salesman or you did not make your argument very clear to him
Some sales people are just to dense to argue with.
I walked into Circuit City to purchase a PowerMac, yes this was back in the days when Circuit City sold Macs, so I walk up to where the Macs are located and tell the sales guy the model I wanted and asked him if he could get it for me. This guy proceeds to discourage me from buying an Apple product and goes on to tell me that I will have nothing but problems with it and that the Mac was dead. Get this, I didn't even ask for his opinion. Even as I was paying for my PowerMac this moron kept basically telling me that I was a fool. At that time this was the only location where I could get a Mac off the shelf, suffice it to say that was the last time Circuit City saw any money from me.
Humour? No, obviously you haven't noticed that the AppleTV sucks.
Maybe so, anyhow I wouldn't have bought it either for 199.00 GBP (= 405 USD). Nonetheless, I have to say that for the price here in the US (299 USD), I was tempted. I think although we have a different sense of humor (obviously), we're on the same page with regards to Apple TV. Unless the video content on iTunes gets upgraded to HD, there's absolutely no point getting one. As a product though I don't think it sucks!
As a product though I don't think it sucks!
1.) No discreet surround-sound support
2.) Maximum resolution of 720p
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
1.) No discreet surround-sound support
2.) Maximum resolution of 720p
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
Plus:
1.) Ability to purchase content from iTunes directly.
2.) Blu-Ray/HD-DVD.
OK, maybe it sucks a little. Just meant that as a product it does what it says on the tin, and it does it well. What differentiates Apple TV from other similar devices is a) huge variety of content and b) the easy setup, that's where Apple is betting. Is it losing so far, hell yeah
1.) No discreet surround-sound support
2.) Maximum resolution of 720p
3.) MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile and Part 10 Baseline Profile only for video
Until the AppleTV can do Dolby Digital and DTS out of the optical port, upscale to 1080p and decode MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (aka Xvid), it will remain a sucky product.
The Netgear EVA8000 is a much better product, hardware wise.
The Netgear may be nice, but the reviews are a bit mixed and mention that the UI is clunky and unintuitive, and the user reviews on Amazon say that the support is horrible.
MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile support and Dolby Digital True HD and DTS Master HD audio out of the HDMI port would be nice as well.
If you want all that and 1080p, go for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. The media is readily available, nearly three hundred titles already for each format, with the list growing every week. You can get the players for a very similar price, the A20 is 1080p capable and can be found for about the price of an AppleTV. Personally, I've chosen the PS3, though I'm not averse to getting an A20 or some successor model eventually if I think it's worthwhile. I'm quite happy to rent the movies from Netflix.
I don't think those demands make sense unless you want your movie downloads to be in the 20+GB range. DTS-MA and TrueHD would take about 2GB for a two hour movie, making the audio track larger than the entire file of the same movie encoded for iPod.
1080p doesn't make that much of a visual difference unless you sit less than two screen widths away from the display anyway. Heck, my buddy's 720p projector is quite nice even at those distances. I did buy the 1080p version of the same unit when it came available, which I think was very well worth it, but it's not absolutely necessary to enjoy HD media.
This back to school season, I've sold mostly HPs and Toshibas but I have sold a few macs. I'm sure if we had the macs at our store I'd sell more.
I do get annoyed with BB sometimes because they have never trained us on the macs. When anyone comes to our store with a mac question or if they want one the other employees send them to me.
Just wanted to let you guys know that at least someone at BB is fighting for Apple!
As a BB employee that loves Apple, I assure you that I mention the macbook and the macbook pro a few times each day. Most people look at me funny but there is always one or two people that get really interested. We don't physically have the macs in the store I work in but we are able to order them from our warehouse for customers.
This back to school season, I've sold mostly HPs and Toshibas but I have sold a few macs. I'm sure if we had the macs at our store I'd sell more.
I do get annoyed with BB sometimes because they have never trained us on the macs. When anyone comes to our store with a mac question or if they want one the other employees send them to me.
Just wanted to let you guys know that at least someone at BB is fighting for Apple!
Perhaps you should wear a black shirt with an large Apple logo to work.
Working of BB is at least second best to working at the Apple Store; at least the BB I work at. The managers are cool and that helps, the managers can totally ruin the job if they are pushy and all about the numbers (if anyone knows what I mean).
The Netgear may be nice, but the reviews are a bit mixed and mention that the UI is clunky and unintuitive, and the user reviews on Amazon say that the support is horrible.
Sure, the UI is clunky, which is a disappointment. If you could just merge the promise of the EVA8000 with the execution of the AppleTV, you'd have a good product. Both are flawed, but I think the AppleTV is flawed in a more fundamental way. However, what makes it especially frustrating is that the AppleTV hardware is capable of Dolby Digital and DTS output through the optical port, capable of higher resolution, and capable of decoding more video codecs, but Apple haven't bothered to implement any of those features
If you want all that and 1080p, go for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. The media is readily available, nearly three hundred titles already for each format, with the list growing every week.
I realise that those two features (H.264 high-profile and HD surround-sound formats) were pushing it; that's why I mentioned them as "would be nice" features rather than their absence being deal-breakers.
I don't think those demands make sense unless you want your movie downloads to be in the 20+GB range. DTS-MA and TrueHD would take about 2GB for a two hour movie, making the audio track larger than the entire file of the same movie encoded for iPod.
I don't view the main purpose of these devices as enabling you to watch online content. It's much more exciting that they enable you to build a system similar to a kaleidescape one for a tiny fraction of the cost. In much the same way that Roku SoundBridges enable you to build a multi-room audio system for a fraction of the cost of custom installations. The idea of having one big NAS storing your entire audio and video collections that are then accessible anywhere around the house is an attractive one.
I don't view the main purpose of these devices as enabling you to watch online content. It's much more exciting that they enable you to build a system similar to a kaleidescape one for a tiny fraction of the cost. In much the same way that Roku SoundBridges enable you to build a multi-room audio system for a fraction of the cost of custom installations. The idea of having one big NAS storing your entire audio and video collections that are then accessible anywhere around the house is an attractive one.
While I agree with the sentiment I don't think Apple will provide this capability. At least as long as the DVD Consortium insists that physical DVDs must be present in order enable playback.
Kaleidescape prevailed on a narrow interpretation of the validity of their license agreement. Apple can't make the same claim. Besides Apple has to remain on the good side of the DVD Consortium or lose the whole multimedia thing.
While I agree with the sentiment I don't think Apple will provide this capability. At least as long as the DVD Consortium insists that physical DVDs must be present in order enable playback.
Kaleidescape prevailed on a narrow interpretation of the validity of their license agreement. Apple can't make the same claim. Besides Apple has to remain on the good side of the DVD Consortium or lose the whole multimedia thing.
Apple don't have to provide the "complete" solution. All they have to do is ensure discrete surround-sound support on the optical port, and MPEG-2 video codec support, and you can do the rest with third-party DVD ripping software. Pretty much every other network video player out there supports discrete surround-sound on optical port and MPEG-2 video.
It would be nice if Apple could sit down with the DVD consortium and figure something out, so that they could implement an "iTunes for DVD". How about the ripping software just requires you, from time to time, to insert into your computer a random DVD that you've already ripped, in order to verify that you still have the DVD and didn't just rip a rented DVD or acquire disk images from elsewhere? Drives can differentiate between pressed (original) DVDs and optically burnt DVDs, so you wouldn't be able to circumvent that by copying rented DVDs to DVD+R/-R.
How about the ripping software just requires you, from time to time, to insert into your computer a random DVD that you've already ripped, in order to verify that you still have the DVD ...
Ouch, I was planning to put my ripped DVDs in a box in the garage.