I don't know why some people are obsessed in considering AppleTV a failure! It is the best product in its class. The problem is not AppleTV, the problem is with ISP limitations in regard to bandwidth, speeds, and availability. Until this problem is solved we will never see AppleTV or any other similar product takes off no matter how good or cheap it is.
Spot on. (Speaking for myself, I am really quite pleased with what @tv offers my household; other than for some rare foreign movie-watching, I have not been to a video store since my @tv purchase. What I use it for more than anything else is music/photo streaming).
The problem is not AppleTV, the problem is with ISP limitations in regard to bandwidth, speeds, and availability. Until this problem is solved we will never see AppleTV or any other similar product takes off no matter how good or cheap it is.
Once I click purchase, my movie is ready for viewing within 15 - 20 seconds. With SuddenLink's 10 MB package, it's a breeze.
I've heard it doesn't work terribly well with some video (too slow?)... I'm also not sure I want to invest in such a 'closed' system... I'll investigate some more. Either way, I might wait for the Mac Mini update and see what happens. If we've not seen one by the end of March, I might just get whatever available now...
Not sure where you heard that. Boxee is the best thing ever to invade my television, and makes the Apple TV just that much more useful. I almost never watch broadcast TV anymore (I find buying shows through iTunes cheaper than paying for cable).
Quote:
Originally Posted by teckstud
You forgot to mention that it keeps the pizza hot while you shower.
No, what wasn't mentioned was that, with the right hack, you can order pizza through the Apple TV
Quote:
Originally Posted by teckstud
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
Says whom? Someone who doesn't own one? Oh wait, someone who's never used one? I absolutely love my Apple TV. For me, it's been a game changer. As I've said here before, compared to the cost of paying nearly $100/month for cable, I can purchase the shows I watch through iTunes for less, I get no commercials, and I can re-watch them whenever I want.
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
Piece of crap??? I love it! Everyone who has seen mine immediately wants one. The only thing Apple has failed to do here is advertise it since the software update that made it so much better! Why in the world they develop a great product and insist upon treating it like a "hobby" is beyond me. Videos play really quickly on it and if you just wanted to use it to rent movies it would be great. But I also love the way it integrates my iTunes library onto my TV. Have some people over, give them the little remote and suddenly people are having a good time. And, if they create a really bad play list, I simply use the remote application on my iPhone and override it.
Apple is missing the boat on this product. I have bought so many more songs and videos since getting my ATV. I'm sure if Apple were to run the numbers they'd find I'm not the only customer who is doing that. I mean, I don't always want to explore and buy music from my laptop. I like to do it from my couch using my widescreen and my stereo. Advertise the thing already Apple!!!! And maybe for once don't do the stark white background treatment...show some people using and enjoying it.
Boxee is hardly a competitor to Apple TV, it's an Apple TV hack.
To be straight, Boxee and XBMC are not really Apple TV hacks. They are a piece of software that is installed on the AppleTV from a USB stick.
They do not involve opening the box, they do not void your warranty and the AppleTV can be factory reset to get rid of them.
I think the likes of XBMC is the reason why Apple TV sales are up so much, people are more willing to buy them as soon as they realise they can actually make them useful.
Apple should acknowledge the work that 3rd parties have done to make the Apple TV a better platform, in fact I would go further in saying they make the AppleTV the best platform out there considering the low cost.
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
When I first heard the term Apple TV, I thought it would be a 50" plasma/LCD with a built in decoder that you could wirelessly stream any video and music source to... order movies, tv shows. Maybe had a touch screen like a giant iPod Touch, you could walk up to it and flip through menu's, move objects around (kinda like the computer table in Quantum of Solace). Also, it would have a built in camera so you could do life-size iChat. Video conference on, make phone calls through VOIP. Built in 50w speakers by Paradigm.
You know... a dream product. Damn, I'd pay $6000 for a product like that.
Imagine my disappointment.
Piece of crap is is right. It's right up there with the 'puck' mouse. \
Says whom? Someone who doesn't own one? Oh wait, someone who's never used one? I absolutely love my Apple TV. For me, it's been a game changer. As I've said here before, compared to the cost of paying nearly $100/month for cable, I can purchase the shows I watch through iTunes for less, I get no commercials, and I can re-watch them whenever I want.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat for playlist for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
There is no DVD streaming format. How many times does Apple get sued for some silly patent that they most likely aren't breaking. Allowing DVD streaming would mean that they've assisted in breaking DVD copy protection. Blast Apple for what they don't do that is within legal realm but asking them to invite a sure lawsuit is silly.
I have bought so many more songs and videos since getting my ATV. I'm sure if Apple were to run the numbers they'd find I'm not the only customer who is doing that. I mean, I don't always want to explore and buy music from my laptop. I like to do it from my couch using my widescreen and my stereo. Advertise the thing already Apple!!!! And maybe for once don't do the stark white background treatment...show some people using and enjoying it.
From what you say it sounds like they need to rename it.
AppleTv is wrong- It should be called the iTunesBox.
Compared to Apple's expectations of how well it should have sold. Thus the constant references to it as a hobby. Do you think if it had iPod or iPhone level sales, every mention of the AppleTV would include the reminder that it's still a hobby?
Quote:
R&D for the product? A cheap little box with a slimmed down version of OS X that accesses the iTunes servers. Sounds to me like any money they make from the product and rentals is pretty much all profit. This is a product that basically helps maximize the use of their other more important assets with minimal development costs to them, which is probably why they still refer to it as a hobby of sorts.
I think you've got at least one reason for Apple's continued sales. It's pretty much a minimal product to produce. And with the speed that enhancements have been rolled out (slightly faster than a dead snail), they're clearly not spending a lot of time or money on development.
And I'm sure P.T. Barnum gets a chuckle in Heaven every time someone plunks down the extra $100 for the 160GB AppleTV. Sure he's saying to himself, "A sucker really is born every minute. There goes another one." Looking at online stores, you can barely find a 40GB hard drive and when you do they cost the same as a 160GB hard drive (which cost nearly the same as a 250GB).
Maybe Apple just has pallets loaded down with unsold AppleTV's and is unwilling to take a hit by sending them to the landfill.
Quote:
And I mean really, you come up with a number like 100!? IF they sold 10 or 10,000, tripling those numbers wouldn't make the product worth the time. I believe the G4 Cube sold around 80,000 units in its first year and was scrapped, so the AppleTV must be doing much better than it did. And Apple surely knows when to throw in the towel, as they showed when they decided that iPod speaker thing wasn't worth the time.
My choice of 100 was hyperbole. You do grasp that, right? It's pretty clear sales of the AppleTV aren't that great, whatever the real number (5K, 50K, 500K, whatever), so tripling that isn't really a particularly impressive.
I like to rent movies with a few mouse clicks. I love the University podcasts. I often share particular iPhoto libraries with my parents and others. Watching Apple Keynotes on a 52" HD LCD TV is particularly fun.
With VisualHub, you can download funny videos (or any videos) from the web and convert/transfer them simultaneously. Then when company comes over, you can bust a gut while watching the big screen.
Areas they could improve:
Access the internet directly would be huge
Redo the interface. It's too 'chunky' if you have large libraries. Make it iTunes-y
Speed up the interface. You can't scroll through a list without it stuttering
Rework the YouTube interface as well... it's a disaster
Offer a small wireless keyboard with a big trackpad for data input
Keep pressing the studios to allow us more time to watch movies we legally purchase
Let me access the ports - FW would be nice (or even USB3) - so I can expand
Encourage 3rd party development, ala the iPod ecosystem. Open it up!
For those that value their time, it's an incredible value. Like MobileMe, it probably depends on how many features you actually use that will determine if it's a value or not. And you do need fat pipes for it to be an enjoyable experience. I have 15mbit DSL via ethernet and it flies.
For what it's worth, I also have DirecTV video on demand. Their interface is probably the worst I've seen. Apparently this is tricky stuff. Apple should tackle it and revamp ATVs. Even with a huge tv, it's difficult to visually scroll around looking for something to watch.
That's odd because just Sunday I ripped Batman and Apocalypto to AppeTv format using dvdfab.
Pretty sure he was referring to an integrated solution. Not that there really is one, unless you consider a full-fledged computer. What I thought was funny was reading all the things he said couldn't be done with an Apple TV -- and with very few exceptions, I do all of them (surfing, playing DVDs, searching my media [okay, so it's an add-on of sorts to use my iPhone], etc).
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
No...but many of us don't want to pay some cable company $80 a month. Apple TV with a satellite or cable package is a bit redundant.
Which is exactly why I bought the Apple TV. I pay Comcast $14/month and get my local television (including HD). To upgrade to a package that gives me premium content in HD was going to cost me nearly $100. I'm sure there are some TV addicts here who think $1000/year is worth it, but I'd rather spend my money on events with the family instead of staying in and being anti-social in front of a box. For those shows that I do find entertaining or educational enough to watch, I pay about $100/year to subscribe to. I skip commercials and can re-watch the shows when I want.
As for sports, I'd prefer to put some of that $1000/year toward tickets to games, which is really the only way to watch events anyway, in my opinion.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
From what I understand, AppleTV was never advertised to replace your DVD or BR player and you probably knew it cannot do any of these things "by itself" before you bought it.
You might as well complain that your Video iPod cannot directly play your CDs, search your music or movies by typing words, cannot be used to rip your CDs or DVDs, has no internet, and is almost useless without a computer!! I think you are missing the whole point behind AppleTV. It suppose to expand not replace.
I really don't have ApplTV yet because I am still thinking of either buying a PS3 or an AppleTV with PS2/XBoX/or Wii.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
I'd be happy if they gave it the same play back options as FrontRow has. So basically, it should be able to play anything QuickTime can play. And preferably not have to have it in iTunes. Oh, and it needs to be able to play video_ts folders like FrontRow can...you know for all those unencrypted DVDs of home movies I created with iDVD.
With Leopard, it's very easy to set up a folder for sharing. So I should be able to share the Movies folder on my computer and let AppleTV access it and play back any content it finds there. I do pretty much that between my two Macs and use FrontRow on one to access both iTunes content and everything in the Movies folder on the other computer. Or they could do something similar to how photos are handled. You use iTunes to configure what movies you want to share, but you don't actually have the movies in iTunes.
As for "streaming" of commercial DVD movies, I don't know that that would be a violation for breaking the DRM on DVDs. If the encryption is still intact in the data stream and not decrypted until it arrives at the AppleTV to generate the video signal, just how different is that from how a normal DVD player works? You just have a really long cable between your optical drive and the video processor!
I really don't have ApplTV yet because I am still thinking of either buying a PS3 or an AppleTV with PS2/XBoX/or Wii.
That was my dilemma as well. It was the iTunes store that sold me on the Apple TV as a way to save money on my cable bill. I don't have much time for games these days anyway, so the PS/3 was less attractive.
I've had my ATV since it was announced at Macworld two years ago and I love it. When I have a group of friends over its great to whip through the music library while we are all sitting around the living room talking. Several friends have purchased for just this purpose. Wish Apple would provide the visualizer from iTunes though.
The poster is correct in that it is really just a iTunesBox. Because iTunes is so limited in its movie selection, and you really need a 3 Mb download internet connection for speedy, uninterrupted download, I don't use it much for movies unless they are already on iTunes.
BUT, it could be sooo much more:
1. It does a decent job of photo slideshows, but could also stream iWork and iLife projects (think school project presentations and family projects) and other program output from the Mac.
2. Upgrade the hardware slightly and open it up to Netflicks and streaming internet video channels such as BBC, CNBC, HLN, etc. (several posters have proposed this)
3. Add a BlueRay disk player option to provide an upgrade path for folks to dump their old DVD players.
4. The iPhone remote is great. Expand upon it and make that the keyboard for interacting with the TV/internet through the TV.
a. Read/ answer text and voicemail messages
b. display internet pages that are interactive with the iPhone remote
5. Add telephone answering/managing software to your Mac and stream results to the TV. Video voicemail is around the corner, and it will be done on the iPhone and the TV at home. So also add camera and mic inputs to ATV.
I think its great that Apple is "allowing" folks to hack ATV. But Apple needs to go beyond this and encourage hacking (publish some specs and provide more input/outputs to ATV). Remember that an infinite number of monkey can create great works of literature!
Comments
I don't know why some people are obsessed in considering AppleTV a failure! It is the best product in its class. The problem is not AppleTV, the problem is with ISP limitations in regard to bandwidth, speeds, and availability. Until this problem is solved we will never see AppleTV or any other similar product takes off no matter how good or cheap it is.
Spot on. (Speaking for myself, I am really quite pleased with what @tv offers my household; other than for some rare foreign movie-watching, I have not been to a video store since my @tv purchase. What I use it for more than anything else is music/photo streaming).
The problem is not AppleTV, the problem is with ISP limitations in regard to bandwidth, speeds, and availability. Until this problem is solved we will never see AppleTV or any other similar product takes off no matter how good or cheap it is.
Once I click purchase, my movie is ready for viewing within 15 - 20 seconds. With SuddenLink's 10 MB package, it's a breeze.
I've heard it doesn't work terribly well with some video (too slow?)... I'm also not sure I want to invest in such a 'closed' system... I'll investigate some more. Either way, I might wait for the Mac Mini update and see what happens. If we've not seen one by the end of March, I might just get whatever available now...
Not sure where you heard that. Boxee is the best thing ever to invade my television, and makes the Apple TV just that much more useful. I almost never watch broadcast TV anymore (I find buying shows through iTunes cheaper than paying for cable).
You forgot to mention that it keeps the pizza hot while you shower.
No, what wasn't mentioned was that, with the right hack, you can order pizza through the Apple TV
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
Says whom? Someone who doesn't own one? Oh wait, someone who's never used one? I absolutely love my Apple TV. For me, it's been a game changer. As I've said here before, compared to the cost of paying nearly $100/month for cable, I can purchase the shows I watch through iTunes for less, I get no commercials, and I can re-watch them whenever I want.
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
Piece of crap??? I love it!
Apple is missing the boat on this product. I have bought so many more songs and videos since getting my ATV. I'm sure if Apple were to run the numbers they'd find I'm not the only customer who is doing that. I mean, I don't always want to explore and buy music from my laptop. I like to do it from my couch using my widescreen and my stereo. Advertise the thing already Apple!!!! And maybe for once don't do the stark white background treatment...show some people using and enjoying it.
Boxee is hardly a competitor to Apple TV, it's an Apple TV hack.
To be straight, Boxee and XBMC are not really Apple TV hacks. They are a piece of software that is installed on the AppleTV from a USB stick.
They do not involve opening the box, they do not void your warranty and the AppleTV can be factory reset to get rid of them.
I think the likes of XBMC is the reason why Apple TV sales are up so much, people are more willing to buy them as soon as they realise they can actually make them useful.
Apple should acknowledge the work that 3rd parties have done to make the Apple TV a better platform, in fact I would go further in saying they make the AppleTV the best platform out there considering the low cost.
What? Did they sell 10 last year and 30 this year?
What a piece of crap.
When I first heard the term Apple TV, I thought it would be a 50" plasma/LCD with a built in decoder that you could wirelessly stream any video and music source to... order movies, tv shows. Maybe had a touch screen like a giant iPod Touch, you could walk up to it and flip through menu's, move objects around (kinda like the computer table in Quantum of Solace). Also, it would have a built in camera so you could do life-size iChat. Video conference on, make phone calls through VOIP. Built in 50w speakers by Paradigm.
You know... a dream product. Damn, I'd pay $6000 for a product like that.
Imagine my disappointment.
Piece of crap is is right. It's right up there with the 'puck' mouse.
Says whom? Someone who doesn't own one? Oh wait, someone who's never used one? I absolutely love my Apple TV. For me, it's been a game changer. As I've said here before, compared to the cost of paying nearly $100/month for cable, I can purchase the shows I watch through iTunes for less, I get no commercials, and I can re-watch them whenever I want.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
Damn, I'd pay $6000 for a product like that.
You'd be the only one.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat for playlist for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
There is no DVD streaming format. How many times does Apple get sued for some silly patent that they most likely aren't breaking. Allowing DVD streaming would mean that they've assisted in breaking DVD copy protection. Blast Apple for what they don't do that is within legal realm but asking them to invite a sure lawsuit is silly.
I have bought so many more songs and videos since getting my ATV. I'm sure if Apple were to run the numbers they'd find I'm not the only customer who is doing that. I mean, I don't always want to explore and buy music from my laptop. I like to do it from my couch using my widescreen and my stereo. Advertise the thing already Apple!!!! And maybe for once don't do the stark white background treatment...show some people using and enjoying it.
From what you say it sounds like they need to rename it.
AppleTv is wrong- It should be called the iTunesBox.
Piss poor compared to what?
Compared to Apple's expectations of how well it should have sold. Thus the constant references to it as a hobby. Do you think if it had iPod or iPhone level sales, every mention of the AppleTV would include the reminder that it's still a hobby?
R&D for the product? A cheap little box with a slimmed down version of OS X that accesses the iTunes servers. Sounds to me like any money they make from the product and rentals is pretty much all profit. This is a product that basically helps maximize the use of their other more important assets with minimal development costs to them, which is probably why they still refer to it as a hobby of sorts.
I think you've got at least one reason for Apple's continued sales. It's pretty much a minimal product to produce. And with the speed that enhancements have been rolled out (slightly faster than a dead snail), they're clearly not spending a lot of time or money on development.
And I'm sure P.T. Barnum gets a chuckle in Heaven every time someone plunks down the extra $100 for the 160GB AppleTV. Sure he's saying to himself, "A sucker really is born every minute. There goes another one." Looking at online stores, you can barely find a 40GB hard drive and when you do they cost the same as a 160GB hard drive (which cost nearly the same as a 250GB).
Maybe Apple just has pallets loaded down with unsold AppleTV's and is unwilling to take a hit by sending them to the landfill.
And I mean really, you come up with a number like 100!? IF they sold 10 or 10,000, tripling those numbers wouldn't make the product worth the time. I believe the G4 Cube sold around 80,000 units in its first year and was scrapped, so the AppleTV must be doing much better than it did. And Apple surely knows when to throw in the towel, as they showed when they decided that iPod speaker thing wasn't worth the time.
My choice of 100 was hyperbole. You do grasp that, right? It's pretty clear sales of the AppleTV aren't that great, whatever the real number (5K, 50K, 500K, whatever), so tripling that isn't really a particularly impressive.
New movies are released on DVD and cable before being available.
No live sports on AppleTV so I still have to keep cable.
I have 1.5 Mbps DSL so downloads will be slow and disruptive.
And with cable and netflix, do I really need another box that does video?
With VisualHub, you can download funny videos (or any videos) from the web and convert/transfer them simultaneously. Then when company comes over, you can bust a gut while watching the big screen.
Areas they could improve:
Access the internet directly would be huge
Redo the interface. It's too 'chunky' if you have large libraries. Make it iTunes-y
Speed up the interface. You can't scroll through a list without it stuttering
Rework the YouTube interface as well... it's a disaster
Offer a small wireless keyboard with a big trackpad for data input
Keep pressing the studios to allow us more time to watch movies we legally purchase
Let me access the ports - FW would be nice (or even USB3) - so I can expand
Encourage 3rd party development, ala the iPod ecosystem. Open it up!
For those that value their time, it's an incredible value. Like MobileMe, it probably depends on how many features you actually use that will determine if it's a value or not. And you do need fat pipes for it to be an enjoyable experience. I have 15mbit DSL via ethernet and it flies.
For what it's worth, I also have DirecTV video on demand. Their interface is probably the worst I've seen. Apparently this is tricky stuff. Apple should tackle it and revamp ATVs. Even with a huge tv, it's difficult to visually scroll around looking for something to watch.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
That's odd because just Sunday I ripped Batman and Apocalypto to AppeTv format using dvdfab.
And with cable and netflix, do I really need another box that does video?
No...but many of us don't want to pay some cable company $80 a month. Apple TV with a satellite or cable package is a bit redundant.
That's odd because just Sunday I ripped Batman and Apocalypto to AppeTv format using dvdfab.
Pretty sure he was referring to an integrated solution. Not that there really is one, unless you consider a full-fledged computer. What I thought was funny was reading all the things he said couldn't be done with an Apple TV -- and with very few exceptions, I do all of them (surfing, playing DVDs, searching my media [okay, so it's an add-on of sorts to use my iPhone], etc).
No...but many of us don't want to pay some cable company $80 a month. Apple TV with a satellite or cable package is a bit redundant.
Which is exactly why I bought the Apple TV. I pay Comcast $14/month and get my local television (including HD). To upgrade to a package that gives me premium content in HD was going to cost me nearly $100. I'm sure there are some TV addicts here who think $1000/year is worth it, but I'd rather spend my money on events with the family instead of staying in and being anti-social in front of a box. For those shows that I do find entertaining or educational enough to watch, I pay about $100/year to subscribe to. I skip commercials and can re-watch the shows when I want.
As for sports, I'd prefer to put some of that $1000/year toward tickets to games, which is really the only way to watch events anyway, in my opinion.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
From what I understand, AppleTV was never advertised to replace your DVD or BR player and you probably knew it cannot do any of these things "by itself" before you bought it.
You might as well complain that your Video iPod cannot directly play your CDs, search your music or movies by typing words, cannot be used to rip your CDs or DVDs, has no internet, and is almost useless without a computer!! I think you are missing the whole point behind AppleTV. It suppose to expand not replace.
I really don't have ApplTV yet because I am still thinking of either buying a PS3 or an AppleTV with PS2/XBoX/or Wii.
Says me- I own one and use one (on rare occasion). Piece of crap.
1.) You can't stream DVD playback from your computer through the ATV.
2.) You can't search your own music or video files direct -only iTunes mUsic to buy- IMAGINE? NO netflix or any other rental service - ONLY iTunes.
3.) You can't rip your own DVDs to it- only rent or buy- It's an iTunes DIgital Jukebox.
4.) NO disc drive- your DVDs are obsolete. AT least you can rip your CD's to iTunes.
5.) NO recording allowed. I know - blame the studios- never Apple.
6.) NO on or off switch on the machine itself-WTF?
7.) NO repeat or playlists for videos.
8.) N0 INTERNET
.
Anybody who is thinking of buying one- BUT A MAC MINI instead. It' does all of the above and surfs the internet.
THE APPLE TV, NOT BLU-RAY, IS A BAG OF HURT.
I'd be happy if they gave it the same play back options as FrontRow has. So basically, it should be able to play anything QuickTime can play. And preferably not have to have it in iTunes. Oh, and it needs to be able to play video_ts folders like FrontRow can...you know for all those unencrypted DVDs of home movies I created with iDVD.
With Leopard, it's very easy to set up a folder for sharing. So I should be able to share the Movies folder on my computer and let AppleTV access it and play back any content it finds there. I do pretty much that between my two Macs and use FrontRow on one to access both iTunes content and everything in the Movies folder on the other computer. Or they could do something similar to how photos are handled. You use iTunes to configure what movies you want to share, but you don't actually have the movies in iTunes.
As for "streaming" of commercial DVD movies, I don't know that that would be a violation for breaking the DRM on DVDs. If the encryption is still intact in the data stream and not decrypted until it arrives at the AppleTV to generate the video signal, just how different is that from how a normal DVD player works? You just have a really long cable between your optical drive and the video processor!
I really don't have ApplTV yet because I am still thinking of either buying a PS3 or an AppleTV with PS2/XBoX/or Wii.
That was my dilemma as well. It was the iTunes store that sold me on the Apple TV as a way to save money on my cable bill. I don't have much time for games these days anyway, so the PS/3 was less attractive.
The poster is correct in that it is really just a iTunesBox. Because iTunes is so limited in its movie selection, and you really need a 3 Mb download internet connection for speedy, uninterrupted download, I don't use it much for movies unless they are already on iTunes.
BUT, it could be sooo much more:
1. It does a decent job of photo slideshows, but could also stream iWork and iLife projects (think school project presentations and family projects) and other program output from the Mac.
2. Upgrade the hardware slightly and open it up to Netflicks and streaming internet video channels such as BBC, CNBC, HLN, etc. (several posters have proposed this)
3. Add a BlueRay disk player option to provide an upgrade path for folks to dump their old DVD players.
4. The iPhone remote is great. Expand upon it and make that the keyboard for interacting with the TV/internet through the TV.
a. Read/ answer text and voicemail messages
b. display internet pages that are interactive with the iPhone remote
5. Add telephone answering/managing software to your Mac and stream results to the TV. Video voicemail is around the corner, and it will be done on the iPhone and the TV at home. So also add camera and mic inputs to ATV.
I think its great that Apple is "allowing" folks to hack ATV. But Apple needs to go beyond this and encourage hacking (publish some specs and provide more input/outputs to ATV). Remember that an infinite number of monkey can create great works of literature!