BTW, Bu-ray isn?t a huge hit with DVD outselling Blu-rays and with streaming media far exceeding Blu-ray around the world, in both number of videos and total streaming of videos.
That is rubbish and you know it. Blu-ray is making more money than downloads. The stats you are referencing include VOD.
There is no particular reason to add an optical disk to the player, it just raises the cost of the device to way over $99 plus making it bigger.
I don't know about the 'way over' but you are correct that putting in an optical drive would raise the cost. Many folks forget that there are hardware costs AND legal costs. Apple would have to license the rights to include the tech, particularly for blu-ray. This is why they didn't get into the biz in the first place. In the early days to license blu-ray you were talking to an easy dozen different folks. If any one said no, you were hosed. Apple didn't find that a worthwhile mess to get into and started the whole download thing.
Licensing hits them all over. That's why a 3G iPad is more than $100 over the same size wifi. They have to pay for the part and permission to use it
... And again, what's great about these players is that they cover yesterday with DVD, today with Blu-Ray and all that streaming your talking about. It's a great product that will aptly help to usher in the streaming-only age. ...
And just exactly why would any Blu-Ray player have streaming as well as optical disc playback? Because the manufacturers know that Blu-Ray is just an interim step toward that "streaming-only age." They're hedging their bets. Future-proofing a product that consumers resisted by adding forward-looking technology to it. Think of Apple TV as not being burdened with the backward compatibility problem of supporting DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcom006
... The market most likely to latch on to such a product today isn't interested in it as it's too limited in terms of handling files and outputting HD audio and video. ...
"The market" consists of average TV viewers. And a large portion of them never learned to set the time on their VCRs. The very mention of "outputting files" makes them cringe. Simple is better in the home entertainment market. Apple has moved Apple TV past the bleeding-edge early-adopter fringe to the mainstream. (And as we'll see very soon, Google TV will suffer in part because Google didn't move beyond that techno-fringe market, but that's a whole different "bag of hurt" than Blu-Ray.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcom006
... There are some really cool ideas behind Apple TV, but it's just not set to be a mainstream hit anytime soon. Apps and gaming could very well change that though. ...
What you're saying is that Apple TV isn't conventional enough to appeal to the mass market. I disagree. I think simpler is better, and Apple TV certainly is simple. When Apple brings the simplicity of iOS apps, especially games, to Apple TV, it will really take off.
After all, that's one reason why Apple went to the trouble of replacing the old Apple TV's Mac-based hardware and software complexity with iOS device simplicity, no? So it can run iOS apps. That's Apple TV's true killer feature, and it's sold well despite not having it yet.
About BluRay: while it will gradually supplant SD DVD hardware over time, the problem is that only about 10% of consumers really care about getting the best PQ, and maybe 10% want to collect lots of movies to play repeatedly, but 80% care about paying high prices for stuff. and the mediacos are still demanding premium prices for BD discs. HD streaming rentals are just a better deal - not the best PQ, but better than DVD. and easily "portable." a decent compromise at about 1/3 the price of the BD version. so that's where the market is going ... including AppleTV.
About DVR: problem is the channel tuner/cable setup that has to come with it. Poor TiVo has a good product but small sales because of this. lacking scale, its subscription fee is much too high. the cablecos have strangled this market with their local monopolies and crippled DVR cable boxes. yeah, hobbyists can work around all this with good hardware you can buy and hook up, but they are less than 10% of the market too. not enough for AppleTV.
About apps: Apple would be crazy not to add apps to ATV2 one way or another - there are different possible ways. so i gotta think they will announce this next month right after CES, and launch with the release of iPad2. linking iPod touch/iPad somehow with ATV makes the most sense because they are the best possible remote controls with touch UI, accelerometer, cameras, etc.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
Apple would have to license the rights to include the tech, particularly for blu-ray. This is why they didn't get into the biz in the first place. In the early days to license blu-ray you were talking to an easy dozen different folks. If any one said no, you were hosed. Apple didn't find that a worthwhile mess to get into and started the whole download thing.
Do you still actually believe the licensing "bag of hurt" nonsense that Jobs spewed? Yes, licensing is so difficult that every major home electronics company has somehow managed to accomplish it. Jobs real interest is in pushing the whole iTunes ecology where they control the entire chain from content distribution to playback. They're trying to lock users into that system so that even if a better alternative comes along, users have no choice but to stick with Apple.
It should also be noted that Apple is a member of the Blu-Ray Disc Alliance. If licensing is such a complicated mess, maybe Apple should push for it being simplified.
Do you still actually believe the licensing "bag of hurt" nonsense that Jobs spewed? Yes, licensing is so difficult that every major home electronics company has somehow managed to accomplish it. Jobs real interest is in pushing the whole iTunes ecology where they control the entire chain from content distribution to playback. They're trying to lock users into that system so that even if a better alternative comes along, users have no choice but to stick with Apple.
You are saying that license wasn?t in any way, shape or form part of the issue Apple had with Blu-ray back when Jobs made that statement? If so, what proof do you have to that effect? BTW, showing that others licensed Blu-ray is not proof. In fact, the licensing being changed after Jobs statement does point to Jobs statement as being truthful.
Note that being truthful does not mean it?s the complete truth. Jobs? statement was clearly directed to put the blame squarely on Blu-ray when they largest issue for Apple may not have been the silly Blu-ray licensing rules but the fact that Apple had an ultimate goal of getting away from the slow, large, power hungry components with moving parts prone to failure while also pushing their long term goal of media-independent digital content.
These last two put the blame on Apple, while the first one ?while being absolutely truthful ? puts the fault on Blu-ray. Which one do you think makes sense marketing sense?
You are saying that license wasn’t in any way, shape or form part of the issue Apple had with Blu-ray back when Jobs made that statement? If so, what proof do you have to that effect? BTW, showing that others licensed Blu-ray is not proof. In fact, the licensing being changed after Jobs statement does point to Jobs statement as being truthful.
Note that being truthful does not mean it’s the complete truth. Jobs’ statement was clearly directed to put the blame squarely on Blu-ray when they largest issue for Apple may not have been the silly Blu-ray licensing rules but the fact that Apple had an ultimate goal of getting away from the slow, large, power hungry components with moving parts prone to failure while also pushing their long term goal of media-independent digital content.
These last two put the blame on Apple, while the first one —while being absolutely truthful — puts the fault on Blu-ray. Which one do you think makes sense marketing sense?
the problem very possibly was not licensing at all. it was probably the required HDCP-protected DRM "pathway" that had to be built into the OS itself, of which HDMI ports are the visible part. Apple TV is HDCP compliant, independent of any connected computer. but we didn't see an HDMI port on a Mac until the most recent Mini model that came after Snow Leopard and all its "under the hood" OS X modifications. So Snow Leopard is presumably HDCP complaint. Leopard must not have been. that was the "bag of hurt."
Well I'm an Apple user, I use one hell of a lot of Apple products and I've got a Blu Ray player.
Just because you use Apple products does not mean you won't own Blu Ray players etc!
On to the rest of the article, the App store..... Damn right captain obvious, this thing needs an app store badly, perhaps not so much for the US customers but for us Brits and the rest of the world.
The App store would allow the BBC to role out iPlayer within the UK for instance which would be a major selling point over here.
I love my new Apple TV but it's not nearly as awesome as it could so easily be.
That inane mantra you hear all the time on here.
Just because Steve thinks Blu-ray is a bag of hurt and doesn't like it, his cultist followers fall right into line. Meanwhile Blu-ray is the biggest seller and has penetrated the living room more than ATV or Google TV ever will unless they can master 1080P and 7.1 lossless sound.
Steve Jobs lost the living room to Blu-ray players now featuring with Amazon, Netflix, Pandora etc.
In other news the Amazon WiFi Kindle has sold out until after Christmas. I wonder how many millions of Jeff Bezos' "hobby" sold?
Just because Steve thinks Blu-ray is a bag of hurt and doesn't like it, his cultist followers fall right into line. Meanwhile Blu-ray is the biggest seller and has penetrated the living room more than ATV or Google TV ever will unless they can master 1080P and 7.1 lossless sound.
Steve Jobs lost the living room to Blu-ray players now featuring with Amazon, Netflix, Pandora etc.
it’s funny how you put a single product against all Blu-ray players. How about you put all HEC devices that stream media against all Blu-ray players. Can you guess which one wins when you do compare methods for obtaining content?¡
I’ll quote SockRolid, "And just exactly why would any Blu-Ray player have streaming as well as optical disc playback? Because the manufacturers know that Blu-Ray is just an interim step toward that "streaming-only age." They're hedging their bets. Future-proofing a product that consumers resisted by adding forward-looking technology to it. Think of Apple TV as not being burdened with the backward compatibility problem of supporting DVDs and Blu-Ray discs."
Why do people always assume their personal experience is the norm? Apple doesn't need to improve service. You need to fix your problem.
I have to agree with you. I had the original ATV since day one and upgraded the software everytime it came out. I eventually added a larger hard drive. Tried and dumped Boxee. Over time it got slower and PAINFULLY SLOWER at downloading a video. I kept thinking the servers must be getting busier as more user came on board. Just recently I ran a restore (wipe clean/reinstall factory settings) and all the updates and guess what, it was back to the speeds of offering up my videos to watch within a couple minutes! My software must have been corrupted.
I just bought a ATV2 and am thinking about hacking the ATV into a mini Mac to see what it can do.
If you are an Apple person...ie, iphones, Apple laptops, iMacs, etc., you should have an AppleTV!
It is worth the price of admission just to have your photos streamed to your flat screen TV, with internet music playing in the background.
We just take tons of photos and put them in iPhoto and then stream them over....we view our photos this way a lot more than we ever looked at them on a computer, in a photo album, or shoe box!
We have them on anytime family and friends come over and all the time during the holidays when people just drop by!
If you're having problems with insanely long download times, check to see if you're using OpenDNS or GoogleDNS. If you are, revert to your ISP's local DNS servers and you're likely to be shocked at the improvement. The problem is in way Akamai uses location intelligence based on your DNS server name to point you to the closest/fastest entry point to their 'wormhole'.
I did this and download times dropped from 30 hours to 'ready to play in 2 minutes'.
I am still not convinced of the accuracy of the analysis in that article. Does not make sense to me.
I have not rented anything from iTunes with my aTV but have watched several Netflix titles and they stream immediately. Bears mentioning that I use my office's DNS servers on my home network, not my cable provider's DNS. Either way I don't see how Google or OpenDNS should affect Akami's proxy or load balancing configuration. It appears that Akami uses only their own DNS not remotely cached zone transfers.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
i agree with all of your other comments, but i can't see Apple being [or wanting to be] successful in the TV market. while you and i may purchase an Apple branded TV, i don't see enough of the market, and DEFINITELY not the 80% you speak of, paying the premium price that apple charges [how much is their 27" monitor vs. a 27" Vizio TV?].
as far as TV's go, profits are razor thin and quality brands like Zenith have been replaced with bargain-basement brands like Vizio.
About BluRay: while it will gradually supplant SD DVD hardware over time, the problem is that only about 10% of consumers really care about getting the best PQ, and maybe 10% want to collect lots of movies to play repeatedly, but 80% care about paying high prices for stuff. and the mediacos are still demanding premium prices for BD discs. HD streaming rentals are just a better deal - not the best PQ, but better than DVD. and easily "portable." a decent compromise at about 1/3 the price of the BD version. so that's where the market is going ... including AppleTV.
About DVR: problem is the channel tuner/cable setup that has to come with it. Poor TiVo has a good product but small sales because of this. lacking scale, its subscription fee is much too high. the cablecos have strangled this market with their local monopolies and crippled DVR cable boxes. yeah, hobbyists can work around all this with good hardware you can buy and hook up, but they are less than 10% of the market too. not enough for AppleTV.
About apps: Apple would be crazy not to add apps to ATV2 one way or another - there are different possible ways. so i gotta think they will announce this next month right after CES, and launch with the release of iPad2. linking iPod touch/iPad somehow with ATV makes the most sense because they are the best possible remote controls with touch UI, accelerometer, cameras, etc.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
so you're saying that the tens of millions who own consoles don't really want them? they want the crappy games in the app store that get old after a day instead of Call of Duty Black Ops that just hit a billion $$$ in sales in a few months?
I am still not convinced of the accuracy of the analysis in that article. Does not make sense to me.
I have not rented anything from iTunes with my aTV but have watched several Netflix titles and they stream immediately. Bears mentioning that I use my office's DNS servers on my home network, not my cable provider's DNS. Either way I don't see how Google or OpenDNS should affect Akami's proxy or load balancing configuration. It appears that Akami uses only their own DNS not remotely cached zone transfers.
i agree with all of your other comments, but i can't see Apple being [or wanting to be] successful in the TV market. while you and i may purchase an Apple branded TV, i don't see enough of the market, and DEFINITELY not the 80% you speak of, paying the premium price that apple charges [how much is their 27" monitor vs. a 27" Vizio TV?].
as far as TV's go, profits are razor thin and quality brands like Zenith have been replaced with bargain-basement brands like Vizio.
true, it would be a high end product. but 5%-10% of a $100 billion annual market is still a lot of moolah. and it would reinforce sales of all other Apple iOS products too. you won't buy just one Apple gizmo, you'll buy several 'cause they all work together so nice.
Apple never has tried to compete in the general market with its monitors price. you buy them because they are so pretty. the profit margain must be ridiculous, even at small production levels. but the Apple video hardware technology is there and ready. add a tuner, some ports, and stick an ATV chip inside, and bingo!
Apple should buy Bose for the audio part, another high-end brand. remember when Apple put out its own branded powered speakers 6 or 7 years ago? they were lousey - one of Apple's total flops.
Personally I think they've missed the boat with this one, which is a shame because I've been wanting it even before it existed but they never made it quite good enough.
If they had riveled the Wii it could have become the family console but now any direction towards games would be a disaster. It would be the underpowered console with rubbish games, and if there was any sign game prices would go down to the level of iPhone games publishers would abandon it effectively killing it.
Then there was the fact they turned down the technology behind kinnect, that would have made the device the next magical product from Apple yet again redefining user experiance.
Now though its a low selling product and next year in the uk youview comes out supported by all our major tv networks and will kill off any hopes Apple may have of iptv.
true, it would be a high end product. but 5%-10% of a $100 billion annual market is still a lot of moolah. and it would reinforce sales of all other Apple iOS products too. you won't buy just one Apple gizmo, you'll buy several 'cause they all work together so nice.
Apple never has tried to compete in the general market with its monitors price. you buy them because they are so pretty. the profit margain must be ridiculous, even at small production levels. but the Apple video hardware technology is there and ready. add a tuner, some ports, and stick an ATV chip inside, and bingo!
Apple should buy Bose for the audio part, another high-end brand. remember when Apple put out its own branded powered speakers 6 or 7 years ago? they were lousey - one of Apple's total flops.
I agree in a few years I think you will see an actual Apple tv. Its not a huge profit area like there other products but there going to be forced by the market to do it. Googles already launched there tv software, and Microsoft and Adobe and both know to be building versions of Silverlight and flash for tvs. Apple have to get involved otherwise iTunes for tv is effectively dead. Plus they have to expand somehow and what other electronic consumer products are left.
Comments
Why would you reply to someones comment without reading what they replied to??
My bad! Should have read carefully!
BTW, Bu-ray isn?t a huge hit with DVD outselling Blu-rays and with streaming media far exceeding Blu-ray around the world, in both number of videos and total streaming of videos.
That is rubbish and you know it. Blu-ray is making more money than downloads. The stats you are referencing include VOD.
There is no particular reason to add an optical disk to the player, it just raises the cost of the device to way over $99 plus making it bigger.
I don't know about the 'way over' but you are correct that putting in an optical drive would raise the cost. Many folks forget that there are hardware costs AND legal costs. Apple would have to license the rights to include the tech, particularly for blu-ray. This is why they didn't get into the biz in the first place. In the early days to license blu-ray you were talking to an easy dozen different folks. If any one said no, you were hosed. Apple didn't find that a worthwhile mess to get into and started the whole download thing.
Licensing hits them all over. That's why a 3G iPad is more than $100 over the same size wifi. They have to pay for the part and permission to use it
... And again, what's great about these players is that they cover yesterday with DVD, today with Blu-Ray and all that streaming your talking about. It's a great product that will aptly help to usher in the streaming-only age. ...
And just exactly why would any Blu-Ray player have streaming as well as optical disc playback? Because the manufacturers know that Blu-Ray is just an interim step toward that "streaming-only age." They're hedging their bets. Future-proofing a product that consumers resisted by adding forward-looking technology to it. Think of Apple TV as not being burdened with the backward compatibility problem of supporting DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
... The market most likely to latch on to such a product today isn't interested in it as it's too limited in terms of handling files and outputting HD audio and video. ...
"The market" consists of average TV viewers. And a large portion of them never learned to set the time on their VCRs. The very mention of "outputting files" makes them cringe. Simple is better in the home entertainment market. Apple has moved Apple TV past the bleeding-edge early-adopter fringe to the mainstream. (And as we'll see very soon, Google TV will suffer in part because Google didn't move beyond that techno-fringe market, but that's a whole different "bag of hurt" than Blu-Ray.)
... There are some really cool ideas behind Apple TV, but it's just not set to be a mainstream hit anytime soon. Apps and gaming could very well change that though. ...
What you're saying is that Apple TV isn't conventional enough to appeal to the mass market. I disagree. I think simpler is better, and Apple TV certainly is simple. When Apple brings the simplicity of iOS apps, especially games, to Apple TV, it will really take off.
After all, that's one reason why Apple went to the trouble of replacing the old Apple TV's Mac-based hardware and software complexity with iOS device simplicity, no? So it can run iOS apps. That's Apple TV's true killer feature, and it's sold well despite not having it yet.
About DVR: problem is the channel tuner/cable setup that has to come with it. Poor TiVo has a good product but small sales because of this. lacking scale, its subscription fee is much too high. the cablecos have strangled this market with their local monopolies and crippled DVR cable boxes. yeah, hobbyists can work around all this with good hardware you can buy and hook up, but they are less than 10% of the market too. not enough for AppleTV.
About apps: Apple would be crazy not to add apps to ATV2 one way or another - there are different possible ways. so i gotta think they will announce this next month right after CES, and launch with the release of iPad2. linking iPod touch/iPad somehow with ATV makes the most sense because they are the best possible remote controls with touch UI, accelerometer, cameras, etc.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
Apple would have to license the rights to include the tech, particularly for blu-ray. This is why they didn't get into the biz in the first place. In the early days to license blu-ray you were talking to an easy dozen different folks. If any one said no, you were hosed. Apple didn't find that a worthwhile mess to get into and started the whole download thing.
Do you still actually believe the licensing "bag of hurt" nonsense that Jobs spewed? Yes, licensing is so difficult that every major home electronics company has somehow managed to accomplish it.
It should also be noted that Apple is a member of the Blu-Ray Disc Alliance. If licensing is such a complicated mess, maybe Apple should push for it being simplified.
Do you still actually believe the licensing "bag of hurt" nonsense that Jobs spewed? Yes, licensing is so difficult that every major home electronics company has somehow managed to accomplish it.
You are saying that license wasn?t in any way, shape or form part of the issue Apple had with Blu-ray back when Jobs made that statement? If so, what proof do you have to that effect? BTW, showing that others licensed Blu-ray is not proof. In fact, the licensing being changed after Jobs statement does point to Jobs statement as being truthful.
Note that being truthful does not mean it?s the complete truth. Jobs? statement was clearly directed to put the blame squarely on Blu-ray when they largest issue for Apple may not have been the silly Blu-ray licensing rules but the fact that Apple had an ultimate goal of getting away from the slow, large, power hungry components with moving parts prone to failure while also pushing their long term goal of media-independent digital content.
These last two put the blame on Apple, while the first one ?while being absolutely truthful ? puts the fault on Blu-ray. Which one do you think makes sense marketing sense?
You are saying that license wasn’t in any way, shape or form part of the issue Apple had with Blu-ray back when Jobs made that statement? If so, what proof do you have to that effect? BTW, showing that others licensed Blu-ray is not proof. In fact, the licensing being changed after Jobs statement does point to Jobs statement as being truthful.
Note that being truthful does not mean it’s the complete truth. Jobs’ statement was clearly directed to put the blame squarely on Blu-ray when they largest issue for Apple may not have been the silly Blu-ray licensing rules but the fact that Apple had an ultimate goal of getting away from the slow, large, power hungry components with moving parts prone to failure while also pushing their long term goal of media-independent digital content.
These last two put the blame on Apple, while the first one —while being absolutely truthful — puts the fault on Blu-ray. Which one do you think makes sense marketing sense?
the problem very possibly was not licensing at all. it was probably the required HDCP-protected DRM "pathway" that had to be built into the OS itself, of which HDMI ports are the visible part. Apple TV is HDCP compliant, independent of any connected computer. but we didn't see an HDMI port on a Mac until the most recent Mini model that came after Snow Leopard and all its "under the hood" OS X modifications. So Snow Leopard is presumably HDCP complaint. Leopard must not have been. that was the "bag of hurt."
Well I'm an Apple user, I use one hell of a lot of Apple products and I've got a Blu Ray player.
Just because you use Apple products does not mean you won't own Blu Ray players etc!
On to the rest of the article, the App store..... Damn right captain obvious, this thing needs an app store badly, perhaps not so much for the US customers but for us Brits and the rest of the world.
The App store would allow the BBC to role out iPlayer within the UK for instance which would be a major selling point over here.
I love my new Apple TV but it's not nearly as awesome as it could so easily be.
That inane mantra you hear all the time on here.
Just because Steve thinks Blu-ray is a bag of hurt and doesn't like it, his cultist followers fall right into line. Meanwhile Blu-ray is the biggest seller and has penetrated the living room more than ATV or Google TV ever will unless they can master 1080P and 7.1 lossless sound.
Steve Jobs lost the living room to Blu-ray players now featuring with Amazon, Netflix, Pandora etc.
In other news the Amazon WiFi Kindle has sold out until after Christmas. I wonder how many millions of Jeff Bezos' "hobby" sold?
That inane mantra you hear all the time on here.
Just because Steve thinks Blu-ray is a bag of hurt and doesn't like it, his cultist followers fall right into line. Meanwhile Blu-ray is the biggest seller and has penetrated the living room more than ATV or Google TV ever will unless they can master 1080P and 7.1 lossless sound.
Steve Jobs lost the living room to Blu-ray players now featuring with Amazon, Netflix, Pandora etc.
it’s funny how you put a single product against all Blu-ray players. How about you put all HEC devices that stream media against all Blu-ray players. Can you guess which one wins when you do compare methods for obtaining content?¡
I’ll quote SockRolid, "And just exactly why would any Blu-Ray player have streaming as well as optical disc playback? Because the manufacturers know that Blu-Ray is just an interim step toward that "streaming-only age." They're hedging their bets. Future-proofing a product that consumers resisted by adding forward-looking technology to it. Think of Apple TV as not being burdened with the backward compatibility problem of supporting DVDs and Blu-Ray discs."
Why do people always assume their personal experience is the norm? Apple doesn't need to improve service. You need to fix your problem.
I have to agree with you. I had the original ATV since day one and upgraded the software everytime it came out. I eventually added a larger hard drive. Tried and dumped Boxee. Over time it got slower and PAINFULLY SLOWER at downloading a video. I kept thinking the servers must be getting busier as more user came on board. Just recently I ran a restore (wipe clean/reinstall factory settings) and all the updates and guess what, it was back to the speeds of offering up my videos to watch within a couple minutes! My software must have been corrupted.
I just bought a ATV2 and am thinking about hacking the ATV into a mini Mac to see what it can do.
It is worth the price of admission just to have your photos streamed to your flat screen TV, with internet music playing in the background.
We just take tons of photos and put them in iPhoto and then stream them over....we view our photos this way a lot more than we ever looked at them on a computer, in a photo album, or shoe box!
We have them on anytime family and friends come over and all the time during the holidays when people just drop by!
It really is cool!
Best
If you're having problems with insanely long download times, check to see if you're using OpenDNS or GoogleDNS. If you are, revert to your ISP's local DNS servers and you're likely to be shocked at the improvement. The problem is in way Akamai uses location intelligence based on your DNS server name to point you to the closest/fastest entry point to their 'wormhole'.
I did this and download times dropped from 30 hours to 'ready to play in 2 minutes'.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...oogle_dns.html
I am still not convinced of the accuracy of the analysis in that article. Does not make sense to me.
I have not rented anything from iTunes with my aTV but have watched several Netflix titles and they stream immediately. Bears mentioning that I use my office's DNS servers on my home network, not my cable provider's DNS. Either way I don't see how Google or OpenDNS should affect Akami's proxy or load balancing configuration. It appears that Akami uses only their own DNS not remotely cached zone transfers.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
i agree with all of your other comments, but i can't see Apple being [or wanting to be] successful in the TV market. while you and i may purchase an Apple branded TV, i don't see enough of the market, and DEFINITELY not the 80% you speak of, paying the premium price that apple charges [how much is their 27" monitor vs. a 27" Vizio TV?].
as far as TV's go, profits are razor thin and quality brands like Zenith have been replaced with bargain-basement brands like Vizio.
About BluRay: while it will gradually supplant SD DVD hardware over time, the problem is that only about 10% of consumers really care about getting the best PQ, and maybe 10% want to collect lots of movies to play repeatedly, but 80% care about paying high prices for stuff. and the mediacos are still demanding premium prices for BD discs. HD streaming rentals are just a better deal - not the best PQ, but better than DVD. and easily "portable." a decent compromise at about 1/3 the price of the BD version. so that's where the market is going ... including AppleTV.
About DVR: problem is the channel tuner/cable setup that has to come with it. Poor TiVo has a good product but small sales because of this. lacking scale, its subscription fee is much too high. the cablecos have strangled this market with their local monopolies and crippled DVR cable boxes. yeah, hobbyists can work around all this with good hardware you can buy and hook up, but they are less than 10% of the market too. not enough for AppleTV.
About apps: Apple would be crazy not to add apps to ATV2 one way or another - there are different possible ways. so i gotta think they will announce this next month right after CES, and launch with the release of iPad2. linking iPod touch/iPad somehow with ATV makes the most sense because they are the best possible remote controls with touch UI, accelerometer, cameras, etc.
About HEC convergence: ultimately Apple needs to sell its own brand of HDTV with ATV built in (and decent speakers). one beautiful piece of hardware that is all you need. that's what 80% of consumers really want. No STB's, no receivers, no game consoles, no wires and cables to hook up. nuttin'. plug and play - everything. Apple already sells 27" HD monitors. so i gotta think this is coming - as soon as next fall. the ultimate extension of the Apple iTunes/iOS ecosystem. at which point, Apple controls the living room.
so you're saying that the tens of millions who own consoles don't really want them? they want the crappy games in the app store that get old after a day instead of Call of Duty Black Ops that just hit a billion $$$ in sales in a few months?
iOS games are nice but no life in them
I am still not convinced of the accuracy of the analysis in that article. Does not make sense to me.
I have not rented anything from iTunes with my aTV but have watched several Netflix titles and they stream immediately. Bears mentioning that I use my office's DNS servers on my home network, not my cable provider's DNS. Either way I don't see how Google or OpenDNS should affect Akami's proxy or load balancing configuration. It appears that Akami uses only their own DNS not remotely cached zone transfers.
netflix uses level 3 for CDN, not akamai
i agree with all of your other comments, but i can't see Apple being [or wanting to be] successful in the TV market. while you and i may purchase an Apple branded TV, i don't see enough of the market, and DEFINITELY not the 80% you speak of, paying the premium price that apple charges [how much is their 27" monitor vs. a 27" Vizio TV?].
as far as TV's go, profits are razor thin and quality brands like Zenith have been replaced with bargain-basement brands like Vizio.
true, it would be a high end product. but 5%-10% of a $100 billion annual market is still a lot of moolah. and it would reinforce sales of all other Apple iOS products too. you won't buy just one Apple gizmo, you'll buy several 'cause they all work together so nice.
Apple never has tried to compete in the general market with its monitors price. you buy them because they are so pretty. the profit margain must be ridiculous, even at small production levels. but the Apple video hardware technology is there and ready. add a tuner, some ports, and stick an ATV chip inside, and bingo!
Apple should buy Bose for the audio part, another high-end brand. remember when Apple put out its own branded powered speakers 6 or 7 years ago? they were lousey - one of Apple's total flops.
If they had riveled the Wii it could have become the family console but now any direction towards games would be a disaster. It would be the underpowered console with rubbish games, and if there was any sign game prices would go down to the level of iPhone games publishers would abandon it effectively killing it.
Then there was the fact they turned down the technology behind kinnect, that would have made the device the next magical product from Apple yet again redefining user experiance.
Now though its a low selling product and next year in the uk youview comes out supported by all our major tv networks and will kill off any hopes Apple may have of iptv.
true, it would be a high end product. but 5%-10% of a $100 billion annual market is still a lot of moolah. and it would reinforce sales of all other Apple iOS products too. you won't buy just one Apple gizmo, you'll buy several 'cause they all work together so nice.
Apple never has tried to compete in the general market with its monitors price. you buy them because they are so pretty. the profit margain must be ridiculous, even at small production levels. but the Apple video hardware technology is there and ready. add a tuner, some ports, and stick an ATV chip inside, and bingo!
Apple should buy Bose for the audio part, another high-end brand. remember when Apple put out its own branded powered speakers 6 or 7 years ago? they were lousey - one of Apple's total flops.
I agree in a few years I think you will see an actual Apple tv. Its not a huge profit area like there other products but there going to be forced by the market to do it. Googles already launched there tv software, and Microsoft and Adobe and both know to be building versions of Silverlight and flash for tvs. Apple have to get involved otherwise iTunes for tv is effectively dead. Plus they have to expand somehow and what other electronic consumer products are left.