Totally agreed - not only do we pay £104 for a $99 device, we miss out on US centric content. No Netflix, no MLB etc. Please Apple add the freely available iPlayer to Apple TV. There is now an iPlayer app for iPhone and iPad so maybe app streaming will work ?
Well there is MLB.tv on the UK AppleTV after the update if you want it. And part of that £104 is VAT. There may be sales tax in some usa states on top of the $99 but we don't hear about that. None the less, your basic point is well taken.
Nice update if you're American.... As usual with the Apple TV nothing of any real benefit to the many owners outside of the US.
Would it really hurt Apple to improve the device from an international user perspective?
I'm aware that it's a "hobby" product, but it's highly annoying that outside of the US we pay significantly more for a product that offers significantly less!
I love my Apple TV, I really do, but sometimes i can't help but feel shafted by Apple.
While I take your point, to be fair, baseball is popular in many countries in South America and its big in Japan. I don't feel shafted by Apple, they didn't make me buy an AppleTV, that was my choice. I suspect they're trying to get content that's European related and I suspect the numbers aren't there to get content owners to buy into it. That may change with AirPlay. Hope so.
How nice that Apple has added Internet content that they would earn money from. Where's Pandora. I use it fairly frequently and want it on my ATV.
You can bet Apple is probably negociating (dictating) is 30% cut on anything going into AppleTV. I wish Apple will wake up and add a new field in there database to hold more than one percentage, everything doesnt have to be 30% ...
I am starting to ear things like "world wide boycott" of Apple products. If Apple continu to choke devs/publishers/services it may spread a shift to android and kill the itune store, which will in turn affect hardware sales.
I love my Apple TV but there are a couple of "fixes" that would be nice:
1) obviously more content, but that is an ongoing issue, and I'm sure there are biz dev people responsible for this
2) AirPlay streaming: I'll be curious to see if the actual performance is improved. I can click on a photo on my iPhone and the photo will appear on the Apple TV, but it will freeze there making moving to the next photo virtually impossible. I have pretty fast Internet and use Apple's own router so you would think this would be more consistent. The addition of more AirPlay functionality through the iOS 4.3 update is one of the things I am most excited about
I'd like for it to actually work. I may be doing something wrong but I've been to several sites that have video that plays fine on my iPhone but when I try to push it to my ATV via Airplay all I get is audio. Yes, I've upgraded both my iphone and ATV. Do site/content owners need to do something special?
It works with streaming apps - so far I've used PBS and VEVO. Hulu hasn't implemented AirPlay to work with their app and I really don't think they will - I really wish they would, though.
Aha! Content owners do need to do something to enable airplay! Thanks!
It doesn't sound like the Apple TV is a good solution for you but for "mainstream USA" who uses iTunes for purchasing music and videos, it is a great solution. It also does Netflix, and now MLB.TV as well.
Anyone who is willing to put media on a flash drive and plug it into their TV is not the target market for the Apple TV. You buy an Apple TV to watch Netflix, play content from iTunes, and maybe rent a movie or two from time to time. You hook it up, turn it on and it works.
Contrary to most of us here in this forum, most people don't even know the difference between an MP3 and an MP4, and could care less about the "walled garden", and certainly don't have any "misplaced loyalty" to Apple.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
This seems like the end-game scenario that will be reached when streaming and IPTV technologies have completely matured.
Until that happens, I prefer a separate box that can be updated or replaced without needing to replace my expensive TV.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
I disagree. We have all seen Roku boxes, the Western Digital Boxes, the Boxy Boxes, etc, but for someone using iTunes, none of them work as well as the Apple TV. They all have clunky interfaces, and are hard to use.
With technology that changes this quickly, I don't want it built into my TV - any more than I wanted my DVD or BluRay player built into the TV. I will upgrade this technology more often than I will purchase a TV - and I don't want to count on my TV manufacturer to provide firmware updates for new channels.
Smartphones ate into the iPod market because both devices were priced comparably (on contract), and convergence is much more important in a mobile environment where I have to physically carry around the devices. It didn't make sense to carry around an iPod when my iPhone did the same thing. My iPhone is updated as often (if not more often) then the iPod so its technology is always up to date.
Convergence is much less of priority in a consumer electronics space, where we are already used to having separate TV's, DVD players, Set top boxes, etc.
But hey, there is no one solution that is perfect for everyone.
Comments
Totally agreed - not only do we pay £104 for a $99 device, we miss out on US centric content. No Netflix, no MLB etc. Please Apple add the freely available iPlayer to Apple TV. There is now an iPlayer app for iPhone and iPad so maybe app streaming will work ?
Well there is MLB.tv on the UK AppleTV after the update if you want it. And part of that £104 is VAT. There may be sales tax in some usa states on top of the $99 but we don't hear about that. None the less, your basic point is well taken.
Nice update if you're American.... As usual with the Apple TV nothing of any real benefit to the many owners outside of the US.
Would it really hurt Apple to improve the device from an international user perspective?
I'm aware that it's a "hobby" product, but it's highly annoying that outside of the US we pay significantly more for a product that offers significantly less!
I love my Apple TV, I really do, but sometimes i can't help but feel shafted by Apple.
While I take your point, to be fair, baseball is popular in many countries in South America and its big in Japan. I don't feel shafted by Apple, they didn't make me buy an AppleTV, that was my choice. I suspect they're trying to get content that's European related and I suspect the numbers aren't there to get content owners to buy into it. That may change with AirPlay. Hope so.
Me too but its too bad the PS3 has a) such an idiotic user interface on the above and b) is so noisy.
^^^ This!
How nice that Apple has added Internet content that they would earn money from. Where's Pandora. I use it fairly frequently and want it on my ATV.
You can bet Apple is probably negociating (dictating) is 30% cut on anything going into AppleTV. I wish Apple will wake up and add a new field in there database to hold more than one percentage, everything doesnt have to be 30% ...
I am starting to ear things like "world wide boycott" of Apple products. If Apple continu to choke devs/publishers/services it may spread a shift to android and kill the itune store, which will in turn affect hardware sales.
I love my Apple TV but there are a couple of "fixes" that would be nice:
1) obviously more content, but that is an ongoing issue, and I'm sure there are biz dev people responsible for this
2) AirPlay streaming: I'll be curious to see if the actual performance is improved. I can click on a photo on my iPhone and the photo will appear on the Apple TV, but it will freeze there making moving to the next photo virtually impossible. I have pretty fast Internet and use Apple's own router so you would think this would be more consistent. The addition of more AirPlay functionality through the iOS 4.3 update is one of the things I am most excited about
3) I can't think of a #3
4) If they do #3 then I won't worry about #4
I'd like for it to actually work. I may be doing something wrong but I've been to several sites that have video that plays fine on my iPhone but when I try to push it to my ATV via Airplay all I get is audio. Yes, I've upgraded both my iphone and ATV. Do site/content owners need to do something special?
It works with streaming apps - so far I've used PBS and VEVO. Hulu hasn't implemented AirPlay to work with their app and I really don't think they will - I really wish they would, though.
Aha! Content owners do need to do something to enable airplay! Thanks!
It doesn't sound like the Apple TV is a good solution for you but for "mainstream USA" who uses iTunes for purchasing music and videos, it is a great solution. It also does Netflix, and now MLB.TV as well.
Anyone who is willing to put media on a flash drive and plug it into their TV is not the target market for the Apple TV. You buy an Apple TV to watch Netflix, play content from iTunes, and maybe rent a movie or two from time to time. You hook it up, turn it on and it works.
Contrary to most of us here in this forum, most people don't even know the difference between an MP3 and an MP4, and could care less about the "walled garden", and certainly don't have any "misplaced loyalty" to Apple.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
This seems like the end-game scenario that will be reached when streaming and IPTV technologies have completely matured.
Until that happens, I prefer a separate box that can be updated or replaced without needing to replace my expensive TV.
There are quite a few other devices that you can hook up, turn on, and have it work. You clearly have not looked at what is available.
As I said, Internet capable TVs are what will kill off devices like Apple TV as everything an Apple TV can do will become built-in. Think of it as smartphones eating into the iPod market. If Apple want to compete in this market, they will eventually have to release a television.
I disagree. We have all seen Roku boxes, the Western Digital Boxes, the Boxy Boxes, etc, but for someone using iTunes, none of them work as well as the Apple TV. They all have clunky interfaces, and are hard to use.
With technology that changes this quickly, I don't want it built into my TV - any more than I wanted my DVD or BluRay player built into the TV. I will upgrade this technology more often than I will purchase a TV - and I don't want to count on my TV manufacturer to provide firmware updates for new channels.
Smartphones ate into the iPod market because both devices were priced comparably (on contract), and convergence is much more important in a mobile environment where I have to physically carry around the devices. It didn't make sense to carry around an iPod when my iPhone did the same thing. My iPhone is updated as often (if not more often) then the iPod so its technology is always up to date.
Convergence is much less of priority in a consumer electronics space, where we are already used to having separate TV's, DVD players, Set top boxes, etc.
But hey, there is no one solution that is perfect for everyone.