I can't believe anybody in their right mind thinks this is a good idea. The last thing Apple needs to be saddled with is a bunch of legacy cable channels and movie studios. Unless you want Apple to become Sony, but I don't.
Good... Not at all happy with tvos super halfbaked implementation. ..
Key organizational features missing....
After such a long time of anticipating an awesome solution from apple... We just get a bla...update !
Then you probably haven't used FireTV. Yeah, look at that UI without switch app function.
Siri WOULD be a big deal, IF it was finally supported outside of any English speaking countries. I don't understand why I can talk to Siri on my phone in either German or English, as I please, yet there is no way I can talk to my Apple TV in either language, unless I cumbersomely set up an US AppleID next to my Swiss one. They Need to fix this asap. aTV is simply only half a product outside of the larger English speaking countries.
Perhaps someone can explain to me: what's truly new and different about the @TV4 interface?
(As an aside, this is the first major product update from Apple that I have not bought, in a very long time. In part because it seemed to offer not much that was new or different. I'd like to be convinced that was a wrong decision).
And the resulting silence is deafening... I'm in the same position - I'd like to find it appealing, but until I can use that storage for something besides apps, the device isn't particularly useful, for my own needs.
Perhaps someone can explain to me: what's truly new and different about the @TV4 interface?
(As an aside, this is the first major product update from Apple that I have not bought, in a very long time. In part because it seemed to offer not much that was new or different. I'd like to be convinced that was a wrong decision).
And the resulting silence is deafening... I'm in the same position - I'd like to find it appealing, but until I can use that storage for something besides apps, the device isn't particularly useful, for my own needs.
I'm still waiting for them to add DVR functionality. Why not offer a model that works well doing both things: Record live broadcasts and enable the viewing of Apple organized content and apps? The most likely answer is Apple wouldn't want to pay a licensing fee, but it would make the Apple TV way more functional.
Hmm...this is interesting. According to the re/code piece this guy was responsible for TV software UI but reported up through Eddy Cue, not the user interface team. Which just confirms something I've long suspected: the user interface team under Jony Ive (technically Tim Cook) isn't responsible for all UI, just OS X, iOS and watchOS. iTunes, Music and TV have their own UI teams.
Apple Music definitely has its own team. And they're on a sugar rush, every single day, all day. And obviously operating without adult supervision.
By sugar, I mean coke. Mountains of it. Picture a festival of blow in the "inspiration and ideas" meetings. Everyone nodding vigorously to each new and more inane contortions of the user. Nothing got cut. Except lines.
iTunes doesn't have a UI team. There's an old guy in an office at the end of a corridor using StickIts™, pins and strings to define the processes of using it. And all new programmers at Apple intern under him for their first year. There's no approval process. It gets shipped in whatever state its in whenever a new version is needed. The interns leave at the end of their tenure, having put Apple on their resume, to join the next social network startup in the Valley, where they immediately begin work HTML5 and JavaScript for the rest of their lives.
Honestly, the new Apple TV is a real step backwards, from the ground up. The remote is horrible. It doesn't feel natural in your hand, and you can't tell the top from the bottom without looking intently at it. If you pick it up wrong, the touch panel rewinds or fast forwards whatever your watching.
The content management is horrible. I have to confirm my cable subscription with half the apps. I wanted to be able to cut the cord with this, but if that's not possible, just make me confirm it in once place. Most of the channel apps are a UI disaster. Siri could be helpful, but try finding 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' with Siri...
Hell, even the hardware is boring. How did Apple get everything about this so wrong when it had so much time & so many opportunities?
If this is the future of TV, I see a big future for books....
Not a hater. Owned every TV up to and including the latest one. Though we like it for AirPlay and it's nice implementation of Netflix, that's about all we use it for. The UI, as others have noted, is far from revolutionary. The remote, while improved, is still balky. It also shares the problem of the old "puck" mouse--which end is up? Until streaming becomes ubiquitous, the only solution for us is TiVo. It's UI used to be very Apple-like in its simplicity, but the latest iteration has the screen covered with stuff. What I would like is an TV/TiVo, an all-in-one solution so that I am not having to do HDMI switching all the time. Even using my Harmony remote is one step too many.
Honestly, the new Apple TV is a real step backwards, from the ground up. The remote is horrible. It doesn't feel natural in your hand, and you can't tell the top from the bottom without looking intently at it. If you pick it up wrong, the touch panel rewinds or fast forwards whatever your watching.
The content management is horrible. I have to confirm my cable subscription with half the apps. I wanted to be able to cut the cord with this, but if that's not possible, just make me confirm it in once place. Most of the channel apps are a UI disaster. Siri could be helpful, but try finding 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' with Siri...
Hell, even the hardware is boring. How did Apple get everything about this so wrong when it had so much time & so many opportunities?
If this is the future of TV, I see a big future for books....
Agreed, on all points.
And I'll add this: given the minor update this is, and the enormous array of poor choices in its design, implementation and user experience (and lack of potential), wouldn't they have been better off just dropping the 3rd Gen Apple TV to $49, and calling it a day?
Then they could have taken another couple of years to figure out how people use a Television in their home, why they watch TV and what they find compelling, engaging and enjoyable about the experience.
Because they don't seem to have many clues about this device category, at all. Probably because those inclined to be so deeply interested in technology that they work for Apple probably don't engage with a Television like the majority of the population does, nor do they have any truly revelatory ideas on how a Television could become significantly better.
Perhaps there's nothing much funnier and more ironic than Apple and ESPN having the most engaged conversations about the future of Television. What percentage of Apple's executive branch do you think understand what ESPN is to sports watchers?
How sports oriented do the Apple executive team seem?
If you asked an Apple exec how many games are in a World Series, do you think they'd:
a) stop and think b) ask Siri c) use Google d) say 9! With a straight face.
Honestly, the new Apple TV is a real step backwards, from the ground up. The remote is horrible. It doesn't feel natural in your hand, and you can't tell the top from the bottom without looking intently at it. If you pick it up wrong, the touch panel rewinds or fast forwards whatever your watching.
The content management is horrible. I have to confirm my cable subscription with half the apps. I wanted to be able to cut the cord with this, but if that's not possible, just make me confirm it in once place. Most of the channel apps are a UI disaster. Siri could be helpful, but try finding 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' with Siri...
Hell, even the hardware is boring. How did Apple get everything about this so wrong when it had so much time & so many opportunities?
If this is the future of TV, I see a big future for books....
Comments
I'm in the same position - I'd like to find it appealing,
but until I can use that storage for something besides apps,
the device isn't particularly useful, for my own needs.
By sugar, I mean coke. Mountains of it. Picture a festival of blow in the "inspiration and ideas" meetings. Everyone nodding vigorously to each new and more inane contortions of the user. Nothing got cut. Except lines.
iTunes doesn't have a UI team. There's an old guy in an office at the end of a corridor using StickIts™, pins and strings to define the processes of using it. And all new programmers at Apple intern under him for their first year. There's no approval process. It gets shipped in whatever state its in whenever a new version is needed. The interns leave at the end of their tenure, having put Apple on their resume, to join the next social network startup in the Valley, where they immediately begin work HTML5 and JavaScript for the rest of their lives.
And I'll add this: given the minor update this is, and the enormous array of poor choices in its design, implementation and user experience (and lack of potential), wouldn't they have been better off just dropping the 3rd Gen Apple TV to $49, and calling it a day?
Then they could have taken another couple of years to figure out how people use a Television in their home, why they watch TV and what they find compelling, engaging and enjoyable about the experience.
Because they don't seem to have many clues about this device category, at all. Probably because those inclined to be so deeply interested in technology that they work for Apple probably don't engage with a Television like the majority of the population does, nor do they have any truly revelatory ideas on how a Television could become significantly better.
Perhaps there's nothing much funnier and more ironic than Apple and ESPN having the most engaged conversations about the future of Television. What percentage of Apple's executive branch do you think understand what ESPN is to sports watchers?
How sports oriented do the Apple executive team seem?
If you asked an Apple exec how many games are in a World Series, do you think they'd:
a) stop and think
b) ask Siri
c) use Google
d) say 9! With a straight face.