iTV - wouldn't it be nice?
Wouldn't it be nice if Apple created an iTV product to be able to turn a Mac into a Digital Video Recorder. A PCI card would be great, but Apple would probably more likely create a Firewire product you could attach to any modern Mac. It would fit perfectly into their vision of the Mac as the hub of our digital lives. I know of Eye TV and Televio (sp?), but why not an iTV?
What do people think?
Steve
What do people think?
Steve
Comments
So far Apple tends not to do products unless the existing options are deficient. Now EyeTV does have some annoyances and the software could use an Apple makeover, but starting from scratch and competing with "good guys" (El Gato also writes Toast) would not be good for them.
There's other options in the market too.
Originally posted by wmf
Steve hates TV.
Bingo.
When asked if the TV was part of the digital hub, Steve Jobs has been quoted saying, "You go to your TV to turn your brain off; you go to your computer to turn your brain on."
Originally posted by Brad
Bingo.
When asked if the TV was part of the digital hub, Steve Jobs has been quoted saying, "You go to your TV to turn your brain off; you go to your computer to turn your brain on."
Steve is right on the money. As always.
Originally posted by KANE
Steve is right on the money. As always.
Yeah but what the ****...I want to turn my brain off sometimes. All your brains will be old a tired by age 50 because it's been on too ****ing long. I'll have conserved it's life a bit more.
Originally posted by Brad
Bingo.
When asked if the TV was part of the digital hub, Steve Jobs has been quoted saying, "You go to your TV to turn your brain off; you go to your computer to turn your brain on."
Not very foreward thinking of Steve in the digital age, but more and more Apple's "Think Differect" means "as long as it is our way of thinking".
Originally posted by @homenow
Not very foreward thinking of Steve in the digital age, but more and more Apple's "Think Differect" means "as long as it is our way of thinking".
I totally disagreed with it when I first read this, but after about 10 seconds of thought I now agree, in part.
On a whole, I don't feel the statement to be true because it sounds too MS of Apple to act like that, but as far as an iTV goes, I think Steve is wrong here. An iTV can fill a duel need for people like myself. I'd spend $2000 for a monitor if it doubled as a TV for sure, but just as a monitor I still find it too steep.
a little off topic:
Apple really needs to reassess the pricing on it's displays. The prices for the computers themselves are pretty much comparable to PCs, but then you've got to spend $700 more for the low end display? It's a pretty steep entry point. If they can't find a way to bring the cost and overhead of these things down, I think they need to look for other alternatives.
Originally posted by wmf
Steve hates TV.
probably except for those apple commercials that come on every once in a while.
Originally posted by BuonRotto
I don't think TVs and computers are very compatible, just because TV is a social and also passive pasttime much more than a computer. You sit bakc in your sofa and watch TV, it's not really interactive. And you pulll right up to a computer and actually do things with it. TV is more amenable to gathering people around, computers pretty much a one-on-one experience at any given terminal. From a lifestyle (and furnishing) point of view, it's very weird to use a computer in this way: a computer on one side of the room with a chair in right front of it, and a sofa 10 feet behind the chair. It would seem redundant to have 2 monitors in the place, but dual use like this seems awkward for the user.
I agree, but disagree aswell. I could see an iMac with a 20" widescreen on it take senter stage as a bedroom/dormroon/den computer/TV solution (eeek, sorry for all the slashes) not to mention integrated HD/DVD recorder. The Japanese would buy them in droves, and urban areas of Europe only get more congested as time passes. In Rome, for example, apartments can be quiet small. The desk as TV stand leaves a little to be desired, but TV integration on the whole is not such a bad idea.
I'd love to archive a few hours of specialty channel stuff. I'm totally addicted to FoodTV and would that I could use my computer as a programmable recorder to make a few DVD's with my favorite recipes, etc etc...
Teachers could record History/biography channel shows and use them as class materials. VHS gets the job done, but recording straight to HDD/DVD makes a more flexible and permanent solution.
And Murbot could record more pr0n too, HAHAHA!!!
A simple firewire base with A/V breakout, a TV tuner, and software integration is all that's needed. If Apple were really keen, they'd leave room in the box for a 3.5" hard drive so that when you stacked it under your mac, you gained an extra harddisk too.
Originally posted by rageous
I totally disagreed with it when I first read this, but after about 10 seconds of thought I now agree, in part.
On a whole, I don't feel the statement to be true because it sounds too MS of Apple to act like that, but as far as an iTV goes, I think Steve is wrong here. An iTV can fill a duel need for people like myself. I'd spend $2000 for a monitor if it doubled as a TV for sure, but just as a monitor I still find it too steep.
I kind of agree, but disagree somewhat: the problem exists if you wanna do both at the same time. Person A wants internet, Person B wants TV. By having a duel purpose display, you take away the ease of just having it be one thing.
If Timmy is using the display as a TV and you want to check your email. You can make Timmy get off, making him mad. Some companies have conquered this problem by doing a Picture in Picture type of thing.
But by that time, you'd have spent so much money on the display, that you should have run out to Walmart and bought the $70 TV, that would have a better picture anyway (current LCD's still have worse refresh rates than Pla$ma or Cathode). Plus when you lump two devices in one, then one is dependant on the other, and the only test for that is if the unit becomes faulty and then you've lost both a monitor and a TV.
It falls under the category of which is better? The almighty console game or the computer game. The console will only serve one purpose, games, and those games made for the console will always work. Put gaming on the computer and you can get better graphics, but the games aren't made for a specific computer, and upgrades are always needed. What is better? Having separate appliances accomplish tasks at once, or having a computer accomplishing tasks separately?
If you have multiple people living with you then, you would want the last one. If you have a faulty computer then you'd want the second one. If you just want one appliance that does a lot, then you'd want the first one (just beware, you'll be dumping money in it).
As I've mentioned in other threads, I would like to see Apple continuing the AIO form, but allow simple external expandibility by offering easy-to-connect, round, white bases for the iMac that could house TV tuners or more slots. It can't take that much R&D and it still wouldn't hurt G5PMac sales.
I just wonder if to get around the industry objections it would require TiVo-like pricing....or an iTunes-like infrastructure.
Oh and soon enough dual monitors as an almost standard may help some of the above problems.
Realistically, seeing Steve on stage saying, "Now you can watch and record all of your favorite reality TV shows right on your Mac for hours of brainless entertainment!" just isn't going to happen. That's not to say there isn't a market for it. I agree that having your computer double as your television would be ideal for a dorm room situation, but I think this is something best left to third party developers. Apple's worked very hard to make the Mac a creative tool. Supplying a means of watching television on your Mac isn't something Apple would be interested in doing, regardless of if it'd sell or not. That's just my opinion though
For every one person who says, "I'd love to watch TV on my computer!", five people would say "who the hell wants to watch TV on their little computer screen in a desk chair?". I say that because that's how most people react when they find out there's a DVD player in their computer.
Originally posted by Cory Bauer
For every one person who says, "I'd love to watch TV on my computer!", five people would say "who the hell wants to watch TV on their little computer screen in a desk chair?". I say that because that's how most people react when they find out there's a DVD player in their computer.
Perfect example. And it is worth giving that 20% the option of having a TV card in their iMac if they want. I bet more people would watch TV on their computer than make iMovies! It is just an easy, cheap thing to make available. It could be done by 3rd parties, that's cool, but it should be easily BTO at the Apple Store and it should be as seemless software-wise as iTunes or any other iApp.
Apple already has the option of TV on the computer by supporting TV tuner cards, what's the problem. I'm just interested in consumers being able to do so with the iMac, that's all.
And for all of the primadonna purists who dislike TV anywhere near their PC ... you don't have to buy it. Also you could omit the 50% of the internet that is merely entertainment...and remove your DVD drives since 95% of all DVD's are entertainment and about 70% of those are garbage...
I am not a big TV person, but I would like to have a football game on while emailing or watch a NOVA program while web surfing the subject of the show. All of this could be done while watching a TV and having a PowerBook with Airport on the coffee table and THAT would be preferable, but sorry, many don't have the money. Most CONSUMERS may want the AIO experience. I'll watch Lawrence of Arabia on the TV when I want the cinematic experience.
Apple could do for TV what the internet has done for publishing.
The iTV box is a bridge between the Mac and the TV. First and foremost, it just connects the computer to the stereo/TV. So, any computer video & audio could go in the living room. No big deal.
Next the trick is to allow people who make A/V projects put them out where we can get them. So, like how everyone puts up a web page (and almost a radio station until Congress & the RIAA screwed everything up), people could broadcast on a specific 'channel'. The iTV could surf these channels.
Some channels would only be used temporarily, but other more commercial ones would be on in perpetuity. It's not a big step. Like we can buy a domain name, people could connect on port xyz/[insert .Mac name here] and see A/V. An iTV just for viewing could even work independently of a computer.
It's not about getting TV on your Mac, it's about content creation and delivery. Now every jackass with iMovie, .Mac and iTV is a broadcaster. The NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB & MLS could have their own channels basically for free, just bandwidth. I could have my home movies up and Grandma could see it. Porn would be ubiquitous and free. Censorship could be averted. Everyone would love it.
Again, it's about moving sideways in a given industry to force it to advance. TV went from airwaves with a few stations, to Cable with more, then Satellite with hundreds now the internet. None of us could start a TV station under the current rules. We're at a dead end and it has stifled creation. A select few pick and choose what to show. Prior to the internet, none of us could have started a newspaper either.
Originally posted by bunge
I posted something about this once before and I'll do it again.
Apple could do for TV what the internet has done for publishing.
The iTV box is a bridge between the Mac and the TV. First and foremost, it just connects the computer to the stereo/TV. So, any computer video & audio could go in the living room. No big deal.
Next the trick is to allow people who make A/V projects put them out where we can get them. So, like how everyone puts up a web page (and almost a radio station until Congress & the RIAA screwed everything up), people could broadcast on a specific 'channel'. The iTV could surf these channels.
Some channels would only be used temporarily, but other more commercial ones would be on in perpetuity. It's not a big step. Like we can buy a domain name, people could connect on port xyz/[insert .Mac name here] and see A/V. An iTV just for viewing could even work independently of a computer.
It's not about getting TV on your Mac, it's about content creation and delivery. Now every jackass with iMovie, .Mac and iTV is a broadcaster. The NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB & MLS could have their own channels basically for free, just bandwidth. I could have my home movies up and Grandma could see it. Porn would be ubiquitous and free. Censorship could be averted. Everyone would love it.
Again, it's about moving sideways in a given industry to force it to advance. TV went from airwaves with a few stations, to Cable with more, then Satellite with hundreds now the internet. None of us could start a TV station under the current rules. We're at a dead end and it has stifled creation. A select few pick and choose what to show. Prior to the internet, none of us could have started a newspaper either.
Very nice idea.
Originally posted by MacGregor
Very nice idea.
Thanks. I was beginning to feel unloved.
Does no one like my iTV idea? I can't just let this fade into oblivion a second time....