lorin schultz

c.m.95@utexas.edu said:

1) what “locally stored” content are you referring to?  ATV is a streaming device. The only “local” content are the apps you install.

I have a Mac mini in the living room. The iTunes library on that has all the material I've created myself, ripped from DVD, and purchased and downloaded from Apple. I access that stuff via Home Sharing with the "Computers" app on the Apple TV.

I used to download everything, but the new Apple TV makes that less convenient than just leaving stuff in the "cloud." That doesn't seem to a good idea though, as titles are sometimes dropped and if they aren't downloaded they're gone forever. So far that's happened with two titles I purchased from Apple. A third title no longer shows as "purchased" on the iTunes Store even though I bought it. In all three cases having downloaded the title at the time of purchase prevented changes at Apple's end from being a problem at my end.

c.m.95@utexas.edu said:

2) Rips as in “pirated” or “copy protected content” that’s been removed of copy protection?  Don’t ever expect Apple to support anything like that. They are 100% behind content creators/owners. You need to re-adjust your expectations as that will never occur.  Your best work around is to setup a NAS and use a streaming app like Infuse or Alex.

I'm vehemently opposed to piracy, but I'm also a strong advocate of reasonable fair use terms. I refuse to accept that ripping a DVD I paid for constitutes piracy. I paid for a license, not a disc, and I'm not depriving the creator of revenue because I don't pass it along to others.

The ripped files present to tvOS the same way as content I've created myself and that from sources other than Apple. It's not something that requires additional support in any area other than "attitude." tvOS simply provides only the absolute minimum possible integration for any material that does not come from an online source. Why it treats its own Home Sharing service as a second-class citizen is beyond me.

Given how poorly the existing models work, it's hard to get excited about a new version. I'd be much, much happier to read that Apple has committed to bringing tvOS up to the standards we enjoy with its other products.

The list of weirdness got a little longer yesterday. In addition to the long-standing issues, such as...

1. Locally-stored content and cloud based content are listed in separate sections, so finding a title requires looking in two different places.
2. "Looking" is the only option for rips and downloaded content, because tvOS doesn't search local content.
3. Some services appear in the TV app, others don't.
4. The OS routinely fails to notice that we've already watched something, so when we go to watch a new episode we're presented with the last one we watched instead.
5. It does not allow purchases of individual songs. The only music acquisition option is a subscription to Apple Music.

...we can now add:

6. Despite being signed in to my iTunes account, it now occasionally reports that I have no purchases to view. I have to restart it to get it to "see" my purchases.

This is the kind of thing I might expect and tolerate in a $50 off-brand device, but it's really disappointing in an Apple product that costs two hundred bucks.

StrangeDays said:

- There is absolutely nothing brain-dead about the Magic Mouse charging -- it lasts for over a month per charge, and it sends push notifications when it gets low, so I plug it in at the end of that day. If I forget and come in the next morning, I can plug it in and get a drink of water or pee, come back, and work all day. What is the problem? Why on earth would I want to use a wireless mouse tethered? Defeats the entire purpose.

I understand that you perceive using the mouse while charging as both undesirable and unnecessary. I have no problem with that, and respect your preference.

Lemme turn it around a little though. Some of us think the idea of being able to use it while charging would be really handy. Moving the charging port from the bottom of the device to the front would allow that. How would you be adversely affected by that? Couldn't you continue to enjoy the product exactly as you do now? Would it make any difference to your preferred methods? It seems like it would simply accommodate the desires of others while having no affect on you at all. Why would you object?

I just did a quick mental inventory of all the Apple products I own (including Beats), and I can't think of even one other than the mouse that I can't keep using while it charges.

seanj said:

Really the only question for me with regard to Trackpad, Mouse and Keyboard is...
do I go with the traditional Apple white and silver,
or the bad-boy black and space-grey versions 🤔😆

That choice is made easier for me by Apple's choice to jack up the price for Space Grey versions. I don't like to use the words "opportunistic cash grab" in a discussion of Apple because it's such a cliché, but in this case it kinda seems like it might be true. The silver-and-white versions are already premium priced. The extra coin for a version that matches the computer seems... I dunno, maybe greedy.

onpointe41 said:

Left handers are completely ignored in mouse section?

Nope. The Apple mouse is symmetrical.