“Apple TV has landed. How does it stack up? In looks, it sits at the top of the heap. Apple TV is a gorgeous, one-inch-tall, round-cornered square slab, 7.7 inches on a side. It slips silently and almost invisibly into your entertainment setup,” David Pogue reports for The New York Times.
The heart-breaker for millions, however, is that Apple TV requires a wide-screen TV — preferably an HDTV. It doesn’t work with the squarish, traditional TVs that many people still have,” Pogue reports. “Apple defends its audience-limiting decision by saying that the future is HDTV; Apple is just “skating to where the puck is going to be,” as a product manager put it.”
Pogue reports, “Apple TV doesn’t come with any cables. You’re supposed to supply the one your TV requires (HDMI, component video or HDMI-to-DVI adapter). They cost $20 at Apple’s online store. So what is Apple TV? Basically, it’s an iPod for your TV.”
“The integration of iPod, iTunes and Apple TV offers frequent payoffs. For example, if you paused your iPod partway through a movie, TV show or song, Apple TV remembers your place when you resume playing it on your TV. Cool,” Pogue reports.
Pogue reports, “All of this works elegantly and effortlessly. But there are lots of unanswered questions that make onlookers wonder if Apple has bigger plans for the humble Apple TV. For example, it has an Internet connection and a hard drive; why can’t it record TV shows like a TiVo? Furthermore, it’s a little weird that menus and photos appear in spectacular high-definition, but not TV shows and movies. All iTunes videos are in standard definition, and don’t look so hot on an HDTV. And then there’s the mysterious, unused USB port.”
“Apple TV offers a gracious, delightful experience — but requires fidelity to Apple’s walled garden,” Pogue reports.
Full review here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
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“it’s a little weird that menus and photos appear in spectacular high-definition, but not TV shows and movies”
Wow, you think it might have anything to do with the difference in size between a photo and a feature-length movie? You think?
“For example, it has an Internet connection and a hard drive; why can’t it record TV shows like a TiVo?”
Record them from what, the Internet?
“but requires fidelity to Apple’s walled garden”
Which is exactly why I’m building a giant, wooden badger.
Apple has never been one to shy away from establishing the future course of technology, then waiting for the world to catch up. No difference here. I like the “skating to where the puck will be”. In two years HDTV will be main stream. Plenty of time to add more substance to this amazing device.
OS X Leopard may have some iTV surprises in store for us.
Until HD content is available from iTunes Store, this device makes no sense at all. Why would I want to watch sub dvd quality movies in dobly surround (not digital 5.1) on my HDTV? I have purchsed a movie just to try it out and it looks horrible on my HDTV.
I LOVE walled gardens
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I LOVE wooden badgers
“Skating to where the puck is going to be”‘
That’s a Gretzky line actually, it’s seems Apple managers have studied “the Greats”
I think they may still have to go back to school though, $350 bucks or there abouts for the delivery of content that will take forever to download when it finally gets to HD. By the time the do move to HD Congress the CRTC or someother Gvt agency will have put the breaks on high bandwidth use of the internet.
A bomb.
Too much for the average consumer.
Forget it.
We can´t understand why people don´t buy more Apple computers, how are they going to appreciate or grasp this thing?
Can you imagine a sales guy trying to explain the appleTV pizza box?
“It´s a $299 wireless thingy that beams Movies you bought for $11.99 via your iTunes on your computer to your HDTV except the quality is not HD. Yeah, sure you could go buy the DVD or rent it cheaper, but this is Apple cool.”
NO sale.
A teenty, tiny niche product for the few Apple that think they need it.
ooooooh….how many people are going to be pissed about the missing cable…..?????
Great things are afoot, earth man.
-s
MW: ‘united’ (plates of asparagus)
This box is not as simple as it seems.
re: missing cable
Ever bought an inkjet printer?
I’m cracking up at all the people who don’t think this thing will have a huge impact.
Just take a minute and think back to the launch of iTunes, and the original specs it had. It was an also ran, late to the game music service with ok bandwidth, and not a great selection to start with. Also, no iPod was available. Many of these same concerns were shared then.
Now look at where iTunes is today. Global dominance in the market it joined late.
This is an envioment building step. There will be lots more to come in the next year. It’s gonna be an Apple world in the digital age. Just wait and see.
MDN word is Faith, as in ya gotta have it!
I walled my garden once.
…….once.
Hey, Jim , tell Apple to quit with the “environment building steps” and bring out the real deal.
There are fewer and fewer buyers of version 0.9 of products…early adopters are a slowly dying breed.
Remember OSX was supposed to be the killer of Windows…what is it now 5+ years of “environment building steps” and Apple still has the same computer market share.
iPOd caught on because it was hip and cool and new and you could show it off…appleTV is not the iPod.
And who watches TV anymore????
“Ever bought an inkjet printer?”
An inkjet printer costs what $49, $69??? And it is not an expensive HDMI cable one needs.
So one is talking at least $320+ to get Apple TV going…
Sam..
Are you telling me that this is not Front Row?
Because Front Row seems to play.. all my music (not all legit) and movies (not all legit)…
I mean.. I’m about to watch a bittorrent 24 episode… in fullscreen, beautiful resolution .. in FrontRow.. (something you can’t even do in QT lol)
“For example, if you paused your iPod partway through a movie, TV show or song, Apple TV remembers your place when you resume playing it on your TV. Cool,” Pogue reports.”
That is just so freakin’ cool and Apple-like!
Gil,
It’s for early adopters. I’m waiting for rev. 3, at least.
Remember OSX was supposed to be the killer of Windows…what is it now 5+ years of “environment building steps” and Apple still has the same computer market share.
If you believe that Apple’s market share hasn’t grown, you’d believe that Bush is intelligent, and nobody would believe that! I don’t know who concocts these so-called “market share” figures, but the deck is obviously stacked. There is no way in the Universe that Apple’s market share hasn’t grown. No way. Do they think we’re idiots??? If you believe what the mainstream tells you, then you obviously are an idiot.
New apple technology? I’ve had my pc connected to my TV for over 10 years. It’s always been 1 simple cable. 40 gig drive – weeeeak. Can’t record live TV? TV tuner cards are cheap and nothing new. The apple DRM 128bit sound files turn my stomach, there video rips will be just as crappy. Apple fans must have money to blow.
e_dubL,
You have a 10 year old PC?
Win. 95 rules!
Ironic you mention Bush being an idiot, but then go onto say don’t believe the mainstream… Which is ironic, since it is the mainstream media outlets that say Bush is an idiot (oh, Jay, Dave, and every other comedian and talk show as well). Talk about the mainstream brainwashing, it’s everywhere, and lots of hate speech to accompany it.
So I guess you mean to not listen to the mainstream tech journalists regarding PC market share, but believe them in other aspects – whichever fits your convention at the moment…
Please.
Reality (getting out of the political game for a moment):
1. PeeCee’s are defined as cash registers, home and business desktops, servers (which could also be running Linux or UNIX), medical devices, you name it, it is declared a “PC.” which is rediculous. Since this is a definition many choose to use a PC market share, then they would technically – by their definition – be correct, Apple’s share of the “PC” market share world-wide has barely moved.
2. Apple’s market share has grown if your define what a PC is more specifically, and look at the markets Apple is conserned with.
Why measure a companies success of blender sales on a world-wide basis, if they only are choosing to compete in Australia? One wouldn’t. They would measure that company for how they are executing their strategy in the market of Australia.
Secondly, one would not measure the blender sales against waffle irons and coffee makers AND blenders as a combined market because they are all used in the kitchen and thus defined as blenders (in general). What faulty measurements, and misleading info on the companies true blender market share and success in Australia. But this is how Apple world-wide market share is measured by many analysts – many whom do not even understand how the WW PC market share is put together. Pathetic.
So let us measure Apple’s success as a company correctly (becuase when market share numbers are thrown out, the point is to see how well a company is doing in a particular market):
Apple attacks three primary markets:
– Consumer: Desktop and laptop
– Education: Desktop, laptop, server
– Creative Market: Graphics and Video
Low-hanging-fruit markets:
– Server, other
– Scientific
– Small business
Which WW markets does Apple currently engage in? China? No. Africa, not hardly. India, no. Russia and other eastern EU countries? Nope.
Apple competes in the following markets:
– US (toss in Canada)
– EU
– Japan
In each ww region Apple engages, within the markets pinpoint, they are growing steadily in each.
Consumer: Growing faster than the overall consumer PC market.
Education: Growing faster than the overall education PC market.
Creative: Growing faster than the overall market.
The only thing relevant for measuring Apple’s success or failure is whether they are winning in which the markets they are competing within.
Pretty smart for an idiot. I’m an idiot evidently because I’d rather have Bush as President over “Man is it hot in here Gore” or “I am so brilliant I voted for the war before I voted against it Kerry….”
But do not think I am a coolaid drinker, far from it. Outside of understanding Jihad, Bush has been weak. Weak on the boarder, weak on holding the line of massive government spending. Weak in continuing to fight on saving social security (meaning giving you your money back from a blathering suck-hole called Social Security), and lastly, weak regarding communication with the American people (uh, very weak which must mean since he isn’t slick like old Bill he’s an idiot…). Oh, lastly part II, weak as a party leader – very weak.
But that’s right, anyone who does not believe in your idology is an idiot. Nice world view.
Why are naysayers so gleeful about technology they can’t understand and think their pronouncements are words from God?
I agree with Gordy, I’d rather have Dashboard then Games… or even a Youtube integration.
http://www.appletvconverter.net
@mike
FrontRow uses QT, and there is a script if you wish to view movies fullscreen in QT without using FrontRow.
I’m in the UK and we have bugger-all movies or TV shows to download in iTunes. My home machine is downloading (via Xtorrent) Jericho & Eureka as we speak for me to watch in FrontRow later.
“Now look at where iTunes is today. Global dominance in the market it joined late. “
iTunes is nowhere near dominating the market for music, and only accounts for less than one in every hundred songs stored in iPods.
OS X IS a Windows killer ALREADY.
Any human computer buyer given half an hour each with a good Windows salesman and a good Mac salesman will walk away with only one product under his arm – and it ain’t ever going to be Windows.
It IS taking market share every single day of the week. It is growing and the tipping point is almost on us at which point it is going to be one hell of a cascade…
And don’t believe what you read when you hear bad news about Mac market share:
“After issuing a report earlier this week stating that Apple’s unit notebook shipments had dropped seven percent, DisplaySearch on Wednesday said that number was incorrect due to a miscalculation.
Notebook market share only dropped 7/10 of one percent.
Macworld incorrectly stated that Apple had lost seven percent market share in Tuesday’s story instead of unit volume”
So much for Vista having shoved Mac down the order hey?
Remember OSX was supposed to be the killer of Windows…what is it now 5+ years of “environment building steps” and Apple still has the same computer market share
So you must consider 1.8% the same as ~6%. Yeah, Apple % barely moved: Apple sold as many Macs in the last Quarter as in the entire f*cking year before. Indeed: Apple sales are practically flat!
Whatever
Which WW markets does Apple currently engage in? China? No. Africa, not hardly. India, no. Russia and other eastern EU countries? Nope.
China, India yes. Barely engaging there. Africa? Russia, other eastern EU countries? Currently the fastest growing market for Apple. Sure, still very small numbers still but they are more than doubling wrt previous year.
Look, I want to want this thing. Really, I do. I’m an Apple nut. I’ve drooled over almost every gadget they’ve brought out. The only reason I’m not getting an iPhone is because I don’t want to change providers and believe me, I considered it.
But I just can’t muster any excitement for this. If this thing played ANYTHING, including XviD files, I’d probably be all over it. But I just can’t imagine myself buying tons of videos from the iTunes store. I like to have my videos in a form that I can easily loan to my friends, for one thing. For another, I like all the features of DVD. I’m an anime fan. Will iTunes ever sell anime with multiple languages and subtitle tracks? I’m not even sure that’s possible.
So, I don’t think this is going to be big. Remember, everyone who buys one of these things is committing to becoming a large customer of the iTunes video store. Do you really think that’s going to happen?
I’m kinda with @LordRobin. I do patentaly disagree with the last line though, Apple has got enough momentum now that they can launch new thingies and quickly improve them post launch, and I think that’s what we’re going to see with iTV. Many woul-be adopters seem to be hung up on the lack of feature length movie support, i.e., lack of HD resolution and no streaming, and no external Input support for using the iTV like a TiVO box.
I think these are valid points, but I also think they will be addressed within the first 12 months, or at least begin to be addressed, and I also think this overlooks the real target of this box, and that’s regular ole tv watching – that’s why I’m eyeballing this early release of the iTV thingy. I want to get rid of my satellite service and pay for my programming as I go. I really like being able to download vintage TV shows at my own pace and watch them at my leisure, and I also like the fact that when my show(s) are out of season I’m not paying a flat monthly subscription fee anyway, and if I’m going to be gone for one or two months out of the summer I don’t pay cable or satellite anything – I really like that idea.
One of the biggest fights that tv subscription services has been having with consumers is the desire to get only the programs that we want rather than being stuck having to buy into at least two or three package tiers to get the half dozen programs we actually want to watch. iTunes combined with iTV helps us move away from this old model in a big way and that’s why I’m seriously considering it. I can get just about all of the tv programs I currently use my satellite service for at about the same cost per season per show, and when my shows are out of season I don’t pay. Hmmm…
Apple competes in the following markets:
– US (toss in Canada)
– EU
– Japan
Don’t forget the rest of North America,
Apple is making big inroads here in Mexico, on the heels of “Office Max”,
“Office Max is making a big push here, and they started carring the full Apple line 4tg 06, with real Apple reps training their sales reps.
Our local brand new store holds “Apple retail” like seminars for new users on Saturdays and some eveings,
Last week my wife took her new MacBook to work with her, and after the IT guy got her on the wireless network, he started bringing all type of people to her office to see her MacBook, even the general manager
Outside of understanding Jihad, Bush has been weak.
-Understanding . . . fomenting, whatever. Without Osama, Bush would be a nobody.
Weak on the boarder,
-I agree on this one. If he can’t pay the rent – kick him out!
weak on holding the line of massive government spending.
-Weak like a brain aneurism. Weak like an anorexic arm wrestler. Weak like wet toilet paper. Weak like . . .
Weak in continuing to fight on saving social security
-And weak on a whole range of social services, such as veteran’s health care.
(meaning giving you your money back from a blathering suck-hole called Social Security),
-And blowing up cash in Iraq is what, a cash vortex? In Iraq your money buys you killed and wounded soldiers, a massive opportunity for increased Iranian influence, damaged global prestige for the US, a chaotic haven for terrorists and a massive US military presence in the Middle East (hmmm . . .).
and lastly, weak regarding communication with the American people
-He is good at “affable”, but I guess if you are referring to intelligent conversation, he would be weak – as in a brain aneurism . . .
(uh, very weak which must mean since he isn’t slick like old Bill he’s an idiot…).
-Okay, so Bill couldn’t figure out how to use a cigar and had trouble with simple definitions, like “sexual relations”, but he is otherwise an intelligent man who had not damaged an already feeble brain through alcohol abuse.
Oh, lastly part II, weak as a party leader – very weak.
-Leader? Oh, you mean Dick Cheney. Bush is just the cardboard cutout.