“Networking gear maker D-Link Corp plans to start selling a media device to link televisions and computers that can connect to the fastest type of Wi-Fi networks, a company spokesman said on Friday,” Jim Finkle reports for Reuters.
“The D-Link media device will run on the same wireless standard as Apple Inc’s Apple TV and go on sale in time for this year’s holiday season,” Finkle reports.
“D-Link already sells these media devices, but they run at slower speeds than the Apple product, which is ahead of the rest of the industry. [D-Link’s media device] will sell for $300,” Finkle reports.
Full article here.
Will D-Link be upgrading features with free updates like Apple? Regardless, we have an impossible time imagining that D-Link’s software and user interface will be anywhere near the quality of Apple TV’s. Although not mentioned in the Reuters report, the history of D-Link products (D-Link seems to take great pains to hide the issue of iTunes Store media-incompatibility on their website) would suggest that the D-Link device will not be compatible with TV Shows, Movies and non-iTunes Plus music purchased from the market-dominating iTunes Music Store.
This is why Apple is doing so great, and is going to win all the marbles. Other companies think they are competing on device features. Apple is competing with a solution.
Released just in time to compete with Apple’s 2nd generation AppleTV?
Like leading the lambs to slaughter.
Why does no one besides Apple get the fact that it’s the user experience that counts? You can’t make a tiny portion of the solution and hope that the user experience will be acceptable.
I thought Apple TV was just a hobby. Apparently now it’s worth “killing.”
This D-Link product will do nothing but help the concept gain traction in the marketplace, where people will then buy Apple TVs.
@chris
that is the question, isn’t it?
as a philosopher, i would love an answer. we are failing at system comprehension to a large degree, and delivering end experience to a large degree, and they seem to feed each other in a negative loop.
i am not sure that people don’t understand that the user experience is what counts. i think they just have no idea how to deliver that….
a lot of people see that the user experience counts, it is obvious. but a solution is less obvious. what exactly is it that apple does that sinks into their culture and methods that makes their approach different?
if you find an answer, let me know…..
The first 3 comments (the only ones posted as I’m writing this) were all spot on. People are willing to pay for convenience which can usually be defined as a combination of speed and ease of use/access. Apple has both the interface and the iTunes/ iPod/ iPhone/ Apple TV integration going for it.
If Apple can wangle movie rentals onto Apple TV, that would be the killer ap that would shoot Apple TV into the stratosphere.
Oh yeah? My D-Link media player is gonna be bigger and faster than your namby pamby Apple TV.
Did you MAC lemmings get that? Bigger AND faster! The user interface takes care of itself. If you’re gonna spend $300 on something you better do some research and—this might be hard for you Apple folks to wrap your heads around—read the manual. Then the user interface will be easy. It’s all you gotta do. Dorks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Zune Tang is funny. He is probably posting this from his MacBook and watching YouTube on his AppleTV at this moment. He is secretly a Mac Fan Boy with a dry sarcastic sense of humor.
@shen
Apple developer actually use their own stuff, and are too busy making cool stuff to tolerate a frustrating, crappy user experience.
It is that feedback that supports the philosophy.
Windows developers, on the other hand, seem to be into S&M if they use their own stuff. In all fairness there “really” is some very well written windows software out there… rare, but one can encounter it.
@Shiva:
Ya think?
If Apple TV had a DVD player built in, they’d sell a TON more of them.
@Shiva:
That’s just gross. I wouldn’t be caught dead with a MAC Book and certainly wouldn’t be disconnecting my glorious Windows Media PC in favor of some Apple TV garbage. Eewwwwww. At least my Windows Media PC has an ‘Intel Inside’ sticker next to the ‘Designed for Windows XP’ sticker which is next to the Windows license certificate of authenticity sticker. All your dumb little Apple TV has is a little dot or somethinig. Cool… NOT!
So that’s my 3 stickers to your Z-E-R-O! Real machines have stickers. Toys have none. Time for you MAC lemmings to get a real machine: D-Link!
Your potential. Our passion.™
Shouldn’t be too hard to be an Apple Tv killer because Apple Tv isn’t that good. A disappointing product to be sure.
Infinity the symbol is the key to Apple’s ecosystem. That is why their HQ is called Infinite Loop.
1) Build products that nobody thought they needed in such a stylish way that makes you feel you must have it.
2) Create a delivery system that is painless and a joy to use.
3) Create software using tried & tested technology and release it for testing & verification by your peers.
4) Ensure that all the products however diverse will work seamlessly for the purpose they are to be used for and are backward/forward compatible via updates.
5) Sign up third parties that will provide a service for your products to commit to your quality standards.
For those reasons and a lot more…D-Link will find it difficult to break into the Inifite Loop.
It may find or create an opening in the loop, but the problem then is to seal the opening so that its own software can operate within the loop successfully.
Anyone buying the device will find that it probably doesn’t work with Airport, itunes & Apples remote. They will probably discover later on that whilst Programs & devices created for the infinite loop can be updated & upgraded via free downloads, their device will be outdated or disabled upon a free upgrade download. Beware of the snake oil wallahs!
That it, user experience. However, I do like that D-Link is entering the market. They will not hurt Apple sales and will even help. As more people hear of the technology, it will be come more “household name friendly”.
OH, and AppleTV works with Apple, iTunes, iPhone, iPod, can read the near by Windows computers with iTunes. Everything just works.
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“Infinity the symbol is the key to Apple’s ecosystem. That is why their HQ is called Infinite Loop.”
As in stuck in an infinite loop. get some market share, screw the pooch, watch while somebody else takes over the market, lose market share, get some market share in another market, screw the pooch, watch while somebody else takes over the market, lose market share, repeat endlessly.
Isn’t the big problem with Apple TV that it’s all about connecting it to your HDTV, but the content you pay for is far from HD resolution? Seems totally incongruous to me. That and it needs DVD playback capability so I don’t have to take up a Component or HDMI slot I may or may not have on the back of my set. Plus it doesn’t seem like much of a leap to up to go up to a Mini – a full blown computer that will also play divx or xvid files with no hacking required. Other than those issues the UI is great (of course) and the form factor perfect. Real mixed bag in my opinion.
I would buy one if it has compatibility with mac and pc, it will stream mp3, xvid, divx, (DVDs?) and photos and it can record TV.
Competition is good. Maybe after this Apple will make their product better.
@ Zune Tang @ Shiva
Thanks pune tang, now I have a good reason to get a windoze machine – stickers ! How mature and adult ! I’ll take performance over little stickers any day.
Apple designs products for its customers, most other companies design products to maximize profits and shareholder returns.
Large companies that keep the customer as their primary focus are quite rare, usually this feature is only found in owner run businesses. It’s mostly down to the financial system, get past a certain level and all that counts is the money. Once you borrow big time or take on investors (stock markets) they have a seat(s) on the board, directly or indirectly. They are investors, they think first (only) about the money, as short-term thinking takes over more and more this will continue and extend. If another apparently better short term investment arises they are gone.
Big companies usually make crap and advertise like mad because word of mouth on their products is bad. Lets keep Apple spending money on products not on advertising.
Zune Tang makes me crack up everytime. oh and for those that dont notice, hes joking on windows, not on mac, sarcasm folks. lmao
Hey (imitation) Zune Tang (I say imaitation because today’s ZT is obvious NOT the real ZT!):
At least once a day someone ducks into the office of one of my colleagues and makes some comment about the two Macs on his desk. He teaches computer science at a local university and used to run Windows and Linux but now has a TiBook and an iMac. Once each day he listens as someone derides his choice of a “toy machine.”
I ask him what his answer is, and he shrugs and responds, “What’s the point?”
“What’s the point?” I exclaim. “The point is that your Mac ships with Java, Ruby, Python, and Perl. The point is that you can open up a Terminal window and edit using vi or emacs. You can set up sendmail or use lynx. You can enable the Apache Web server that ships with every Mac by checking a check box. That’s the point.”
“I usually tell them that,” he says, “but then they ask me if they can play the latest version of some game on it like they can on a Windows box.”
“Well then,” I reply, “which one is the toy machine?”
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/12/10/osx_java.html
you know, due to my past experiences w/ D-Link, i don’t care if they say that they’re product is the greatest the best whatever, if it got mad reviews, and everyone else loved it, i would never buy it. maybe i had an isolated problem with them, but i bought a wireless router from them, and a wireless notebook card for my old laptop (yeah, it was a PC, it was my dad’s old one, and it was before i finally got my Mac) and neither of them worked. tried their tech support probably 50 times, they never helped me. so i said screw it, and ran a freaking LAN cord, cuz that’s all i could do. i will never buy D-Link again.
MDN word-doubt, as in i doubt D-Link’s product will even function.
I don’t see the actual article calling it the “Apple TV killer.”
While I see the Apple TV as being innovative and modestly successful (“modestly” when compared to Apple’s other products), I don’t think it deserves to have the competition wanting to “kill it,” as in the more commonly used labels like so-and-so is the “iPod killer” or “iTunes killer.” Not yet, anyways…
Poor little HaHaHaHa,
He’s sitting in mommies basement, tears streaming down his face, waiting for some Mythical Microsoft Device to topple the iPod.
Yes, HaHaHaHa, we do feel sorry for you, so please, won’t you post some more?