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AppleTV owner here. I love it. I just need to invest in that USB encoder thing to rip more of my Movies to AppleTV format….
“(A download of Syriana from Warner Bros. goes for $20.)”
LOL! You are joking, right? This startuop has a limited future with that kind of pricing for that quality movie. No wonder Apple isn’t doing business with Warner Bros..
The studios and networks are the problem on the content end of things. They just need a lot more content on iTunes to make this thing work. Then the lack of DVR capability becomes much less of an issue.
The cable companies are the problem on the DVR end of things.
Is there even a standard way the Apple TV could interface with cable companies (CableCard slot?) to get high quality video into that thing—assuming the cable companies would even allow that?
Apple TV has been a great addition around here. Whether feeding our music system, watching movies, or letting the grandkids see an awesome family photo show, it’s done much more than we ever thought it could. I don’t regret the purchase for a minute. A niche product, for sure, but in a good space.
So apparently, now every Apple product that doesn’t sell as fast as the iPod and iPhone is a “flat-out flop”
That’s the price of success I guess
AppleTV falls between pillars in strange ways. It suggests that you need an HD set to use it, yet it has no HD content. Also, TV from the Apple store is too expensive to replace casual viewing. So the studio’s brilliant solution of making things even more expensive is doomed. I think they just want this category to fail so they can keep the existing broadcast model in place.
have both the 40GB and 160GB models. Love the product and it has huge potential. Don’t care so much about buying music from the tv, but would love to see HD content available from the ITMS besides just a few Podcasts. Sux that the movie trailers stream from the tv at standard def too… wish that was also HD.
And why doesn’t Apple take advantage of their own technology? Example, using the device to stream their various events. Just seams like even Apple doesn’t care for it much so why would other content providers?
I look forward to the future of this product. The current model is a step in the right direction.
I think I’m gonna go buy one – just because I don’t like Woolley’s negative and superior attitude. Like he’s got all the answers…
you are wrong in the worst way…
I use it for one thing, ok 2 things, and 2 things only. It serves as my music hub as I have a kick ass sound system, and for watching the ocassional vid podcast. Thats it, thats what I bought it for, and I love it.
I own an Apple TV and I’m happy with it. But it’s all about content. TV shows need to be cheaper and more importantly movie rentals need to become available.
I don’t think people understand the Apple TV paradigm. Apple doesn’t want to be ties to cable, satellite, whatever so they’ll never offer DVR. They want Apple TV to be iTunes on your TV. The key now is to get more content on iTunes.
We LOVE our Apple TV. If flat out Rocks.
Honestly people, think it out for once. The AppleTV is a device created to allow iTunes to broaden it’s market. Since iTunes sales of TV shows and movies has been steadily increasing, the average user will eventually want a way to play their media the way they want to.
In other words, AppleTV doesn’t have to be a success right now, all it has to do is be ready to catch the market when it turns in it’s favor.
I am happy with my AppleTV – just wish I could download TV rentals directly from the sofa.
I am in on that motion too. Bully-for-Woolley!
Plus, I like the device.
Some of the DVR’s out there have poor encoding quality.
They are a wonderful idea. I would add that to the AppleTV wishlist. BUT, as a consumer. I knew what it did. Due to the machine I had at the introductory of this item… it was not for me.
Now – since CUTTING cable tv… I prefer buying what I want to see… DVD or iTunes.
THIS is the future. Apple TV is not a FLOP… it just isn’t in the CULTURE yet.
When Jobs says hobby he means the product is evolving. Just like the Hifi thingy, they are testing whether the market is good.
The AppleTV still has a lot of room to grow. The content distributors still are wary of Apple. Like the music gurus they want have their cake and eat it.
2 years down the road, OS X and the hardware will be so powerful that any content will be able to run on whatever Apple choose to develop.
Apple TV is meant to be a device that turns an HDTV into a giant iPod for the living room. I don’t have an HDTV yet, but when I get one, I’ll probably get an Apple TV too. The onboard software should be updated to mirror the iPod-related capabilities of the iPhone and iPod touch.
“”The ballyhooed box has sold perhaps 250,000 units–far behind the 1 million sold for the iPhone, which was priced twice as high and has been on the market less than half as long.”
Does anyone else see the failed logic behind this statement?
The AppleTV is probably ultimately going to be one of the biggest products Apple has.
http://metrophoenix.com/nobox/
I love my AppleTV! I have 11,000 photos on my Mac, and this is the best way to get them on the screen. It works great with movies taken with our digital cameras, but there are some shortfalls:
1) Event Grouping: For any given event, I might have photos and videos, but iTunes forces me to break up my content into those categories. I want to create my own categories and add whatever content I want to them.
2) iTunes make home videos a royal pain! I have to have separate versions for my iPhone and Apple TV. What the hell for?!?!?! I haven’t even tried to figure out what I’m going to do with a .Mac web gallery!
3) The audio off my Sony digital camera uses a format that doesn’t jive well with apple products. It has something to do with muxed MPEGs, but I’m not quite sure. What I am sure of, is that converting the muxed MPEG audio to something usable on my iPhone isn’t possible with QuickTime Pro!
4) Let my play DVD images on my AppleTV. I’ve got a lot of old DVDs that have photos and videos that would be a real pain to transfer over to iTunes. And really, why should I have to? Apple may have abandoned the DVD format, but it’s still alive and well in my world!
I love my AppleTV, but a few things need to get fixed! Every time someone new sees my photos on my TV, they want an AppleTV. They’re just put off by the $300 and the belief that doing anything useful with their Windoze boxes will cost them more hours than they have in a standard lifetime!
“• Let iTunes rip DVDs as it can rip CDs for music.”
This will never happen as long as the DMCA is in effect. Circumventing copyright protections is illegal under this bogus law.
I would be willing to allow them to add DRM to it though if it were somehow made legal.
Apple TV owner here. I think it’s a fantastic product that is limited by content owners and bandwidth.
– I’d subscribe to more shows if more meeting my interest were available.
– I’d surely purchase HD films if it were available at a reasonable price. Would negate the HD DVD / Blu-Ray wars for owners.
I use it equally for music and video now. Apple TV, a DVD player and Xbox 360 fill in as a replacement for cable. I’d rather spend my money watching what I want when I want rather than having 500 channels of some good content mixed in with a lot of crap. It’s also refreshing to get away from news these days since it’s either focused on keeping us scared, slanderous politics or hollywood tabloid b.s..
What could make it better besides more content and possibly HD content? How about these:
– Visualizer like the one in iTunes
– iTunes store (hopefully coming soon with new mobile store rollout)
– Apple event, product overviews & tutorial videos
my $.02
im a apple tv and ipod hi-fi owner,this thing they write is nonsense,forbes didn´t test the product,and review it,so…the should try before talking about it.
I will buy one when the following features are added.
1. A DVD or DVD-HD slot is added or they allow me to rip DVDs with my iMac.
2. They upgrade the content to full HD.
3. Allow users to buy and download content using the Apple TV.
Basicly I want my media anywhere I go. Via iPod, Apple TV, iPhone, PC(work), and Mac(home). And I wnat to be able to get new content on the fly.
I have all the above except the iPhone and AppleTV. 2 Macs, 3 iPods, 1 PC, and a pear tree.
I’ll get an iPhone as soon as you can buy one from Verizon.
I have to agree with Forbes. The TV offers only one feature I want – the ability to send my EyeTV DVR recordings to my TV – and nothing else. Hard to justify the expense for just one useful feature. I won’t rent sub-quality videos from iTunes, while iPhoto and Youtube are worthless gimmicks (Hey kids, want to watch a family slideshow!). Unless Leopard adds something substantial to the TV’s feature list, it will never sell well.
@ Eric
“I just need to invest in that USB encoder thing to rip more of my Movies to AppleTV format….”
Handbrake is great for converting content for iPhone, Apple TV, iPods and more…. no USB encoder required.
Sounds to me like this guy’s career is an “iFlop” and all he can do is throw stones at icons to gain his 15 minutes of fame…. I think iTV will develop over time – you gotta be a risk taker…
Okay, two words:
Video Rentals
Apple TV… sorry…brain freeze…
AppleTV for me was a great purchase. I was, however, a bit bummed at the time I bought it because they upped the storage capacity a couple weeks later. It’s ok though, I have been pleasantly surprised by its capabilities, and I thoroughly enjoy the Handbrake => AppleTV process. I love not having to search through my disks when I want to watch a movie. My father-in-law was extremely impressed when photos from his trips to other countries were displayed directly to my big screen tv – it made for a much more enjoyable experience than when he showed them to us at his house with the projector and his Dull… 3 Cheers for AppleTV Yay!!!
Magic Word: move – um, move your library to your AppleTV with ease? .`)
The reason there is no DVR in the AppleTV is because the idea is to shift users away from TV as we know it (cable or satellite) and use the Internet as our TV provider instead. If you are downloading the shows on demand, you don’t need a DVR. If the content moves to the Internet, DVRs aren’t necessary. By placing a DVR in the AppleTV, you’re essentially telling users to not buy the content from iTunes Store, but rather ‘steal it’ from broadcast TV. I find it amusing that the networks have no problem with VCRs and Tivo which take the content for FREE and make it on demand, yet they are so against ‘raising the price’ of TV shows from free to $0.99 as Apple wants and instead insist on $4.99ish shows?
If the argument is advertising, make the TV shows in widescreen and place ads at the bottom in the unused black space, have them run down there concurrent with the show so the commercials don’t chop the show up like they do on TV and people will download them like crazy AND the network would have 23 minutes of commercials during a show rather than 7 minutes, but they don’t think far enough ahead to see that TV is dying, the Internet is the future medium for all entertainment and that people aren’t stupid and it’s WAY easier to just pirate the shows for free than to go through the hoops they are trying to make people go through to get content.
AppleTV isn’t a flop, the networks are a flop and as long as they remain in the stone age, their power will continue to decrease.
Funny that they are saying the AppleTV is a failure because it has only sold 250,000 units, then goes on later to mention TiVo and the fact that they now have 4.3 million customers – it took TiVo 5 YEARS to even to 1 million, and he’s going to throw out TiVo’s number as if it is some sort of comparison? At the rate AppleTV is going, it will be on a better performance trend than TiVo, so what’s the point? Granted, I personally don’t have much desire for an AppleTV right now, but I don’t think it is a flop. The minute they have movie rentals on iTunes, I will run out and purchase an AppleTV. I have TiVos, and I have rented a few things from Amazon Unbox via the TiVo, and it’s pretty neat, but the additional things the AppleTV will allow me to do (play my iTunes library without having to burn all my purchased songs and import them again for one) will make me a customer.
A great product. Long live “handbrake” I think the Apple TV is a sleeper. They’ve only sold 250K because they haven’t really marketed it- everyone who sees what ours does is, well, amazed. OK to make it better? A movie rental service, an iTunes screen saver when playing music (instead of my photos), allow me to plug in an external drive, blend the mac mini & the Apple TV into one product. Allow the Apple TV to be a personal media server, so I can clear all the bulk out of my desktop.. It likely has a processor that is capable of the task presently- I mean, I have an old cube that serves the function reasonably well.
whuddeveh ….
the only reason i haven’t bought one yet, is that i’m waiting til spring to get the hdtv.
i don’t want a dvr, or timeshifting, or download rentals, or youtube, or dvd ripper, or whatever else.
all i want is to be able to stream my 600+ gigs of content from my computer 9or external hd) to my tv.
that’s all, and that’s what iTV does.
so if its a flop, then i just hope they keep it on the market until ’08 and i’ll snatch one up. because if they do pull these things, i’d expect the ebay re-sale value to go through the roof.
Apple TV was always overpriced and underfeatured compared to other similar devices out there. that it’s flopped is not suprising.
Only 250 000 units? Well that is more than Microsoft has sold its Zune player?
We don´t know yet how well the Apple TV sells because it has not seen the first xMas sales yet.
Tivo has sold only what 4300 000 boxes. How long has that taken? How many years?
Anal is always fun before they ad that yst thing at the (rear)end. They are like hemorrhoids or something.
This guy’s lack of objectivity and logic is so apparent it makes my head spin. He obviously has a HUGE axe to grind and picked on Apple-TV to do so. Was it because Steve wouldn’t agree to an interview (after reading this I wouldn’t either)? Is it because he doesn’t like Apple and can’t stand the recent good press its been receiving? I’m not sure but the whole article is like some childish rant. I imagine hes in a corner now sucking his thumb and consoling himself with a blankly.
Yes, what this guy fails to mention, is that none of the other options has been a market-engulfing success either. Outside of the DVR capability everyone is limited by the same things:
Content providers’ greed
Cable companies’ greed
Low bandwidth/Huge Hi-Def files
Lack of HiDef content in general
Lack of HiDef TVs in people’s homes (two or three more years for that)
Hard disk needs to be bigger. This is one area I don’t thing the small notebook drives are worth it. As long as the device isn’t any bigger than a standard DVD player, it will be fine.
I love my Apple TV. I use Elgato Eye TV on my iMac with a USB Tuner and an to record TV shows and encode them for the Apple TV (using Elgato’s H264 encoder accelerator) they are saved to iTunes and synced to my Apple TV. I even have bought some Classic Music Videos from iTunes store and a few movies and TV Shows I missed.
I watch what I want when I want and were I want.
He’s also ignoring the fact that a LOT of people have purchased Mac Minis to accomplish what the AppleTV does. It’s impossible to break those out, but they are surely significant in terms of the AppleTV numbers. I bought a Mac Mini before the AppleTV came out to do exactly what the AppleTV does.
And 250,000 sales with little promotion and the networks holding them back is pretty big. Remember, TiVO didn’t get much uptake until they got the deal with the satellite company. Right now the only thing really keeping them afloat is the Comcast deal. TiVo is also a totally different product – they’re working within an existing (crappy) system, so naturally they’re going to sell a lot more. AppleTV is trying to change the game, the barrier to entry is perceived to be higher since it doesn’t fit right in with the existing system.
Tell the man to kiss Steve’s butt.
Hey, remember, the iPhone is a failure cause it did not sell a million in the first day/week/month. What ever.
And the iPod is a failure cause it did not sell a million in —- ahhh to poop with it.
I just get a kick with all these people saying that Apple cannot do this or that, then when Apple does it in fine style, they say, well, they did not do more and more and more.
Why does an iPod not have a phone, dvd recorder, tv, home movie theater and a spray painter in each 2in by 2 inch player?????
Hey, I guess iPod is a flop too!!!! Cheeeeeezzzzzzeeee.
Enough already. I am going home, have a drink and catch some good sci fi. Have a good weekend.
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A startup named Vudu in Santa Clara, Calif. has deals with all six Hollywood heavyweights and a score of international distributors, in part because it doesn’t try to dictate wholesale prices. (A download of Syriana from Warner Bros. goes for $20.) The studios also let Vudu users rent movies for 24 hours, not an option on Apple TV.
Well hooray for Vudu! You can buy Syriana on DVD for less than ten bucks, or you can download it from Vudu for $20. Let me think a minute…
It’s no big surprise that the movie studios, even more than the music distributors, want to maintain their strangle-hold on the gravy train; but the whole thing is unraveling faster than they can stitch it back together again. None of this really has a whole lot to do with Apple TV directly. My guess is that Apple TV will be waiting patiently in the wings to beam premium content from computer to tv screen whenever all this useless struggling on the part of the big media companies finally comes to an end.
And you can’t rent movies from Apple TV because Apple TV is not a content provider. It’s a bridge, not a car company! When the iTunes Store starts renting movies, Apple TV will be there to handle the transfer from computer to big screen.
Hi, I guess my site, http://appletvsource.com, is the last of a dying breed. I remember there were so many Apple TV-related blogs when Apple TV first came out. Now, my site is the ONLY one I know of that updates its content daily. I sure hope Apple “resurrects” the product soon.
I have to disagree with you that the success of the Apple TV is dependent on the content provider. Apple is as much to blame as they are. Apple TV is capable of so much more and yet Apple refuses to put more relevant features on it. If only Apple offers some kind of a development kit for it, Apple TV would be a great platform for Internet-based TV and content.
As for HD content, I have compiled a list of HD podcasts and published it on my site. The list gets updated quite frequently. It is located at http://hd.appletvsource.com.
Higher Resolution and TV/Movie Rentals – I’ll buy one.
1. DVR capability
2. Cheap rentals
If it had these, they would not be able to keep them in stock.
Placeholder?
Funny… I’m currently listening to MacBreak Weekly, ON my tv… It’ll be all about the movie rentals soon.
“If it had these, they would not be able to keep them in stock.”
If it had these, it would be a Tivo, only for $200 more than a Tivo.
For a woolley headed Scot, his concept is Floppy from the outset with regards to Mr. Jobs comment on the Apple TV.
I think he has a floppy dick to match his floppy head & floppy spine!
Lack of HiDef TVs in people’s homes (two or three more years for that)
Agreed.
One of Steve’s greater faults is he can be TOO far ahead of the curve.
Non-HD TV’s are like Windows PC’s: lousy, cheap, and everywhere. AppleTV 1.0 should have supported both formats. HD-only would’ve made for a nice future upgrade…
Apple, if you want AppleTV to be a real hit, give it a fast DVD & a huge internal drive for storing movies. Do for the video shelf what the iPod did for the CD rack.
I have the 160 gb AppleTV and we love it! The kids love being able to watch their videos at the push of a button and I love not having all my DVDs scratched up. What I would like to see…
1) The USB port opened up to allow an external HD to act as extra storage.
2) Movie rentals (and/or iTunes shopping) straight from AppleTV.
3) DVR capabilities. (Drooooooool)
Just my wish list.
I don’t care for the HD content. Would be nice but most of my movies are not in HD…yet. And I don’t really need to see Barney in HD. Actually I don’t really need to see Barney at all but my 2 year loves that dinosaur and the AppleTV.
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1. DVR capability. TV is OK. But I hate ads, and I don’t want to adapt to THEIR schedule.
2. Cheap rentals. We need rentals because we can’t afford to own a big enough hard drive to store a bunch of movies. Plus you can only watch them so many times. Plus we can’t afford it. We want to spend most of our hard earned cash on Apple hardware. . .
If it had these, they would not be able to keep them in stock. Remember, “software sells hardware”, and for AppleTV, movies are the software.
That would be a good rule for Apple. Anytime a product is not selling up to their goals, add more software, or update what they have.
One more thing. New products from Apple should not rely on the desktop computer. We have gotten rid of that. The new paradyme is to use Airport Express for “network” hard drive and printer, and have all laptops. Rely on the web. Don’t rely on desktop computers.
Because of this, they should allow direct downloads from iTunes to AppleTV without having to go through a computer.
For those who would like more features added to the Apple TV, you can go to Apple TV’s feedback page at:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html
While you are there, ask for these features too:
– iTunes on Apple TV
– looping, looping, looping, looping, looping.
– maybe a web browser (though FireFox and Camino can run on it if you hacked it)
– visualizer. Come on. It would so cool to have that running on a big screen when I throw a party.
– a movie playlist, please. It supports playlist for music but not movie.
– true 5.1 digital audio support.
– enable the USB port already!
I don’t have an AppleTV because I cannot connect it to my non-HD-TV. If I would buy a HD-TV, it would be a Full-HD TV. AppleTV however does not support Full-HD. Especially for watching photos I would prefer Full-HD support from AppleTV since Full-HD is a mere 2 Megapixel and I really do not want do see them in an even lower resolution.
As Algr wrote here, AppleTV requires a HD-TV but does not offer any HD-content.
Apart from this, I would like to rent movies for a cheap rate rather than buying them. I would’t mind either if AppleTV had a DVB-Twin tuner and would serve as a PVR as well.
AppleTV will be a flop if it will not be upgraded soon an have at last some HD-content to show.
I have 2 AppleTV’s and I like them alot, but I am using them differently than I first envisioned…
I thought I would use it more for movies, but the lack of content available via iTunes is sad… I’m positive that’s not Apple’s fault (I like Apple’s pricing of $9.99 and $12.99, but I just won’t pay more than $12.99 for a downloaded video of the current quality – sorry Disney, but at those prices all your classic movies – which you’ve already made billions on are just not going the be purchased by me).
TV shows are reasonable at $1.99 per episode, but they should be at least half that price for a full season.
I did find that there are quite a few interesting video podcasts and actually subscribe to a number of them. This was the surprise feature for me.
As for NBC/Universal just removed all of their programming from my TiVo Season Passes (there wasn’t that much anyway, Bye “Ellen” & “Earl”) and removed the channels from my listings (I’ll never miss what I don’t know is there). I hate corporate greed more than just about anything and that’s exactly what NBC is demonstrating.
As was stated by MDN, there isn’t much with AppleTV that a couple of software updates and improved content offerings wouldn’t fix. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
I like my TV very much even though the UK has no movie downloads and very few TV shows. Why? Because the screen saver randomly displays all our old holiday photos and the grandchildren brilliantly – while playing iTunes through my Yamaha AV receiver.
I don’t believe Vudu lets you move the movie from its box to a computer. You definitely can’t burn it to disk.
I think movies on computers is the sticking point for most studios.
APPLE TV SALES RANK ON AMAZON.COM:
#2,706
Yep, it’s a flop. And I predicted that it would be a flop too. It’s an overpriced piece of garbage that does close to NOTHING.
While I don’t share Woolley’s opinion that the AppleTV is an “iFlop”, as an owner of the 160GB model I am frustrated with Apple’s lack of upgrades and functions. For one thing, watching it on an HDTV even connected via an HDMI connector yields substandard picture quality.
I don’t criticize Apple too often, but considering the effort that went into the iPhone and the latest round of iPods, I would have expected the same attention paid to the AppleTV. HD quality is a must for this device. I do use HandBrake to transfer movies from DVD to iTunes and use the AppleTV settings to convert them to mp4s. It gets me close to HD (or even excellent DVD quality) but is still not where it needs to be. Further, it DOES need a DVR.
Funny how we rarely hear about the AppleTV anymore. It’s all iPhone, iPod and Mac – not that there’s anything wrong with that. But I can remember last January standing on the floor at MacWorld where even then the attention paid to the AppleTV was dwarfed by the iPhone. That’s a problem.
Count on the following with AppleTV’s next round:
– New home menu system ala iPod touch and iPhone
– New 720 x 480 stnd. definition TV shows and movies.
– HD content (from at least Disney’s studio’s)
– Rental Service (5 days, $3.99 per rental)
– Direct connection to iTunes for purchase or rentals (movie & TV content only)
– 160 GB HD base model
– 320 GB HD high-end version
– Connect to standard TV ability (S-Video or RCA)
The two biggest hitters for the mass consumer are:
– HD content
– Rental Service
– Connecting to standard def. TV
The direct connect thing is huge, but consumers assume it has that already – which it will. The other 3 parts to this puzzle will be tackled.
The last remaining piece for AppleTV to take off lie in Steve Jobs ability to acquire more studio’s content for iTunes.
I Love mine – I have ripped all my kids shows and movies for me and it is all menu driven. Of course seeing pictures on the big screen is great as well. Menu driven music is great as well – no more going up stairs to change the song.
One idea I thought might work is combining he AirPort Base station and the Apple TV into one unit, making it into more a stealth product or more reason to buy one.
He lost me at “Syriana”……
@ clunker
Yup, I think you hit it way on the head clunker. This product really is ahead of its time. Certainly ahead of what the studios are thinking. I own one and I use it every night. I am studing film right now so the ability to handbrake all of my DVD’s to that little box helps a great deal. But I think the single thing that makes this box a special product is when you go looking through YouTube.
Now I dont’ mean YouTube itself. I am talking about what is actually happening when you watch the you tube stuff on your screen. Think about it. You are watching a streamed content from your broadband via a little box onto you television and/or projector (in my case a very nice Panasonic).
Think of the possiblilites. Since it doest this very well why not use this box for IPTV, or what I am waiting for, monthly movie rentals one fee per month all the movies you can eat. I for one don’t care to “own” a movie if I can pay a fee and have it stream to my cool litle apple tv.
The only problem really for this box is the fact that more movie studios (again) have not embraced this model yet. I understand their need (lust) for control over the distribution of the content. I’m down with that. What puzzles me is that as they clamor for ways to protect the content from piracy they overlook (again) the one compnay who has a solution RIGHT NOW! Apple.
Hell, if they did the all you can eat per month model for the damn Xbox 360 I’d do that too. I just wish the studios would do something…anything.
Thanks for playing
end of line.
Apple TVs are great, but most people dont get it…
#1 problem imho is the price tag.. drop it $100 or $150 and they will start selling.
its convenient, but I can buy a cable for $30 that will let me hook my mac up to my TV, and I dont really have the money to spend the ticket for an apple TV (gotta be able to afford my dual 24″ monitors)
I was skeptical about Apple TV from reading all the negative spin from ‘pundits’ (which continues unabated). When the 160GB model came out, i bought one and have never looked back. I love it now and feel its potential for the future. (Already noted posts about movie rental text strings in iTunes Store.) I use it for music, photos, TV episodes and YouTube. As many of you know, Apple TV Rocks and Scott Woolley’s spin on it sux.
I’d love higher quality content, yet I live in the boonies with a local cable company monopoly supplying ‘high speed internet connection,’ but it takes 30-40 minutes to download an episode of Heroes–which I’m happy to buy for $1.99 (higher and I’ll need to learn Torrenting). I.e. two episodes for $3.98 whereas my local DVD rental store charges $3.75 for a disc with two episodes and I have to return it the next day! Further, the 23 cent different doesn’t come near the cost in time and transportation expense to drive to the rental store.
“4) Let my play DVD images on my AppleTV. I’ve got a lot of old DVDs that have photos and videos that would be a real pain to transfer over to iTunes. And really, why should I have to? Apple may have abandoned the DVD format, but it’s still alive and well in my world!
“
try streaming that bit rate lol, or if ya sync, see how little the HD will hold
“Apple, if you want AppleTV to be a real hit, give it a fast DVD & a huge internal drive for storing movies. Do for the video shelf what the iPod did for the CD rack.”
The call it an “Apple Playstation 3”.
The reason that the Apple TV has floundered is not for lack of technical merit, but for lack of marketing focus by Apple. Apple normally releases a new product and keeps the focus on it for a while. In this case, the Apple TV was COMPLETELY swamped by the media created by the iPhone (both by Apple itself and others). The iPhone is so much easier to get emotionally connected to than the AppleTV. This doesn’t mean that the AppleTV isn’t a great product (I know I want one eventually), but everyone has forgotten about it as we continue to drool over the iPhone.
The movie studios are deathly afraid of having Apple dominate the movie rental/sales industry like it is doing in the music industry. When one dog controls the yard, everyone has to answer to that dog if you want to play in the yard.
Plus, who would buy a downloaded movie for $20? If I buy the DVD, for $20 or less, I can rip it to my hard drive, watch it somewhere besides my living room, sell it later on eBay, or whatever.
What TiVo is doing is interesting, but not really much more than making PPV easier by allowing you to buy it with your remote instead of having to call the company or go online.
AppleTv just ain’t quite there for the masses.
ONe problem is asking consumers to pay $300 for a 2nd iPod that can only be used in your house.
They should really have focused on making it easier to hook up and use iPOds with your TV.
Like what if you could get the iPOd menu on your tv screen?
Basically they should have enhanced the dock/ipod to do this.
I think that represents a much better value equation for consumers because you could hit a $100-$150 price point for a dock kit.
The other problem is that that shows are expensive and don’t quite replace the standard cable package alot of people get. I can’t watch any live sports over iTunes. There’s quite a few shows still not available. And cable starts to represent a better value when you consider anyone in the family can watch it on any tv.
Another problem is DVRs/Tivo. For a small fee a month you skip commericials. I talked Tivo down to $7/month on my old series 2. And actually this makes me wonder why NBC wouldn’t be all over iTunes more. Tivo and DVRs have been slow in being adopted, but they are a big threat to the traditional broadcast television model because consumers skip all the commercials.
Another problem with the AppleTV is the remote. I mean you could have added a few more buttons. I would have made it the size of a Nano without the screen, but with a scroll wheel. And I would have given it the capability of turning your tV on/off and switch the inputs of your TV. Possibily change channels. The thought being that this would integrate it better into consumer’s lives and they would pick it up more and eventually use the AppleTV more.
anyway I have a book going and I gotta run.
There are too many resons why this product has limited appeal. All of them were written when the product was introduced. Like the “Home Stereo Reinvented,” Apple TV is a solution to a non-existent problem. I cannot remember a time when anyone I know said “gee, I wish I could wirelessly stream content from my computer to my TV.
I have never heard anyone say “gosh this downloaded movie with no extras, no alternate language tracks, no DTS or discreet Dolby Digital is such a good value compared to a DVD.”
Let’s face it. This device only appeals to the ultra-wealthy class who are unconcerned with the price of things. And of course, the kool-aid drinkers who feel that Apple can do no wrong.
“Waste of Money Reinvented™”
720p24 content instead of “near DVD” quality, that’s what Microsoft are offering on XBox Live and Sony are offering on the Playstation Networks.
is forbes for real? Isnt there any better news than pure speculation?
I can’t believe I am saying this, but I can’t wait for AT&T;to complete their purchase of Dobson, so I can get an iPhone. Beyond that – AppleTV is the only Apple product that I feel I can totally live without. If Apple adds some of MDN’s suggestions, maybe enough value is added. Until then, I just don’t see why I should spend that much. Now add on the Apple vs. NBC spat.
I like all these ideas, I think Apple should strongly consider this a great working list to work towards. The DVR and ability to rip content and put large drives to it, would make ALOT of sense.
What I never understood was that it required a HD TV but doesn’t support HD content….
And the last thing a person who owns a HD TV is looking for is NON HD content…
It just never made much sense to me.
Two words:
Blu-ray drive
Apple TV is great for boring friends and neighbors with endless home video. I rip DVD’s with Handbrake and watch them when I can from aTV as well. I would very much like a an HD movie rental option, however!!!
That’s about 250,000 more products that Apple moved at $299 a piece than they would have had they not released it. Explain to me how that’s a flop? For just about any other company, that would be a moderate success – particularly for a product that has limited mass market appeal and very niche-oriented functionality.
Apple’s third chair leg will be revealed soon. Expect iPod/iPhone/Macs to all converge with AppleTV. Expect rentals.
I have 2 tivos and love them, I also have an Apple TV, they do different things, and I use them for different reasons. My Tivo is for TV, my Apple TV is for movies, pictures, YouTube, and music. I have more than 150 movies I’ve ripped from DVD (recently divorced, she got the disks, I used 42 to rip them before I left) I love the thing! I think it is an apple sleeper.
I have to say that my PS3 is a far better companion than AppleTV. It has Blu-ray, games and with the right software, it can access music, pictures and movies on my home server.
It does, however, have one of the most suck-tastic web browsers ever — on any platform. I hope they find a way to fix that because it really needs help.
AppleTV is interesting but not capable enough in its current form. Right now, the discontinued Eyehome is a far better choice for playing recorded TV, downloaded files, and iTunes content. It’s standard def, and the software interface is way clunky, but if you have an ethernet or at least a “G” wifi network, its quite usable. I picked up two for cheap on eBay.
it’s called version 1.1. many more to come!
An $87,500,000 flop.
I want to be in THAT business.
It suckes, no trueHD output, no xvid/divx. why would i bother? I already have a linux fileserver with about 3000 movies (2+ Tb
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Apple, if you’re serious: Fix HD and divx!
1) needs the ability to purchase from iTunes
2) I would want to be able to purchase a movie while at work and have it download to my Apple TV at home
3) rentals are a must
4) needs a TV tuner (but not DVR)
5) iPod Touch as a remote (with keyboard for YouTube search)
6) needs to look more like an consumer electronics device than a mini computer (look at the iPhone for clues)
“Two words:
Blu-ray drive”
Two more words Sony PlayStation. Everything Apple TV does and more.
Apple TV is an underachievement by Apple. A technology flop.
I could list many of the same missing features already discussed, but basically it is just a “half ass” attempt at a media server.
Need to kill it and turn the Mac Mini into a true media server with HDMI out to an HDTV.
blu ray drive?
So add another $700 to the price or sell it for a big loss like Sony does with their PS3?
Don’t think so.
Apple has the industry standard H.264, so why support the proprietary Divx format which sucks?
I purchased an Apple TV but not for watching video and I did not purchase at full price.
I think they are generally over priced units for what they do and I think that the video quality needs work, but Apple TV has promise.
I bought one at Circuit City as an open box buy for 1/2 price. I wanted to easily get to my 14000 song collection to my home entertainment system. The price I paid was well worth the convenience that I now have when accessing my music collection. I can’t store all of my songs on the Apple TV so I simply use it as a streaming device.
I hope Apple continues to invest in and develop Apple TV and offering more services and features and improving the video playback quality.
Well, it least the review wasn’t THIS bad…
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A0OVFA/ref=nosim/?tag=dealtime-watches-20&creative=380333&creativeASIN=B000A0OVFA&linkCode=asn
What would “fix” the aTV would be to:
1) incorporate an over-the-air ATSC Tuner
2) and the ability to hook it up to a current NTSC TV.
Then people could buy one as the adaptor box and get the $40 Federal Rebate.
Just add:
3) DVD Ripping (like CD music ripping)
4) DVD Burning (like VHS recording)
and things will take off.
-hh
@Undertrader
so, wait a sec… i have two rooms, two HDTVs and two [cough] ComCast HD/DVR cable boxes.
they allow me to record/watch the programs anytime i want –even record two at once. these shows/movies are generally broadcast over and over again.
i am paying a monthly subscription/fee and extra for the 2nd room.
how am i stealing anything, and why would they care when i watch it –as i said they run over and over.
now, those boxen do have 1394 (firewire) so i could get it to a disc i suppose.
others such as tivo, i presume also have monthly or subscription fees, yes?
word: feeS as in sub and equipment monthly cable feeS.
Total Flop.
Once again apples closed system alienates what it’s user really wants from a product.
Maybe if the advertised it like the ipod it could gains strength. Then the could push for features that they feel they can’t include because of outside pressure.
No one except fanboys and users of this forum know about the apple tv. My friends and family certainly don’t.
I really like my apple tv…
BUT it is a long laborious process to export the various formats
of video into one that will play on it…
I understand the logic… They want customers to click and buy content at the iTunes music store where everything is painless…
AND they want to set some standards ensuring a higher quality video experience…
However, it is still a pain because Quicktime can play various formats as can iTunes for audio… AAC is superior but they didn’t force all songs to be AAC on iPods like I feel they are doing on the apple TV. Perhaps they had to make it a pain to convince the movie studios…
Apple TV was COMPLETELY swamped by the media created by the iPhone
What’s a CEO to do? If Steve doesn’t announce everything at once, it’s a “disappointment” and the stock suffers. If Steve DOES announce everything at once, the products drown each-other out.
Not sure what’s better, twice-yearly “super keynotes” that cover the product line, or more-occasional focused addresses (i.e. pro, consumer, media, etc.).
I blame the content providers. Apple could be renting movies and challenging Blockbuster. What are The Studios thinking? Why do they think Apple is evil and Blockbuster is not?
I have 2 Apple TV’s. One for each widescreen TV in the house. I stream music, TV shows and over 300 movies. The Apple TV works flawlessly. I wish Apple could run a decent movie rental service or even a movie subscription service through the Apple TV. Until then I will just rip DVD’s and laugh at The Studios’ stupidity.
I cannot remember a time when anyone I know said “gee, I wish I could wirelessly stream content from my computer to my TV.
Perhaps.
But there have been times I’ve been in front of the TV, thinking “Gee! It’d be SWEET to have Front Row, with ALL of my stuff, right here right now”. Easy access to iTMS and YouTube would be a nice plus.
As for wireless streaming, it is overrated as a feature. It should be a silent part of keeping one’s Mac and TV in sync.
too many posts to read all of them, but I think “One word” has the correct answers (Placeholder, and video rentals).
MDN word “figure” as in: Steve has it all figured out!
I would love an tv. But there’s no way in hell that I’m gonna blow $3k on a new living room set or $500 on a new bedroom set just so I can have a boob tube with a connector compatible with an tv. If friggin’ Apple had either included a coaxial out, a yellow wire out, or a cable converter for either the tv sales would be in the millions, not the hundreds of thousands.
And my wife is pregnant, she might let me spend $300. She certainly won’t let me blow $3000.
Everything isn’t going to be an iPhone, iPod, iMac or a 30″ display.
Sometimes there are smaller interest items. It works, is profitable and those who have it like it. Software & chips will make it work for 1080p.
Best thing Apple can do is build the electronics into an 42″ 1080p LCD Apple branded display to connect wirelessly to a MacPro.
“Unlike music, people tend to watch TV shows and movies once, there is no need to “own” (and have to store) such content (beyond the few special movies people might want to own to watch multiple times).”
I have read this….a lot of times in a lot of places, and have to shake my head every time because it just flies in the face of evidence to the contrary.
At least as far as movies are concerned. TV shows, on the other hand, are another matter, mostly because of their ephemeral nature.
What little remains of the movie rental mindset is a dwindling holdover from the days of VCR and VHS tapes, that today mostly appeals to the financial strapped.
The widespread success of DVD sales (along with the simultaneous decline of movie rentals) over the past decade quite clearly shows that people DO want to own movies.
And don’t bother mentioning NetFlix. They’re the exception that proves the rule. BlockBuster and others like them nearly bought the farm because they seriiously underestimated DVD and its ownership appeal.
Not saying that all people fit the movie ownership catagory, just that most do. It’s the marketplace.
If movie/TV show rentals float someone’s boat…that’s fine. But that’s just them and the minority they belong to. They aren’t an enlightened elite with a crystal ball view of how the future of entertainment is going to be fulfilled, although that seems to be their mutually held, self-deluding conceit.
Another AppleTV thread, another hundred or so requests for an OTA tuner, DVR, ability to play DVDs more easily (no ripping), and access to the iTS (and some all in the same post). It would be hilarious if it wasn’t also an indicator of how badly Jobs botched this device from the start, and has steadfastly refused to address it’s shortcomings since. The sales figures being positively ‘Zune-like’ just puts it all into proper perspective.
I hate to be an ‘I told you so’, but … oh what the hell – I really don’t hate it that much. It’s been so obvious where the AppleTV fell short, it’s actually nice to see a lot of macolyte-type people finally coming around. Not addressing AppleTV’s shortcomings simply means fewer will be sold, and that’s not good.
What’s truly amazing though is MDN’s take. Not too long ago they were defending AppleTV as ‘practically perfect in every way’, and telling everyone else how they just ‘didn’t get it’. Now we have them giving almost the exact same recommendations for improving it that have been flying all over the web since the day it debuted. Actually, I find that hopeful – maybe it means they aren’t as far up Jobs’ butt as they always seem. Certainly it means that it isn’t impossible for them to admit a mistake.
I’ll cross my fingers for them coming around on the iMovie issue too.
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cool smirk hmm … what’s wrong with the emoticons?
I probably would’ve bought an Apple TV if I had a HiDef TV. But what I like about Apple is fix pricing. Fixed price on iTunes, fixed price for movies. However, being able to rent would be nice.
Oh well…guess I’m sticking to buying DVDs at Blockbusters or Rogers at Previewed prices.
I love my Apple TV!
We use it for slideshows, YouTube (way better than watching them via a browser), HD podcasts, and Handbrake’d DVDs. BTW, the latter look noticeably better via Apple TV than when the DVD is played directly on our upconverting DVD player.
Apple has made a superb device. I’m looking forward to direct movie purchases and rentals.
The USB encoder thingy is supposed to make converting faster…
http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_turbo264
I have a 40 GB Apple TV.
It is great. I use it for music, pictures, movies and TV shows. Works flawlessly and can be operated by all family members. It impresses all visitors and once they understand what it is and does they all seem to want one.
The most important upgrades that I think Apple can do to this product would be the ability to play more video formats (video ts and divx come to mind).
Once again fanboys rush to Apple’s defense as if the company can do no wrong. I love Apple but I’m not blind to the fact that AppleTV is overpriced for what you get. There are a lot of much cheaper products out there with twice as many features. OK they have less-pretty interfaces but eye candy is far less important than practicality, for me anyway.
@Thomas from Deutschland
My TV has HD resolution, both 1080i at 60Hz and 1080i at 50Hz and 720p HD at 50Hz & 60Hz. Not bad really, especially as most people can not tell the difference between 720p and 1080p, or 1080i and 1080p.
@emil, @Toby
TV does support HD, Check the specs pages at Apple’s web site. It’s just that there’s very little HD content. Present bandwidth tends to hold back streaming full HD content. H264 comes in here. Check out Daniel Eran Dilger’s Roughly Drafted Magazine (RDM) for some excellent analysis of why we are where we are today.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/147048D8-D8B7-45E7-9A97-3CD5B4C2B75A.html
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/E1D8A057-6FBB-4269-A348-27AF9010FB19.html
“Daniel Eran Dilger’s Roughly Drafted Magazine”
When is he going to rename that to fanboy frigtard magazine?
The Apple TV does not need to be a swiss army knife. The one thing thats missing is movie rentals. If I can rent movies plus watch the ones I have handbraked then it would be more than worth the price.
However the movie studios are trying their best not to give Jobs all the power. Apple would move quickly to the top of the movie rental business if the studios would give Jobs movie rentals.
Apple TV is a media server for the living room. Music, Movies and Pictures in a sleek box.
Built in a Blue-Ray unit.
AppleTV was not a flop.
i have two here! i love the appleTV! one for our canadian home and one in france. looking foward to an update that will make it even more enjoyable than it is now.
I have always believed that the Apple TV would be an evolutionary product that has come before it’s time. If Apple keeps AppleTV around it truely could be a great product in a couple of years.
BAC:
IF Verizon ever offers the iPhone, they’ll almost certainly cripple it the way they do with the other hdwr they sell. Like my Motorola, which I selected because it can sync w/Macs via USB. Except that Verizon disabled that feature in order to force users through their stupidly expensive data service. Verizon would certainly disable many of the iPhone’s best features
… unless the iPhone’s success has completely changed the carrier’s practices by then.
The problem with the cellphone companies is the same as with music and video content providers: they are interested in getting money by any means and wary of actually earning through the hard work of product and service innovation. These companies will try to push anything. How could someone who wants to keep us tied to subscription music services for an eternally recurring monthly fee or who tries to make me pay for a movie I have no interest in by bundling it with the one I want ever grasp Apple’s simple strategy for success: give customers the best experience possible while milking them as little as possible?
I want to see video rental on iTunes, but I suspect that we don’t have it not because of Jobs holding out against the idea itself, but holding out against network demands to rent TV shows for $2 or $3 a shot.
Apple can be a real bully… but they’ve pretty consistently been a bully in their customers’ interests, not against them.
In my house, none of us are big television/film watchers. I can count on one hand the amount of programs our family watches with any sort of regularity. Perhaps when our TV goes we’ll upgrade to an HD box, but for now it doesn’t make sense.
Now, that being said, there are one or two programs that we try not to miss, and I either have to set them up to record via DVD-R, DVR, or VHS-R (such a pain), or (and when the programs are offered, this is preferable) buy them off of the iTunes Media Store.
An AppleTV would be perfect for us, if it supported older televisions. For now, I’m just not sure the expense of buying an HD-TV as well as an Apple TV relates to the amount of viewing we do. Like I said, maybe when our current TV blows out then I’ll get the HD box, but replacing the TV just for the Apple TV seems like a disproportionate expense.
(I’d rather spend that money on other stuff for the time being)
which happens fairly often with the various crap DVRs offered by cable providers
Never happens with my TiVo
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I do not have an AppleTV for one reason. I have me a miniMac all hooked up to my TV and doing what AppleTV can do and a bit more. Want a true picture of how strong the AppleTV market is you need to count us mini owners who use it as an AppleTV.
I replied to his article on my blog.
http://3e-lab.com/blog/09/15/biz/not-really-an-iflop-but-close/
Apple just needs to market the thing more. Think about the marketing budget of the iPhone. Then compare it to the Apple TV. The marketing budget of the Apple TV is not even on the radar.
Ballyhooed? I suggest that it was never “ballyhooed” …
I completely disagree with this: “• Offer a monthly subscription plan a la (gulp) cable…”
I am an AppleTV owner and I have used it to replace my Satellite Service. With Satellite I was paying $50+a month to watch. You end up with a whole lot of reruns most of the time so you end up paying to watch things you’ve already paid to watch. I got the AppleTV to get away from the “Subscribe to rewatch shows you’ve already watched” model. Now, though it is costing me a bit upfront I’m looking at long term savings with my AppleTV because I only have to pay to watch a season of a show once and once I’ve got the show I can rewatch it to my heart’s content without having to pay to see it again. That’s the real benefit to getting the AppleTV the freedom to control when what you are paying to watch.
Still, they need to get HD content in the iTunes store, otherwise the device will never really seem worthwhile to the consumer.
This writer has no clue…. He doesn’t see the big picture. The market is not ready for this type of technology, but Apple is positioned well and completes the circle of devices.
Again no clue….
I do have to say that Steve wanting to dictate pricing to studios is idiotic.
Remember free market system?
The TV should be a storage leader and be able to play anything my Mac can. As it is, it looks like an extension of iTunes, i.e., made for and not for me.
Look, Jobs has been downplaying the AppleTV because the major content providers are alreadying scared to death about Apple.
The AppleTV is a great device and I love it! But Apple hasn’t gone out of it’s way to promote it, or enable it to do everything it clearly can do. This is a Trojan horse. As other internet to TV devices come and go, and fail, Apple is building up a lot of experience and technology and will be ready to go full blast once the time comes.
Meanwhile they are a little more focused on controling all portable audio, portable video, and now mobile phones. When they are ready, they’ll takeover everyone’s television too.
Add an Apple branded USB .mp4 encoding PVR device and AppleTV sales will take off like a rocket. Same device can connect to your Mac as well. A new icon for Front Row (Recordings?)
An HD capable version is another winner.
I use Apple TV to buy all the tv shows on which we normally need to wait a couple of years here in Europe. I achieved that by creating a paypal account with a US address and my own creditcard. Then create an iTunes account with the paypal account.
Besides that I like to watch video podcasts like diggnation & dl.tv on my 50″ Full HD Plasma set.
It’s a measure of Apple’s success these days that any product that does not blow the sales roof off is quick to be labelled “flop” by writers such as this.
Apple is not an idiot company. They’ve shown over and over that they know what to do with almost all their products (the only exception has been the Cube), so if they had wanted Apple TV to have iPod-sized sales, they would have configured it that way.
Let’s look at the facts. First, you need to have a hi-def TV to use the device. Well, sales of HD sets are growing, but I think still not at a mass market level. These things are relatively expensive and there is simply not enough, affordable HD content to justify the expense for many people.
You also need a fairly well-equipped, more recent computer, preferably a Mac, to use it effectively. This though is not as big an issue. Still, not too many people who own older computers are going to rush out to replace them just to use the Apple TV.
But look three, five years down the road, and HDTV is probably going to become the new normal – and when that happens, Apple TV will be ready and waiting to take its place as a mass-market device.
This one is meant to be a slow burner, a sort of guerrilla product put out there ahead of its time. If it wasn’t, Apple would have promoted the heck out of it. As it is, Apple seems perfectly satisfied with the way it’s going.
Most of the posts on this thread are from those who already have it, and are perfectly satisfied with it. This positive word-of-mouth seems for now largely sufficient for Apple.
“simply not enough, affordable HD content to justify the expense for many people.”
What planet are you on, most markets have free over the air HDTV stations, say 20 of them in any major metropolitan area.
“still not at a mass market level”
HDTVs cost about $215 for an entry level model, How much further do you want them to drop to be “Mass Market”.
“Most of the posts on this thread are from those who already have it, and are perfectly satisfied with it”
Most of the satisfied posts are from dumb fanboys who have never seen a TIVO, Playstation, XBox or Media Center PC.
I dunno, at the risk of being flamed, I do think that the apple tv suffers from Steve’s hatred of TV. It should have been a DVR, folks, they could have re-invented that whole way of getting content. And say what you will, when I looked at the picture on an HDTV set, it looked crappy. Maybe it’s just me, but I have an HDTV to watch HDTV.
Perhaps Apple will save the day when they support HDTV downloads and let users download content directly from the box, but the AppleTV as a middleman for content is just irritating. I used my Xbox 360 to get the Heroes premiere in HD, and it looked awesome. Of course, Apple and Universal are fighting, so we won’t be seeing THAT on AppleTV anytime soon.
AppleTV is due for an upgrade. I fear that Apple is going to hang it out to dry given the relative lack of attention it has been getting.
anyway, just my opinion.
-m
We’ve got an AppleTV in the den and it’s great, we use it almost every day. I’m actually thinking about getting a second one for the bedroom (after the iPhone purchase).
We don’t have to worry about conflicts in recording shows, just download it from Apple. Plus, all of my Blue October concert videos can go from the computer to the TV.
Sure some improvements could be made, but as it is, it does what Steve said it would do and it does it well.
~M
Wow look at all these comments…. Do you really think that it is a flop? Seems a lot of people sure do like thiers.
Wow look at all these comments…. Do you really think that it is a flop? Seems a lot of people sure do like thiers.
It’s a “flop” simply because it hasn’t been the kind of million-unit blockbuster the world expects from Apple.
People who have them do love them, but the market appeal IS limited. It’s going to take some work to get AppleTV into the mainstream, where non-HD sets still have the majority and network bandwidth is limited (if available at all).
HDTVs cost about $215 for an entry level model, How much further do you want them to drop to be “Mass Market”.
The problem is an HDTV is discretionary, you don’t NEED to get one to live. The mainstream will adopt HDTV as older units fail, and maybe as an indulgence.
HDTV is the future, no question. But it’s going to take a while to get the critical mass that can pull HD-only devices like AppleTV into the mainstream as well.
Too bad none of this changes the fact most of today’s programming sucks, HD or not. Maybe Jobs and Pixar could change that as well…
Apple should do a deal with TiVo to make TiVo content playable on AppleTV (and the Mac and iPod). You can now do it with third party software on the Series 2 and soon on Series 3, but it’s not convenient. Apple and TiVo should make it an easy, smooth process. They should also make iTunes DRM content play on TiVo. Also, they should look into a deal with Amazon Unbox. License the DRM to Apple so they can provide content. Other things Apple should do are reform the unit to take normal desktop hard drives so the capacity can be 1TB+. They should provide a much better remote that can control the volume on your TV. They should also either add a composite (RCA) jack or if possible upgrade the software to allow one of the Component jacks to act as a composite connector. Everyone has a TV in their house that can use this jack and not HD. Since music doesn’t benefit from HD, and since most of the existing content on iTunes is SD, why the hell did they require an HDTV? Add composite and people can also buy second AppleTV units for bedrooms where they haven’t upgraded to HD. They obviously need to allow purchases to be purchased from and downloaded to the ATV directly. They should also provide a way to synch your iPod to your AppleTV. They should also let you connect your iPod and play the content from it on the AppleTV. Maybe they should consider a TV version of Safari, along with adding a wireless keyboard, even if it was only enabled on an HD TV. This would create an opportunity for TV Web apps, like looking up movies on IMDB.
I forgot a few other wishlist things:
Make AppleTV the hub for your home theater. Create addons for DVD/CD Player (for playback, but maybe also for ripping), and HD optical. My fantasy device would be an addon that had the ability to read/play HD DVD, Blu-Ray, DVD, and CD. Will never happen.
@ AbdullahInDreamland:
You were doing fine until you said “Most of the satisfied posts are from dumb fanboys who have never seen a TIVO, Playstation, XBox or Media Center PC.”
I looks like you’re unfamiliar with Apple TV. TiVo requires a subscription and the games boxes are just that: expensive, noisy, big, and ugly that require you to use game controllers as TV remotes. No thanks.
it’s not a failure. i plan to buy one within the next year. easier than hooking up my MB to my TV when i want to stream photos / movies / music ….
It’s perfect for out kids’ programs. With a DVD you have to wait forever to go through the FBI screen and all the other crap. With Apple TV you just select and play. Our kids love it! We don’t use broadcast television for them anymore. They have their favorities like Little Einsteins or Blue’s Clues. Also, I enjoy watching the Daily Show on the big screen when I want it. The You Tube is nice, but it’s a novelty ~ I don’t care much about it. I do want the capability to purchase straight from Apple TV. This is the future. That guy who’s naysaying it obviously never tried one for any amount of time!
NO SUBSCRIPTIONS – I REPEAT, NO SUBSCRIPTIONS… Unless of course we can continue to pay as we go. I will not even think of subscribing to anything that requires a subscription – even if it is an Apple product/service.
Since we cancelled our DishNet. service last month I’ve been noticing something, I think we’ve all got our collective heads in the proverbial sand – Producers, Distributors, Consumers.
We cancelled our Dish service to begin converting over to online services for our TV viewing, like iTMS. We had already begun to download shows and watch them from iTMS, and were getting ready to implement TV, but between the time we cancelled Dish and were on the verge of ordering the TV we discovered that some of the TV networks were offering their own shows on their own web sites (with some interesting attempts at interactive ads), and some of those shows were the ones that we wanted – and the video quality was perceptually as good as Dish SD. But it didn’t end there, my wife, being the incredibly resourceful person that she is also discovered that services like VEOH and tv-video.net often provide the balance of the TV viewing we were doing with Dish, and ready to convert to TV for. Now I’m not so naive that I don’t understand the questionablness of the abilities provided on VEOH and tv-video.net – but there you have it. (Can anyone say bittorrent?)
Now combine this with the desperate sounding phone calls I’ve been getting from Dish reps. about “…what happened to make you leave us after all of these years…”, and I think that what I see actually happening with traditional TV watching is a paradigm shift change that, in and of itself, is happening so fast and is so yet-to-be-defined, that none of us (producers, distributors, consumers) really understand what’s happening or where we’re going to end up before it all fish-tails back into someone’s control [if it ever does].
We’re all on the next frontier of media entertainment production and distribution and no one has even a clue what that really means for either end of the delivery pipe, and TV is just one of a plethora of devices and services that scrambling to become the defining device and/or service that does what iTunes has done for music, and the rest are trying to figure out which one to follow. We’re all in this gynormous and unwitting market test that doesn’t even know yet what it’s final goal is (other than for a few people to get really rich…).
I don’t see TV’s apparent failure as a failure, simply a step in an organic step to, to… what we don’t know yet.
I love my Apple TV, I hate reading all the people complain that they don’t want to spend the money on an HD TV. Yet I would guess that over half the people complaining have a LDC Monitor that has DVI input that is not be used. or spend $300.00 on cheap 22″ wide screen LCD Monitor. My Apple TV is connected to a monitor using a HDMI to DVI Cable and the picture is better then on a HD TV.
I have not personally tried it but I hear that you can use a DVI to VGA connector to get the picture on a standard VGA Monitor or to even convert the VGA to SVideo. Using some VCR you and covert the RGB Component Video to Composite, SVideo, or to a Co-ax signal.
Apple TV is NOT a flop… media extenders in general are not selling very well, Steve knew this when he made the product..
Apple TV is selling MORE units than any other Media Extender on the market…
its a fact JACK!
My beloved Apple TV $299
Canon 5D Digital Camera $2995
50″ DLP HDTV $2495
Being able to show photos to all my friends when we entertain, PRICELESS!
(But they always seem to end up watching YouTube after that anyway).
Add a DVD slot and I’m sold.
Yes, TV doesn’t offer what many people want from a video device like this, but in all fairness, TV isn’t advertised like the iPhone campaign. What the heck does everyone expect? The technology isn’t quite where it needs to be either to attract a lot of buyers. Where’s the true HD, and what do we really need to be able to get video input wirelessly from our computers and the Internet?
As soon as I upgrade my TV I’m gonna buy me one of these, and primarily for one reason – to watch video podcasts on my couch instead of being chained to a computer screen.
I only have one question. What HDMI switch boxes is it compatible with?
Since I’m ‘on’ what I would really like to see is an easy way to view DVDs on it. The AppleTV crack enables the USB socket to use an external HD – is there a way for an external USB laptop DVD drive to work too?
I bought my Apple TV because I thought I wanted to use it as a jukebox, playing my iTunes playlists through my living room stereo.
As it turns out I hardly use it for that at all. Instead, I’ve been using Handbrake and FortyTwo-DVD VXPlus to rip DVDs for my kids, plus looking at all the great photos with my family that used to sit idly on our Macs. It’s a great product now — and I can only think it’ll get better.
I’ve used it – a friend has one – but we both agree it isn’t quite there. The main features strike us as fantastic add-ons to what SHOULD be the main features. IMO AppleTV needs (from most important to least):
*StdDef (480p) hookups
*Tuner (OTA, cable, dish … I want to play what I want to play)
*DVR (for the stuff I can’t get from iTS)
*DVD slot (so I don’t have to spend half my life ripping)
*Direct method for buying iTS content (having my Mac on all the
time is a waste of electricty)
*Lower prices for season passes (99c per episode is perfect)
With the above they don’t even need to lower the price of the unit (& maybe could even get away with a raise). Without the above, I’m sticking w/my DVR + torrent method. My buddy understands completely.
I have been mulling this product for a long time and still have not been wooed to buy. I like the idea of being able to have a permanent allocation of my music and movies connected to my home stereo (rather than the Uni iPod doc) but the apple TV has not blown me over. The Hard drive size is a little lacking for those with extensive libraries. The visualizer is not all that exciting. I personally love the iTunes vis on while I listen to tunes from my MBP while in my studio, so I was disappointed with that. I also love internet Radio and there is no way to access that either.
The biggest thing for me in filling cost. It’s expensive to buy video content from iTunes. I have 250 DVD’s and as much as apple wishes I’m not buying them all on iTunes. I think for the price I would rather get a mac mini, plug it in to my TV and use that to pipe tunes through my home stereo since the bang for the buck is better.
Give it some cool vis options while playing music: iTunes vis, picture slide show. Give it access to internet radio, maybe a way to rip DVD’s ( I doubt this will ever happen) and I may be persuaded. Drop the price $150 – $200 and I’m sold.
1. Continously updated video news content. Make a deal with CNN, BBC or Bloomberg. Just like u tube you can select what news items you want to watch. Kind of like a video newswire.
2. Add web browser capabilities. Let me watch live stream from other sources (bloomberg TV etc).
3. Add more old TV shows.
4. HD movies may be too big. How about HD music videos or even TV series.
5. At least allow playing of DVDs through live streaming from synced computer. Ripping may be an issue for Apple but live streaming from DVDs breaks no copyright law.
6. How about a weather channel. Stock ticker etc, like iphone.
I want to be able to use my iphone as a remote control for the apple tv. i cant stand that remote it comes with.. using the iphone (or even the itouch) would make scrolling through thousands of movies and albums much easier. i would probably use my apple tv much more if this functionality could happen. why not make some sort of infrared peripheral to attach to the iphone?
Steve is a Genius. he has brought out this feature limited Apple TV to show the world how bad a device like this could be and to get people laughing at it before launching his knockout punch with Apple TV 2.0.