Comments on: Fuzzy picture for Apple TV
Not everything Apple put out this year was a success. Of course, Apple TV is just the latest product to enter a category that has yet to catch on: linking a PC to a TV.
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And who is realistically going to pay $2 a show for TV? Let's assume the average household has two hours of TV in their house a day (I think the number is really twice that), so that would be $8 a day, times 30 days - so over $200 for watching TV in a month. I know that is an exaggeration of what is realistic, but you can see why no one is interested in the iTunes model for watching television.
Supposedly the AppleTV can do HD. Well where's the content? The AppleTV was dead on arrival without HD content. I would argue that if Apple had debuted the AppleTV with HD content from iTunes (and rentable titles) it would be in a much different space right now.
I decided against an AppleTV in favor of an XBOX 360. While nowhere near as slick, with a little app called "Connect 360" I can access all of my media (pics, music, videos, podcasts) from my Mac on my 360. HD podcasts look fantastic. I can even download HD content (movies and TV Shows) from the XBOX marketplace. The selection is pitiful compared to iTunes, but there's a rumor of a Netflix blade coming soon. In addition I can also play Halo 3 - something you just can't do with an AppleTV.
Apple needs to debut rentable HD content at January's Macworld. If they don't - I don't expect to see "The Year of AppleTV" in 2008, 2009 or ever.
Dead product walking without HD content.
This is like Alpha test version, it should have never even been released.
Just my 2 cents.
probably just some dumb PC user. :-)
Mr Gates is already on his knees servicing them? Certainly, as
consumers I think we know who is looking out for our interests,
and it ain't MS.
and even speakers running around the downstairs of my house. I
also have a fast growing iTunes video library (that now lives on
it's own FireWire drive).
Hey, just like the first iPod, sure AppleTV is somewhat lacking,
but I love my AppleTV! I have bought a few movies from Apple,
but due to the size and the so so quality, I'm waiting to buy
more until Apple improves the picture quality and keeps the
size to at least what they are now. If Apple can get HD quality
video and surround sound, that would be awesome!
What I love about the AppleTV...
One: no DVD's boxes sitting all over the place (I have too many
the way it is and I am about at the point that I have stopped
buying movies on DVD). With AppleTV, everything is digital and
is on a hard drive that is quick to access, and all in the comfort
of my couch!
Two: I watch TV programs when I want, and as often as I want,
commercial free. I love this!
Three: YouTube. YouTube has a lot of trash on it, but as a
Jeeper, there are some really good short videos of guys wheeling
their Jeeps. The YouTube software needs some added features
(such as accessing individual playlists, and better search, plus
the rating does not work), but I love it!
Four: It's like having a massive jukebox all at the control from
my TV. When I am not playing video, I am always playing music.
I use the streaming mode, which works great!
Five: Photos! I can look at all my photos on my Sony LCD TV.
Wow, they look great, and it's a great way to show photos to
family.
Apple, please stick with AppleTV and keep improving it. Don't
give up on it. Like I said, I remember everyone yawning at the
first iPod and saying that Apple needs to stick with Macs. Yes,
stick with Macs, but products like the iPod and AppleTV make
the Mac even better. My AppleTV has merged my Mac and my
TV.
My xbox 360 extends it into my bedroom so I can watch all my great content in HD.
Has your Apple TV changed your life that much?
Or could you have a far better solution that is cheaper after you buy all that crud off itunes?
MythTV is even better than your solution.
I love the easy set up, simple (beautiful!) interface and totally silent AppleTV box.
Having the family photos available on the Bigscreen is also been really popular around the house. One fun thing is to download photos from the digicam DURING parties and have them playing on the bigscreen while people are still partying... I have had people ask "how did you do that?"
One of the worst things about the appleTV (from my POV) is trying to explain what appleTV is for and what it does. Most people just don't even associate their TV with all the good (and bad) stuff on a computer.
I think Apple could do a much better job of marketing the AppleTV. I remember only one very early TV commercial about AppleTV. I think that some commercials similar to the old "switcher" commercials, featuring real users talking about how they use AppleTV might be effective...
That is not to say AppleTV can't be improved. For instance, the iTunes Movies are, I'm afraid, pretty poor. Ripped DVD's are almost indistinguishable from the DVD on AppleTV. Another thing that would improve the AppleTV would be to have the option to take the TV out of the equation, i.e. a remote that would give the same info that the appleTV shows on a TV. Surround sound would also be nice, although, for me, it's not a big deal.
As regards those who write the AppleTV off without actually living with one... try it. You may be pleasantly surprised.
As you might guess.. I really like my AppleTV.
as many others have pointed out, it's a head of it's time). The
magic has nothing to do with TV shows, iTunes or music, but
pictures. I have seen the AppleTV brought into half a dozen
homes with the only premise of bringing their digital photos to
life, bringing them close, making them accessible, rediscovering
them, and the box has become the darling of the families. Then
comes the videos - the home videos - same thing, and people
just love it. This is Europe, we don't have TV shows or movies
from iTunes, but we do indeed have lots of digital pictures - and
videos. YouTube access is great for those technically inclined,
but grandmother can play with the family albums and she loves
to.
With a little bit of marketing, the AppeTV could become a
'blockbuster' of the holiday season!
I think for me, the big thing missing is rentals. Why on earth would I want to *buy* tv episodes for most shows, when I could have them for a shorter period of time, possibly, for a smaller fee? I would probably just delete them anyway because they take up space. Likewise with movies - the itunes store has lower resolution movies and not as many features on movies. Perfect for rentals, but to own?
I don't think it's Apple that's the hold-out for rentals, I think it's a movie industry that likes dvd sales, contracts with movie channels, and hates Apple's one-price system and tyranny over digital music.
my Hauppauge WinTV 150. Too bad I can't get MPEG-2 support
for AppleTV like I can for QuickTime.
...and it had the 6.5" footprint of the Mac Mini and Airport Extreme
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/10/how-to-play-divx-and-
xvid-on-your-apple-tv/
advertised titles there's little to rent. Their movie library if filled
with titles one would find on a Hong Kong street corner or flea
market. Laughable, amateurish, appalling movies that look like
they're been shot in someone's basement. Much of the catalog is
purchase only. New releases are not available to rent for 3-4
weeks, if ever. Quite a few older titles that have been staples at
Blockbuster, or gathering dust at a the local supermarket, are
purchase only.
VUDU moderators are blocking forum posts critical of the
product.
"Vudu relies on a peer-to-peer network system for faster
downloading. So, essentially, this company is using your
bandwidth to help it save money it would have otherwise spent
on its own servers and bandwidth." - Walt Mossberg, WSJ
"Plenty of the movies are pure filler. They range from no-name
horror cheapies (?San Franpsycho? or ?Night Fangs,? anyone?) to
superniche flicks like ?The History of Texas Longhorns Football?
and ?Yoga for Depression and Gastro-Intestinal Disorders.?
Another reason: Vudu?s catalog is a victim of what Hollywood
calls distribution windows. After a movie leaves theaters, it
becomes available through other channels in a strict order: (1)
hotels and airlines; (2) DVD; (3) pay-per-view television; (4)
movie channels like HBO and Starz; (5) TV and everywhere else."
- David Pogue, NYTimes
"The average consumer, as long as he or she doesn't have true
control over downloads thanks to technology such as digital
rights management, is going to have a hard time justifying an
expensive set-top box when it has neither the channel-surfing
capabilities of a TiVo digital video recorder nor the low to
nonexistent price of a DVR provided by a cable television
company." - ZDNet
"That doesn't count for much when you can't get "the right
movie, right now". The studios don't want to rent new releases,
because they make more off sales... VUDU sucks and there is no
reason to believe they will get better." - "Name Withheld by
Request", User Experience Architect, VUDU Inc. 11/24/07
My extended review:
http://theillustratedconservative.blogspot.com/2007/11/vudu-
pointless-disappointing.html
which wirelessly connects on N, G, B to your router- uses media center and supports Xvid.
All that's needed is a killer app to RSS torrent files.
Apple TV is just the beginning. iPod was around a long time before it took off. There is the whole chicken/egg thing.
First there was iTunes to RIP your CDs. then came iPod to carry your ripped music around on. Eventually there was iTunes Store to buy content, especially "singles", so people started buying just the songs they wanted, including oldies from LP and Tape days without having to buy a whole CD.
So now there is Apple TV, and some content on the apple store. I'm sure over time it will fill out.
I don't feel a need. Granted, old fashioned TV is getting problematic as they load up even more adds and less content. And then there is the problem of the networks now loading adds on top of content. Those Network Icons in the lower right were annoying enough, most of them aren't even see through like CBS.
However, there are other mechanisms like comcast on demand that Apple will have to contend with.
So other forms of "TV" may be coming, but there is already substantial competition from Comcast who does things in a familiar format, so it will probably take much longer to take off.
I don't think they thought this idea all the way through. Even the concept is a little loopy. If you are going to charge for the movies/tv shows to show on your TV, come up with a cable to connect (or blue tooth connection) from computer to tv and supply the application as part of the Apple OS.
Just making a new toy to get the public to shell out yet another wad of cash...
... and another thing, I don't know about you, but I don't hang with too many people who make $20 an hour. A couple of my in-laws, perhaps, but in my world the average pay is between $10 - $14 an hour. My wife as an LPN for a major hospital doesn't make $20 an hour.
Reality check, please?
I realize they would have to work some deal with the movie makers, and whoever makes css and whatnot to legally allow them to do that and whatnot, so it will probably never happen, but it might be a good entry point.
I also know you can do this now with third party software, but they are much more time consuming than the average user would put into it, especially since there is extra work for tagging and album art and whatnot.
Imagine if you could put one of your dvd's in a drive and either choose to let iTunes rip it to m4v, or immediately download a copy, perhaps for some small amount of cash. I would be much more interested at that point, but perhaps I am an edge case.
because that would kill the iTunes video store and eliminate any
options they would have for subscription or movie downloads,
whch I think is very profitable for them. The real answer is to
turn Apple TV into a DVR, like we all think it should be. Screw
the TV networks, eventhough most are connected to movie
studios. The fact is if you could record a TV show, place it on
your ipod or watch off your Apple TV, it would be huge (and the
Zune / Media Center already doeas this).
just need to add video (DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD) ripping now...
Apple have to be careful as they can't be seen to add to the piracy problem and digital video copyng is still illegal in many countries. They should enable a DVD rip function where legislation allows (maybe based on iTS location) and negotiate DRM'd rips to broaden acceptance, allow a full rip to a navigable .mov to preserve the full DVD experience and get a move on with a proper iTS.
McD
the Apple TV. Sure it was 3 times as expensive, but now I have an
entire computer, webcam staring at me off of my flat screen, and
any content at any time on my TV. And with the wireless keyboard
and mouse even my wife sits there on the couch doing Photo Books
in Iphoto, where before she would never sit down at the Imac to do
it. MacMini is the way to go
McD
hacked to play all vids, and while that was cool I ended up going
back to the regular software (though still on the 100GB HD I
upgraded it to), it was just simpler. The only things wrong with
it are minor (needs folder organization, ability to put non-m4v
files under TV Shows heading in iTunes, etc), IMO. It would be
nice if it did 1080p video and DolbyDigital output, but few
people need both or indeed either of those features. Much like
the first iPod, this is just the beginning for this device, assuming
Apple can line up the media to support its successors.
The video selection on iTMS is way better than on XBLM, btw.
Yes, XBLM has some HD selections, but in the end I'd rather
watch a really nice 480p encode of something on the aTV than
take 2x longer to download it in 720p on the Xbox, and then the
visual quality difference is minor at best. Plus, there just isn't
much available on XBLM if you're not a fan of Spike, CBS, or
Cartoon Network, IMO. Remember 480p is DVD-quality; are we
really so jaded we don't think that's good anymore?
Plus, watching B5 DVDs on the Xbox360 was likely the culprit
last time I got the RROD, so I avoid using it for video. I did like
the free Looney Toons Ep they put up a couple of weeks ago, I'll
give them that. If they ever design a device that can run for
weeks and months without failure (like my AppleTV) to connect
to XBLM I'll revisit using it for my video download needs.
the Apple TV. Sure it was 3 times as expensive, but now I have an
entire computer, webcam staring at me off of my flat screen, and
any content at any time on my TV. And with the wireless keyboard
and mouse even my wife sits there on the couch doing Photo Books
in Iphoto, where before she would never sit down at the Imac to do
it. MacMini is the way to go. And with EyeTV, it does DVR as well
center I can watch TV and still browse through my e-mail at the same time. I do not have to pay to watch the TV. Is this the same thing as the Apple TV?
Of course to really take advantage of the system you have to buy $2100 dollars worth of home entertainment gear and a $120 (300 gig) portable hard drive. As you can't watch HDTV without an HDTV and 5.1 surround stereo system.
So it kind of makes since that you can't watch HD on the ITV because you would have to have a DVI or HDMI out and of course a HDTV.
- Transparent Shill
- by Suebi November 26, 2007 3:29 PM PST
- People don't like to pay so much for the razor, when they know
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Showing 2 of 3 pages (110 Comments)it's all about the blades. IMHO Apple could get somewhere with
it if they A. incorporate Elgato's ATSC receiver and DVR tech,
and B. make it truly HD-capable. Like 1080i MPEG-2 transport
streams as they're broadcast. Lo-Fi is okay for looking at in a
little window while banging on a spreadsheet, but NG at home
on the 42-incher.
I'm amazed that Apple hasn't realized the powerful lure of free
over-the-air ATSC.