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AppleTV the Worst Tech for 2007?

gkarris

gkarris

macrumors G3
Original poster
Dec 31, 2004
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"No escape from Reality...”
News.com in the US had this article. I'm trying to post it now, but after all the fuss about iTunes rentals, it has disappeared (coincidence?), but news.com.au still has it:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,22980938-5014108,00.html

The worst technology of 2007
Vista

Five years of work culminated in the consumer launch of this Windows operating system in February. It revealed the new, flashy Aero interface with floating windows, desktop gadgets and preview screens, as well as better security measures, parental controls and more detailed computer searches.

These excellent additions, however, were tempered by the time it had taken to develop them and the cost of the new software. Not only did the top Vista package cost $751, it also required major hardware upgrades for most computers.

Plus, installing Vista meant saying goodbye to some programs and peripherals such as printers and webcams as many did not work with the system. Some computer sellers extended the life of Windows XP in response.

Apple TV

A RARE chink in Apple's armour of well-designed, easy-to-use products is this gadget. Designed to be the link between your iPod and your television, the Apple TV set-top box is a cute gadget that falls down on several fronts.

The box itself features a hard drive (40GB or 160GB), wireless internet connectivity to sync content from an iPod and surf the net, and TV connections including an HDMI port.

The most obvious flaw in its creation is the lack of TV shows and movies available for your iPod in Australia. In the US, Apple sells TV shows through its online iTunes store, but this feature is yet to launch in Australia. This leaves only songs and music videos for it to work with, making its $579 price tag seem extravagant.

Apple TV will also help you surf the internet on your TV, letting you watch YouTube videos on a big screen, but so can the PlayStation 3. Other set-top boxes with hard drives also let you record TV shows.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Found it - from "Popular Mechanics" article:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/4236755.html?page=9
 
The Apple TV was a let down, mainly because Apple did not update it at all. Mine sits in a box, I don't want to deal with it. I am much happier running a Mac Mini in the entertainment system.
 
I never thought it was anything special. The xbox 360 does everything and then some for me than an Apple TV could/can do. Hell, why not be able to play a game or two and pay less than the Apple TV costs :p
 
Airforce said:
I never thought it was anything special. The xbox 360 does everything and then some for me than an Apple TV could/can do. Hell, why not be able to play a game or two and pay less than the Apple TV costs :p
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You know, I tried and tried to get my music and video (at least the non-Apple protected ones) to play on my XBox 360, but couldn't after a few nights of trying.

I got an :apple:TV and got it running in 5 minutes.

XBox 360 I'm having too much fun with playing games and HD DVD's anyways... :p
 
gkarris said:
You know, I tried and tried to get my music and video (at least the non-Apple protected ones) to play on my XBox 360, but couldn't after a few nights of trying.

I got an :apple:TV and got it running in 5 minutes.

XBox 360 I'm having too much fun with playing games and HD DVD's anyways... :p
Click to expand...

It's simple. Just get Connect 360. $20 and you can play any non-Apple protected video, music file, or any of your photos right on your 360. Works flawlessly and takes all of 5 minutes to setup. If you're not concerned about playing content bought from iTunes, it's a great, and cheap solution.
 
ipoddin said:
It's simple. Just get Connect 360. $20 and you can play any non-Apple protected video, music file, or any of your photos right on your 360. Works flawlessly and takes all of 5 minutes to setup. If you're not concerned about playing content bought from iTunes, it's a great, and cheap solution.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, my iTunes library is running on my PC server, though...
 
For browsing the internet and watching video on my TV I'm happy with my PS3. It's easy to watch videos, of any kind and it's easy to upgrade the HD. The internet browser is also easy to use with dual analog sticks. Plus if I want more options I can easily install Linux. All without voiding the warranty.

But I will admit, it's probably easier to do with ATV. And there's no wireless syncing with the PS3 (20GB version).
 
It will be interesting to see whether the :apple:TV 'update', that was mentioned briefly during a press-conference a few weeks back, actually materializes.

I'd love to see better photo browsing features, just like the iPod Classic can do as well as 'wake-on-lan' feature, for the machine that's sync'd. Apart from that it suits it's, iPod for TV, purpose quite well.

iTunes Rentals would be an interesting feature, but the pricing will need to be at least 1/2 that of the traditional DVD rentals to make it fly - since I'm paying for bandwidth and storage, for something that'll most likely be a poorer quality product.

The RRP of the :apple:TV is too much $ IMO, so I bought a 40Gb unit from the Apple refurb store and it turned out to be what appeared to be a brand new unit anyway, in a shrink-wrapped retail box, with everything wrapped inside the box as new. :)
 
Danksi said:
The RRP of the :apple:TV is too much $ IMO, so I bought a 40Gb unit from the Apple refurb store and it turned out to be what appeared to be a brand new unit anyway, in a shrink-wrapped retail box, with everything wrapped inside the box as new. :)
Click to expand...

Lucky... Apple probably ran out and didn't take it down from the store in time, so sent out new ones instead....
 
It works, there have been no major manufacturing flaws and it does everything advertised.

I could find *many* devices which don't fulfil any of those criteria.
 
I'm sorry, but the people who b***h about the ATV are the ones who do not have one. I love being able to fill it up with movies and take it to a friends house and plug it in, I like watching my video podcasts on the couch, I enjoy having a party, playing music, and my pictures are being shown on the tv, I like having the server in the other room and being able to pick any one of my movies/TV Show/Songs. I like the fact that anyone can bring over their laptop and play something on my TV. YES there are some limitations, nothing that has not been hacked yet. The BIG limitation I see in the lack of HD available movies. I am all for apple selling add-ons in the future, but straight out the box it is fantastic. It doesn't need to play games, it doesn't need to surf the internet, I just want it to sit in my living room, play some media, and not drown out the sound by fans. Go buy one, it will change your life.
 
I have a mini and an ATV hooked up to my HDTV.

I prefer the mini, but... as a parent? The ATV is phenomenal.

It's easy enough for my 2.5 year old to use (and obviously the 7 year old can use it), and I can easily limit what they can watch.

I know, I'll go to hell for letting anyone under the age of 21 watch TV instead of teaching them ancient Greek or whatever, but... I love my ATV. As a device for adults it can mostly be replaced by an iPod (although it has some nice characteristics) but as a simple-to-access media device? It's awesome.
 
I love my :apple:TV. It's great to have so much at my fingertips with the apple remote (music, movies, podcasts, photos, etc.). It does exactly what I need it to. I love being able to flip through hundreds of movies to find a movie to watch instead of through tons of cases.
 
I run a state of the art movie theatre on a college campus that's capable of HD projection. In the coming months we plan on using Apple TV and Front Row to run the theatre's SD programming. So much for Apple TV being a piece of crap machine that doesn't do anything.
 
nick.hobbie said:
I'm sorry, but the people who b***h about the ATV are the ones who do not have one. I love being able to fill it up with movies and take it to a friends house and plug it in, I like watching my video podcasts on the couch, I enjoy having a party, playing music, and my pictures are being shown on the tv, I like having the server in the other room and being able to pick any one of my movies/TV Show/Songs. I like the fact that anyone can bring over their laptop and play something on my TV. YES there are some limitations, nothing that has not been hacked yet. The BIG limitation I see in the lack of HD available movies. I am all for apple selling add-ons in the future, but straight out the box it is fantastic. It doesn't need to play games, it doesn't need to surf the internet, I just want it to sit in my living room, play some media, and not drown out the sound by fans. Go buy one, it will change your life.
Click to expand...


i wanted to state my opinion but i dont really have to anymore....but i will anyway very well said. I LOVE MY ATV- it seriously progressed my love for movies and i love when my niece/nephews come over and i have every pixar/shrek/whatever kids movie at my fingertips. and my friends LOVE it also cause when were bored and wanna watch a favorite.. its never been easier. as for HD content. i find my ways to get them.. ;) . sure some things could be better but my car could have wings and fly but its perfect how it already is. any atv doubters in my mind are using thhis masterpiece wrong. i used mine today 3 times alone. and that isnt uncommon. standard cable isnt being replaced- but i do love having my options now. in summary- god bless :apple:tv
 
Are you guys actually happy with the picture quality of the downloaded content? I was considering the device until I saw the display on a top of the line plasma TV in the Apple store and thought to myself, "it's gonna look even worse on MY TV!"
So I'm holding out.
 
It can't be called the "worst technology" as what the :apple:TV does, it does simply and easily.

The problem is that people didn't buy it, and hence it was never updated. Without movie studios on Apple's side, it was never going to work.
 
Picture Quality

Pixel19 said:
Are you guys actually happy with the picture quality of the downloaded content? I was considering the device until I saw the display on a top of the line plasma TV in the Apple store and thought to myself, "it's gonna look even worse on MY TV!"
So I'm holding out.
Click to expand...

I don't think picture quality is an issue, if you rip DVDs that you own. I've seen ATV ripped DVDs from Handbrake. The picture quality on a 42" HDTV streamed from a Mac is virtually indistinguishable from a DVD. Handbrake and AppleTV. Thats the ticket.
 
Worst tech? No freaking way.

Apple definitely missed the mark, but it seems to do what it promises well. It's desperately in need of an update, but even without it I don't think it's really any worse than any of the competing boxes that do similar things.
 
kagharaht said:
I don't think picture quality is an issue, if you rip DVDs that you own. I've seen ATV ripped DVDs from Handbrake. The picture quality on a 42" HDTV streamed from a Mac is virtually indistinguishable from a DVD. Handbrake and AppleTV. Thats the ticket.
Click to expand...
Well sure if you rip DVD's yourself, I'm talking about the iTunes video content, it's so compressed and lo-res that getting a good picture out of it is impossible.
 
thepandamancan said:
I run a state of the art movie theatre on a college campus that's capable of HD projection. In the coming months we plan on using Apple TV and Front Row to run the theatre's SD programming. So much for Apple TV being a piece of crap machine that doesn't do anything.
Click to expand...

State of the art movie theatre and you're going to use an Apple TV? I call shenanigans :p
 
Definitely in need of updating

It's definitely not the worst tech product. It does what it's supposed to do and does it very well. Anytime people come to my house they are always "wow'ed" by it's power, simplicity, and elegance. The main problem is that Apple has locked it down from 3rd party development and then ignored it.

The AppleTV is in need of an update bad...it needs better photo browsing, the ability to browse pics and listen to music, Internet Radio, and online movie rental. I really hope the movie companies don't limit the viewing time to 24 hours. It really doesn't make it worth the time of the sync and download if you only have 24 hours. :(

Hopefully this month the AppleTV will get some much needed love and attention.
 
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