I think it is 80 Microsoft points for one dollar. 100 points = 100 pennies would be understandable. The only reason to do what they are doing is to create confusion. 79 points seems cheaper than 99 cents.
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Did the XBOX 360 just kill the TV?
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I think it is 80 Microsoft points for one dollar. 100 points = 100 pennies would be understandable. The only reason to do what they are doing is to create confusion. 79 points seems cheaper than 99 cents.
I hate Microsoft because:
1. The first computer I ever owned was Windows ME and gave me virus after virus which constantly screwed up term papers way back when. This not including all the printer driver problems that forced me into the school library at 9:00 in the morning every time I had a paper due. That's enough for me to hate them.
2. IE is a lousy browser hurts the growth of new web technologies.
3. I had three original XBOXs that I went through in a span of a year. Third I had to purchase on my own because Microsoft said that they would not exchange it.
I don't know what you meant in your last sentence but I can assure you I'm not the only one who has had a bad experience with Microsoft. After my first Dell, I switched Mac and looked back. Is that good enough for you?
As for the Apple TV, it is long past stagnant after watching the consistent annual software updates that the XBOX has. It's hard for me to believe that Apple would just watch the opportunity pass them by.
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Ultimately no one has found the solution yet. This is my solution:
I don't know why Apple hasn't allowed iPhone apps on the Apple TV or have it's own separate app store. I think that's where the potential would lie. Anyone could build in Last.fm/Pandora, Hulu, CNN or any station plugin. The HBOs, Showtimes, & Starz could have a recurring subscription plan (as in iPhone OS 3.0) that would essentially kill the cable box. Give iPhone users the ability to stream their subscriptions when LTE rolls out. Give functionality to the USB so you can add a hard drive. Add bluetooth functionality for a keyboard and mouse.
I think we need to come up with a more universal definition of "killed".
A Mac Mini is more than 2.5x the cost of an AppleTV. Unless you don't have another computer, I don't really see the advantage of your setup.
eBay.
AppleTV < Mac mini + Netflix, Boxee, Hulu, and External HD
I have both and have used both to watch media as a cable replacement. THey both have positives and some negatives but when I am not consciously trying to use the xbox, meaning I just sit down and want to watch something, I always use the apple tv. Be it a better user interface, a simpler method of transferring content, or the fact that it excels in an all apple environment. However I do wish that the apple tv got some of the cool updates that other set top boxes are getting.
While it's sad that the Apple TV has essentially stagnated since it's introduction, it's a little hard for me to believe that they have given up. It's interesting to see all the recent hirings that Apple has made. They have hired multiple people from ATI, a former executive of XBOX marketing overseas, PA Semi, Papermaster amongst others. While I'm sure that the iPhone has something to do with this, I wonder if they would serving double duty on an Apple TV. With the recent hirings in the past couple of months, they have all revolved around graphics and gaming. Couple that with a recent Ubisoft game designer who said that he thought the Apple TV was becoming a game console.
I'm not really a gamer but one can't help realize that this may be where they are going and then some. I realize that there are a lot of reasons why Apple would never do this, but it's also hard to believe that these recent hirings, they were solely about the iPhone when they are really limited with what they can do graphically. The iPhone is essentially dependent on the Power VR chips from Imagination which they recently made a heavy investment in.
Call me crazy but I think there will be an Apple TV gaming machine with a Game + App Store within the next two years. It will probably have it's own powerful, but low cost chip, probably because it will be made by Apple. Whatever device that will rule the living room will have to be a jack of all trades.
If the 360 ever gets this new Hulu app, I'm going to sell both my myTVs.
I don't know what "Hulu app" you're referring to, but Hulu isn't going to all of a sudden just find one box it likes. I read an interview recently that Hulu totally believes in staying on PCs and off TVs. Considering the obvious deal that it's owned by TV companies, duh. That's why they killed the plug-in for the ATV.
I downloaded Hulu Desktop, and it's very neat. But it's for computers. Yes, you can hook a computer up to a television, but that's different for most people from a box made for TV -- Blu-ray player, satellite/cable box, Apple TV, game system.
The same article said as people do things like use Mac Minis for media centers, entities like Hulu will have to cave and get onto TVs. But don't expect some magic portal. Hulu still doesn't make a fraction of the revenue that TV ads do for the shows. It's the same deal for us with Web ads versus newspaper print ads. Nobody has figured that deal out, and nobody has figured out how to make good money with ad-based streaming.
One last thing about the Xbox 360: Check out its power usage. That and the PS3 suck long and hard when it comes to power consumption. I think they pull double the wattage of an average computer. I'm a green nerd, so I'll stick with my MBP and my power-sipping Blu-ray player. Now if someone will give me $3,000, I'll go buy an LED TV.
People are talking about the fan noise here, its not the fans that are loud, its the DVD drive. Install games to your HDD and its about as loud as a macbook with fans on half speed. DVD playback isn't as loud as playing games because the drive doesn't have to spin as fast.
Not sure how long ago you tried this but I can play 1080p 5.1 audio .avi files on both my xbox 360 and ps3. This allows me to rip blurays to one file, then have the flexibility to choose which system I use. Also, depending on the program you can have album art show up when you are browsing a media library, via it a usb portable device, or a streaming library. It just depends on the application you are using to stream.
maybe not... but....
To partially answer OP's original question...and to stray slightly off topic...
MS might be trying to kill offTV... something I'm not sure they will actually pull off, but I do think that Microsoft might be single handedly preventing the Beatles from ever getting their music on iTunes.
Not that it really matters at this point in time... I have to think that most Beatle fans have all the music they need from the group. I mean, so much stuff is already out there and available.
But, seeing as MS has this "Exclusive" deal with the Beatles for Rock Band, this September... doesn't it seem unlikely that Apple (Beatles) and Apple (Apple) will ever "Come Together" (pun intended) and distribute Beatle music on iTunes.
Also, with the newly re-mastered re-releases of all the UK versions of the Fab 4's albums (CDs), I think it's unlikely that iTunes will ever see an actual Beatle song (aside from a cover version) on the iTunes site.
To partially answer OP's original question...and to stray slightly off topic...
MS might be trying to kill off
TV... something I'm not sure they will actually pull off, but I do think that Microsoft might be single handedly preventing the Beatles from ever getting their music on iTunes.Not that it really matters at this point in time... I have to think that most Beatle fans have all the music they need from the group. I mean, so much stuff is already out there and available.
But, seeing as MS has this "Exclusive" deal with the Beatles for Rock Band, this September... doesn't it seem unlikely that Apple (Beatles) and Apple (Apple) will ever "Come Together" (pun intended) and distribute Beatle music on iTunes.
Also, with the newly re-mastered re-releases of all the UK versions of the Fab 4's albums (CDs), I think it's unlikely that iTunes will ever see an actual Beatle song (aside from a cover version) on the iTunes site.
I think we need to come up with a more universal definition of "killed".
A Mac Mini is more than 2.5x the cost of an AppleTV. Unless you don't have another computer, I don't really see the advantage of your setup.
You can play any media file with a Mac Mini including Netflix and the front row interface is pretty close to the
tv interface. Plus you get a full fledged computer in your living room. There are adavantages, but like you say, you do pay for it. But costs not an issue, a Macmini is a more complete solution.Yeah the issue there is AVI. It can play 480p m4v/mp4 fine but not 720p with 5.1 so I am not going to reencode my stuff just for the xbox. I would rather just buy another ATV, I don't understand the need for AVI/WMV-HD for HD stuff, it's retarded. MP4 is a broad standard and AVI/WMV is not, just like MS trying to make their own standards for everything, forget what the rest of the world wants/uses.
I don't know what "Hulu app" you're referring to, but Hulu isn't going to all of a sudden just find one box it likes. I read an interview recently that Hulu totally believes in staying on PCs and off TVs. Considering the obvious deal that it's owned by TV companies, duh. That's why they killed the plug-in for the ATV.
I downloaded Hulu Desktop, and it's very neat. But it's for computers. Yes, you can hook a computer up to a television, but that's different for most people from a box made for TV -- Blu-ray player, satellite/cable box, Apple TV, game system.
The same article said as people do things like use Mac Minis for media centers, entities like Hulu will have to cave and get onto TVs. But don't expect some magic portal. Hulu still doesn't make a fraction of the revenue that TV ads do for the shows. It's the same deal for us with Web ads versus newspaper print ads. Nobody has figured that deal out, and nobody has figured out how to make good money with ad-based streaming.
One last thing about the Xbox 360: Check out its power usage. That and the PS3 suck long and hard when it comes to power consumption. I think they pull double the wattage of an average computer. I'm a green nerd, so I'll stick with my MBP and my power-sipping Blu-ray player. Now if someone will give me $3,000, I'll go buy an LED TV.
I probably jumped the gun saying I would sell both of the AppleTVs. I'd keep them around for Airtunes, and watching my iTunes store content on my TVs. Having my entire music library at my disposal in any room in my house, controlled from my iPhone, is simply too awesome to let go.
Right now, all I use my AppleTVs for is movie rentals, and Hulu on Boxee. Boxee has become an annoyance to me, so much that plugging my Macbook Pro into either of my TVs is far more enjoyable.
It would be wonderful to have the same Hulu desktop app on my 360 or PS3.
You can play any media file with a Mac Mini including Netflix and the front row interface is pretty close to the
Yeah. The original statement that I responded to was "Mac mini + Boxee killed the AppleTV". Since Boxee is available for the AppleTV, I didn't see the advantage of paying 2.5x as much. But you are right that there are other advantages to the Mac Mini such as Netflix.
However, I would not say that a Mac Mini is a "more complete solution" for me. The AppleTV does sync and stream seamlessly with my primary Mac. It does offer more convenient access to YouTube. It is a much better rental experience than the Mini. I don't need to keep a attached hard drive in my entertainment center.
I have a better DVD player than the Mini in my home theatre system. And I don't like to surf the internet on the couch looking at my TV.
I fully acknowledge that a Mini is better for some people. I just don't think it is a flat out better choice. I don't even think that a Mini is better for most people.
My xbox 360 already made my 3 apple tv's collect dust. Netflix was a huge move for Microsoft. It's too bad Apple is too thick headed to make the required changes to make this Apple TV worth a ****.
Netflix on 360 a good move? Yes. Forcing you to have a gold membership to use it? Not so much. It's far cheaper to use a Roku than a 360 when talking about TV.
Keep in mind, very little of the US public has enough bandwidth for reliable streaming...Apple knows this. When the time is right, they will move to streaming. Its not the right time yet (unfortunately)
I have an Xbox 360 but when the need for a media centre comes I won't be using that. It's a good games system but it's much too loud for media centre usage, and they're still quite prone to breaking.
I imagine it costs a lot to run too.
I'll be after something that wirelessly streams my iTunes library to a TV and the Apple TV seems the best method to do so.
I imagine it costs a lot to run too.
I'll be after something that wirelessly streams my iTunes library to a TV and the Apple TV seems the best method to do so.
It is a little noisy, and prone to RROD. Though I have yet to suffer that since DEC 2005.
But when all is said and done, it offers for me more for your € than the AppleTV. 360 marketplace, has more movies for Ireland than iTunes, it also works great with my mac and connect 360 for streaming anything I''ve downloaded, ripped, iTunes, iPhoto etc...
Add SKY TV integration for UK & Irish viewers into the mix shortly and I really can't see any reason to purchase an AppleTV.
AppleTV comes with 1 years warranty as standard, 40GB HDD and costs €299
Xbox 360 comes with 1 years standard warranty / 3 years RROD warranty and 60GB HDD €210
For me the 360 wins hands down in that regard.
But when all is said and done, it offers for me more for your € than the AppleTV. 360 marketplace, has more movies for Ireland than iTunes, it also works great with my mac and connect 360 for streaming anything I''ve downloaded, ripped, iTunes, iPhoto etc...
Add SKY TV integration for UK & Irish viewers into the mix shortly and I really can't see any reason to purchase an AppleTV.
AppleTV comes with 1 years warranty as standard, 40GB HDD and costs €299
Xbox 360 comes with 1 years standard warranty / 3 years RROD warranty and 60GB HDD €210
For me the 360 wins hands down in that regard.
Not for me!
In the US prices
Xbox 360 Elite(120GB)-399
Wi-Fi add on-75(Amazon)
Or
TV(160GB) 329
Also over all iTunes support for big for me(and I have lots of old DRM covered tracks) I'm not saying the Xbox is worse for everyone, but for me its clearly AppleTV.
In the US prices
Xbox 360 Elite(120GB)-399
Wi-Fi add on-75(Amazon)
Or
TV(160GB) 329Also over all iTunes support for big for me(and I have lots of old DRM covered tracks) I'm not saying the Xbox is worse for everyone, but for me its clearly AppleTV.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't want a video game console in my house. I might be a bit old but I have no interest in video games. The Apple TV works but really needs a size increase to compete in the living room. 1TB for $399 would be a good starting point.
I agree that the 360 does a good job as a media center, but I would much rather use an Apple TV. I stream my movies folder, iPhoto, and iTunes from my mac to my Xbox 360 using Connect 360, but after I move into my apartment for college I will be buying a 24" display for my Mac to use for design/photography/media viewing.
I think the best thing to do is if you own a Macbook/pro, buy a mini display port -> dvi adapter and just hook it up to your LCD TV and use front row. Voila, no need for any new hardware.
I think the best thing to do is if you own a Macbook/pro, buy a mini display port -> dvi adapter and just hook it up to your LCD TV and use front row. Voila, no need for any new hardware.