Another great article Daniel. Really enjoyed it. I hope that some engineers over at Apple will take the time to read this review and wishlist - as it highlights a lot of my thoughts on the unit as well.
Stuart Livett
· 2 years ago
Hi Daniel,
You observation about Apple TV are certainly interesting and I particularly like your comments about the nurturing of an Apple ecosystem. This is certainly the thinking over at Apple as creating a single media interface in the living room is the holy grail for an eclectic and sometimes surprising variety of companies. This is evidence of that tired old, but true cliche; digital convergence,and is part of their long term ambition to connect all Apple devices together in a symbiotic relationship across all platforms. This would create a very strong combination of services that follows a successful trend of selling media and communication services in bundles. However, there are a number of obstacles that will need to negotiate around if they are going to be a major media network of the future. One of those obstacles is that Apple has committed much of its future to turning out outstanding and almost revolutionary devices. This is a tricky path as whilst Apple has transformed itself by creating the iPod and iTunes to feed it with, the pressure to keep producing outstanding products and sell them in meaningful volumes in a very competitive market is gargantuan.
The future of 'television' on the internet will be shaped by the inclusive and agnostic nature of the network which is the opposite direction to that chosen by Apple. The direction of internet TV is towards creating the most amount of quality connections between content providers and consumers. This means operating on the most widely adopted common standards which is never going to be Apple. The company has been catapulted back in to pole position in many ways but it can never dominate the wider internet television market globally. That position is reserved for a revolutionary move by a pure play operator and not a device retailer. Sorry Steve!
Matt
· 2 years ago
The future you describe may not be possible on a current Apple TV but it sure is on a Mac Mini - I'm living it right now!
With a Mac Mini attached to a 42" LCD TV via HDMI, I can watch any downloaded content, via FrontRow, iTunes, Miro, Joost, YouTube, in Quicktime, DivX, Windows Media, whatever really. It has a player for standard DVDs, and coupled with a USB Elgato TV tuner I can get HDTV and PVR functions. Most of this is driveable via the Apple Remote, although a wireless keyboard with built-in trackball is a lovely complement to the remote.
It can also rip CDs/DVDs, encode to other formats, act as a NAS and streaming server for all the other machines in the house, sync the iPod and so much more. Did I mention web browsing at 1920x1080?
The Apple TV is great, but when I thought of what I could achieve on the Mini, I just started saving, saving, saving those extra pennies, and now I have skipped straight to the end of the yellow brick road instead of having to wait for the Apple TV to mature over the next 3-5 years.
Matt
· 2 years ago
If people are looking for good HD content for their Apple TVs, there is a fairly long list of free vidcasts and the links to download them over at the Apple TV and HD Podcasts site http://atvhd.blogspot.com/
Daniel, I just wanted to let you know that though there are no HD content available on iTunes yet, there are HD podcasts available for download.
My site, http://appletvsource.com, has an extensive compilation of HD podcasts available on iTunes. You can check it out under the Downloads menu.
Live TV
· 2 years ago
How about better integration with the Internet, as in support for more filetypes. Does it support flash video (flv)?
NutMac
· 2 years ago
I guess I am the only one here who cares about audio. As it stands, Apple TV is not capable of discrete surround sound (without resorting to funky hacks anyway... I like to keep my Apple TV pure). And there is also the issue of missing subtitle support.
Mike
· 2 years ago
Daniel,
Good stuff!
Turns out a few months back we built a fake roadmap (we call it "Faux'dmap") for the future of AppleTV that takes into consideration a lot of the things you'd like to see (high def video on iTunes, rentals on iTunes) and a few other features like DVR and auto-sync to iPod/iPhone through an integrated dock, and eventually the ability to legally rip DVDs and play them on future AppleTVs.
1080p, the ability to play MPEG2 natively without transcoding, and the ability to play DivX/XviD. Presto! Winner.
Why? I can rip my DVDs to my Mac without transcoding, and stream them to the AppleTV. This is the functional equivalent of ripping CDs in iTunes for the iPod.
Ed
· 2 years ago
Great article. I would love for Itunes to offer HD movie rentals, it would be great.
Eugenia
· 2 years ago
My problem with the AppleTV is that it can't playback 1080/30p video. It goes only up to 720/24p and that's just not good enough for my home videos, as my consumer Canon HV20 camcorder is able to record in 1080p and so it's a shame to not be able to view my own videos in full HD (I export as 1920x1080 progressive, 30 fps).
Rich
· 2 years ago
Nice Read. I thought about getting an Apple TV for about 3 seconds. I ended up building my own Media Center PC using a barebone Shuttle kit and an old AMD X2 CPU. I absolutely LOVE IT! I have been using Magic DVD Ripper to rip my DVDs into Mpeg 2 Format. Takes about 5 to 10 minutes per DVD. Now I have a huge on Demand Library of Movies, I can look at photos, I can download content from the net, I even watched some Apple Movie Trailers in HD using Itunes. My next upgrade will be a Blue-Ray Drive for true HD Videos. I have 2 500 GB Drives, so storage is not a problem. You never hear this, but Apple should look at MCE, and take a few notes.
badger linux
· 2 years ago
Apple TV will be the sleeper product People buy technology or even non tecbnology products for their use and functionality Apple products have always stood out for their functionality and intuitive nature Perhaps it is to steve jobs Perhaps it is for the whole Apple Computer mindset and philosphy of the Apple culture Regardless Apple products are the popular standards in their area both for ease of use and proper marketing Look at the ipod and the overwhelming ipod market share in the lucrative mp3 player market as an example[
matthew walsh
· 2 years ago
a very informative piece. nice to see some-one constructively criticising a product instead of just ripping it apart. well written, with good insight.
jeffa
· 2 years ago
One HUGE, glaring horrible flaw in the AppleTV and iTunes (and virtually ALL online video sources) is that they do not include closed captions or subtitles for the hearing impaired. It is true that MOST people in the US can hear just fine and do not need captions, but without them a portion of the population is shut out. Apple uses the argument that it is difficult to do subtitles. That is absolute BS. Do you really believe that TVs made in the 80's are technically capable of something that Apple can't do today? Their argument is actually that it would be hard to show captions on an iPod screen. Wow. Brilliant. Can't put text on an iPod screen so they refuse to do it on the AppleTV which is hooked to a TV.
Sadly, it will require government action to force the industry (not just Apple) to add closed captioning. That's what happened with televisions. Like 20 years ago...
As much as I hate to give credit to Microsoft for anything, I have to give credit where credit is due... Media Center handles Closed Captions very well. My beef with them is that they lose the captions if you burn a recorded show to DVD.
Like Rich I evaluated the AppleTV and went with a PC based Vista Home Premium (with Media Center). I got a refurbished Compaq from Frys for $299. Doesn't have a great video card, but it does play standard def recorded television great. For a remote I use an XBox 360 controller and plan to add the thumbpad keyboard attachment when it is released next month. Bottom line is I have an upgradeable system that does closed captions.
Like I said MOST people are fine without closed captions, but SOME people are lost without them...
Steve O'Hear (editor)
· 2 years ago
@Jeffa good point re: closed captions. Though not all content would add them, the option should exist.
Jose Ramirez
· 2 years ago
There is a huge community working to make the AppleTV better and they have released instructions for the rest of us. I am able to watch avi, divx/xvid, on my AppleTV. 5.1 sound has also been implemented, USB disk to extend the capacity although I prefer to access the hard drive through my wireless network (works perfectly on the Apple Extreme Base Station), just google appleTV wiki and your investment will increase its worth...
Alfa
· 2 years ago
Has anyone noticed the new wireless keyboard is rather small and doesn't make much since for desktop use. It seems to scream couch surfer. I believe the future of AppleTV is in that keyboard which could open all kinds of opportunies(email, web browsing....entering password for itunes?).
Lancelot9201
· 2 years ago
No one has mentioned it, & I'm totally surprised, but the thing that I miss the most is the ability to set up playlists. Viewing one show & then being forced to go through the freaking menu again to select another show I want to watch is stupid. I should be able to schedule several tv shows or movies..
Steve O'Hear (editor)
· 2 years ago
@Lancelot9201
I completely agree. This is even worse for short 3-4 minute video podcasts. Just *play all* please!
Manuel
· 2 years ago
Mr. Langendorf,
You have made some very good and interesting points regarding the Apple TV. But, I have found that using a MAC Mini was much more rewarding, portable, and versatile. Not to mention the ease and affordability to work with digital photos, movies, music, the web, and it costs as little as $599.00.
While the Apple Mac has a ways to go before becoming a mainstream product, we can agree, our intent is to integrate our computer systems to our first love, the television.
I totally agree with the comments regarding the preferred MacMini configuration. My living room setup has one connected to my 42" and surround sound system.
I recently got an Apple TV for my bedroom as I was tired of not being able to access the Mini's content. Played iTunes music brilliantly straight out of the box and after installing the various plugins I had it playing back my DivXs. I definitely wouldn't use it as a main entertainment hub but for a seperate room it's perfectly suitable (albeit following tweaking).
Luck Kanthatham
· 6 months ago
Alfa, now that you mentioned the new Bluetooth keyboard, I just couldn't help but write a reply.
I just got a new aluminum iMac for work on my web site, (gadgetaholic.com) and I don't like the feel of the chicklet keyboard at all. Go down to the Apple Store and see if you like the feel of it.
Another thing, there is no Bluetooth functionality on the Apple TV. So I don't think it will be of any use on the Apple TV.
All Comments
You observation about Apple TV are certainly interesting and I particularly like your comments about the nurturing of an Apple ecosystem. This is certainly the thinking over at Apple as creating a single media interface in the living room is the holy grail for an eclectic and sometimes surprising variety of companies. This is evidence of that tired old, but true cliche; digital convergence,and is part of their long term ambition to connect all Apple devices together in a symbiotic relationship across all platforms. This would create a very strong combination of services that follows a successful trend of selling media and communication services in bundles. However, there are a number of obstacles that will need to negotiate around if they are going to be a major media network of the future. One of those obstacles is that Apple has committed much of its future to turning out outstanding and almost revolutionary devices. This is a tricky path as whilst Apple has transformed itself by creating the iPod and iTunes to feed it with, the pressure to keep producing outstanding products and sell them in meaningful volumes in a very competitive market is gargantuan.
The future of 'television' on the internet will be shaped by the inclusive and agnostic nature of the network which is the opposite direction to that chosen by Apple. The direction of internet TV is towards creating the most amount of quality connections between content providers and consumers. This means operating on the most widely adopted common standards which is never going to be Apple. The company has been catapulted back in to pole position in many ways but it can never dominate the wider internet television market globally. That position is reserved for a revolutionary move by a pure play operator and not a device retailer. Sorry Steve!
With a Mac Mini attached to a 42" LCD TV via HDMI, I can watch any downloaded content, via FrontRow, iTunes, Miro, Joost, YouTube, in Quicktime, DivX, Windows Media, whatever really. It has a player for standard DVDs, and coupled with a USB Elgato TV tuner I can get HDTV and PVR functions. Most of this is driveable via the Apple Remote, although a wireless keyboard with built-in trackball is a lovely complement to the remote.
It can also rip CDs/DVDs, encode to other formats, act as a NAS and streaming server for all the other machines in the house, sync the iPod and so much more. Did I mention web browsing at 1920x1080?
The Apple TV is great, but when I thought of what I could achieve on the Mini, I just started saving, saving, saving those extra pennies, and now I have skipped straight to the end of the yellow brick road instead of having to wait for the Apple TV to mature over the next 3-5 years.
My site, http://appletvsource.com, has an extensive compilation of HD podcasts available on iTunes. You can check it out under the Downloads menu.
Good stuff!
Turns out a few months back we built a fake roadmap (we call it "Faux'dmap") for the future of AppleTV that takes into consideration a lot of the things you'd like to see (high def video on iTunes, rentals on iTunes) and a few other features like DVR and auto-sync to iPod/iPhone through an integrated dock, and eventually the ability to legally rip DVDs and play them on future AppleTVs.
Link: http://packetswitchedpress.com/2007/03/fauxdmap...
Enjoy!
Why? I can rip my DVDs to my Mac without transcoding, and stream them to the AppleTV. This is the functional equivalent of ripping CDs in iTunes for the iPod.
People buy technology or even non tecbnology products for their use and functionality
Apple products have always stood out for their functionality and intuitive nature
Perhaps it is to steve jobs
Perhaps it is for the whole Apple Computer mindset and philosphy of the Apple culture
Regardless Apple products are the popular standards in their area both for ease of use and proper marketing
Look at the ipod and the overwhelming ipod market share in the lucrative mp3 player market as an example[
Sadly, it will require government action to force the industry (not just Apple) to add closed captioning. That's what happened with televisions. Like 20 years ago...
As much as I hate to give credit to Microsoft for anything, I have to give credit where credit is due... Media Center handles Closed Captions very well. My beef with them is that they lose the captions if you burn a recorded show to DVD.
Like Rich I evaluated the AppleTV and went with a PC based Vista Home Premium (with Media Center). I got a refurbished Compaq from Frys for $299. Doesn't have a great video card, but it does play standard def recorded television great. For a remote I use an XBox 360 controller and plan to add the thumbpad keyboard attachment when it is released next month. Bottom line is I have an upgradeable system that does closed captions.
Like I said MOST people are fine without closed captions, but SOME people are lost without them...
I completely agree. This is even worse for short 3-4 minute video podcasts. Just *play all* please!
You have made some very good and interesting points regarding the Apple TV. But, I have found that using a MAC Mini was much more rewarding, portable, and versatile. Not to mention the ease and affordability to work with digital photos, movies, music, the web, and it costs as little as $599.00.
While the Apple Mac has a ways to go before becoming a mainstream product, we can agree, our intent is to integrate our computer systems to our first love, the television.
Mp
http://www.gonzophoto.com/weblog/
I recently got an Apple TV for my bedroom as I was tired of not being able to access the Mini's content. Played iTunes music brilliantly straight out of the box and after installing the various plugins I had it playing back my DivXs. I definitely wouldn't use it as a main entertainment hub but for a seperate room it's perfectly suitable (albeit following tweaking).
I just got a new aluminum iMac for work on my web site, (gadgetaholic.com) and I don't like the feel of the chicklet keyboard at all. Go down to the Apple Store and see if you like the feel of it.
Another thing, there is no Bluetooth functionality on the Apple TV. So I don't think it will be of any use on the Apple TV.