AppleTV: A lovely product I will never buy

Okay, first of all, what the hell is up with using the Apple [AAPL] icon in the name of the product? Did Steve learn nothing from Prince's foray into unpronounceable, un-typeable symbol usage?

Now that that's out of the way: Am I the only one throughly unexcited about the red-headed stepchild of MacWorld, AppleTV? There are three reasons:

1. I'd hoped it was going to be a PVR. Yeah, that's not Apple's fault.

2. I'm not interested in using my Mac as a video hub. I would much rather buy a movie or TV show on DVD than download it from the iTunes Music Store.

3. And most surprisingly, considering we're talking about Apple: It just seems kludgy.

It sounds simple: You attach a $300 box to your TV, it syncs wirelessly to the iTunes of every computer in the house, and then you play video and music from it directly with the Front Row interface.

I know I'm expecting too much here, but syncing to an additional hard drive seems like one step too many. It would be so much more elegant if you could attach an Airport Express-style box to your TV and then stream video directly from your computer, á la AirTunes. This would sidestep the AppleTV's disk-space limitations, and it would probably cost half as much.

Yeah, yeah, wireless protocols are not yet good enough to seamlessly stream HD content. When they are, I'll consider buying an AppleTV Nano or whatever. I hope the AppleTV is a runaway hit, and I'm sure it's a godsend for some people. But for now, I'll save the $300 for my iPhone fund.

However...

That doesn't mean I'm out of the digital video download game altogether. I just recently purchased a Microsoft Xbox 360. I bought it just for gaming, since I have no interest in a Media Center PC. But, seeing as how it's already hooked up to my TV anyway, and how it's so easy to download a movie or TV show with a couple of clicks of the wireless controller... This thing is a damn ingenious Trojan Horse.

Sure, there are multiple disadvantages to MS's approach-- The obfuscatory point system, having to subscribe to Xbox Live, the poor selection, the download times, the fact that movies are rentals and not purchases. And I'll never download anything I want to keep, since I can't transfer the files from its 20 GB hard drive to my Mac. But they've got me spending money on downloads even though I was never planning to mate my computer to my TV. Also, it only cost $100 more than an AppleTV, and it plays kick-ass games.

This might be the first time I ever liked MS's approach to something more than Apple's. I hope Andy Ihnatko doesn't kneecap me in a parking garage.

Comments

[Steve]

Can anyone explain to me why anyone would pay $300 for this large, rather ugly device to sit on top of their television? If anyone can, I'd like to shake that man's hand.

[Bill Erickson]

I don't get it either. For $350 you can buy a dell (cheapest dimension I think), install iTunes on it and have all the same functionality of AppleTV...and more.

I'm a mac user but I have a pc under all my tv's. I bought the cheapest dell, added a 250gb hard drive, tv tuner card and installed Snapstream's BeyondTV and now I have a PVR/iTunes client/library of all my movies.

I was hoping Apple would come out to something similar to what I have but apple branded and with their pretty FrontRow interface. But no, AppleTV was a big disappointment.

[Peter]

"Can anyone explain to me why anyone would pay $300 ..."

I paid $400 for the 160GB version. Here's why:

1. I do like buying movies and TV shows from iTunes. It's less expensive than other formats and I get to keep them. I get the news videos and so much more from Podcasts.

2. So I cancelled my cable subscription. With Apple TV I watch what I want, when I want, no more wasting time flipping through channels to see if there is something interesting on. No more missed programmes. It's less expensive for me than cable.

3. I rather not have to switch the computer on every time I want to watch TV. Apple TV is always on. It automatically stores and syncs the last ten episodes of shows.

4. YouTube is available on AppleTV. It's the easiest way to watch it on TV.

5. I got my music and photos on it too.

7. I've been importing my CDs into iTunes and then storing them away. I intend to do the same with my DVD collection. Apple TV helps reduce clutter in the living room. No more videos in wrong boxes or left out on the counter.

There is nothing, Xbox or anything else, that can replace what Apple TV can do for me. I don't play games. And I imagine most who do prefer the Nintendo Wii anyway. So even for gamers, the combination of Apple TV and Wii is better than either the Playstation or Xbox.

As you can see not everyone has the tastes and requirements of the author in this matter. Not everyone buys the same car either.

[James Zeman]

The last comment is more useful than the orignial review! I hestitated, ensuring the AppleTV was going to be more than another gadget. I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of what AppleTV is likely to become: the hardware that enables an IPTV Media Outlet division of Apple. Just think of the innovation Apple could bring to broadcast media. I could envision Apple finally bringing true interactivity to the TV experience, and the AppleTV, at an EIGHTH the size of my Verizon cable box, being the full TV experience.

Apple, listen up:

1) Add a FW800 port to the AppleTV.
2) Remove the component output and go all HDMI. This will free up port space.
3) Add bluetooth to support a mini-keyboard
4) Add one more USB port
5) Offer a full-size remote
6) create a stack-able design, that includes the following as potential add-on boxes: Blu_Ray DVD player, PVR, Additional Storage Space