Apple TV’s are now shipping as the latest (perhaps greatest) way to watch your iTunes content in high definition. With a 40 GB hard drive (around 50 hours of video), the Apple TV is set at a price of $299 with free shipping.
I hadn’t really paid much attention to the Apple TV ever since it was announced, so I finally decided to take a look at all of the specifics and how it works.Using the Apple TV, you’ll be able to watch all of your downloaded content like movies, TV shows, even your podcasts on your TV after the unit synchronizes itself by automatically grabbing the content from your computer.
One of the down-falls is that it requires a widescreen enhanced or high definition TV with HDMI, DVI, or component video input. You’ll also need a wired, or wireless network, and a broadband Internet connection. Another major factor is your operating system. It will work with Mac OSX 10.3.9 or higher, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP2). Note: It does not work with Windows Vista. Part of this can probably be related to the fact that it requires iTunes 7.1 which is known to not work properly with Vista.
For me, the Apple TV is underwhelming with one of the major down-falls being that there is no DVR. If you’re someone who has purchased a lot of content from iTunes, it’s a no-brainer way to be able to get the most out of what you’ve purchased. Other than that, I don’t see that many benefits.
Wired has put together reasons why Apple TV Rules, and why it Sucks, and they do point out valid reasons both ways. My favorite reasons from Wired:
Why it rules: It goes spiffingly with the Mac Mini, using the same a similar form factor at half-brick height. You can use the Mini as the server, turning the duo into a fully-featured high-def PVR, streaming media system, WebTV box and game console.
Why it sucks: With all that grunt, it’s basically a Mac Mini Mini with lots of outputs and special software. Why can’t I just slap OS X or Windows or Linux on it and use it as a kids’ computer, the heart of a MAME cabinet, a Car PC, or something a little more fully-featured? Let me in. (We may get in real easy, of course, but that’s for the hackers to discover.)
That’s a great idea, of using the Mini with it. They could be stacked on top of each other. Very cool.
I’m very excited about this, even though I don’t yet have a high-def TV to use it with. I’m a bit envious of those who do.
But, since I can’t buy it, I’ve been thinking more about the implications of this down the line. They seem nothing short of revolutionary. This little box (and other simlar services, like Joost and Unbox) are sneaking into our lives, pulling us away from out cable TV. These services bypass the cable, giving us what Shelly Palmer calls [advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com] If you follow the money — no more paying for cable – things get interesting.
What will the cable response be, as their subscribers start “jumping ship”? If thy were smart, they’d be starting their own bypass systems — starting up a Joost or an Unbox.
- Jessica
Interesting point, and one that I haven’t thought about. Although, I’m not sure people will exactcly “jump ship” from their cable or satellite TV quite yet. Most of the content that you are watching from your Apple TV is paid for on iTunes. I don’t think people will be willing to pay for every show that they want to watch. It could certainly add up to a lot more per month that it would to receive it via Cable. It’s definitely an interesting point though.
For those of you wanting to get non-DRM content to your TV should check out TiVo. It will do all the same features as the Apple TV except you don’t have the hard ware limitation and of course it the words greatest DVR.
We have a ReplayTV and it is really nice as well. With some work you can burn shows to a DVD. My brother, though, setup a PC (with 4 dual tuners totaling 8 tuners…their TV addicts) using SageTV. I haven’t used it much myself but he said that it saves all of the recordings in an MPG format so that they can be easily burned to DVD if you want. Sending files to a friend is as simple as giving them the file and having them put it in a specified folder…pretty cool if you ask me.
I’m not quite sure why people persist on thinking that the only video content you can watch on Apple TV is *purchased* content from the iTunes Store. There are many, many FREE video podcasts one can subscribe to from within iTunes. There’s a Podcast Directory built right into the iTunes Store. There are also many other FREE video podcasts available at other web sites that can be added to iTunes although you have to track the feeds down yourself and manually add them to your iTunes library).
Many of these video podcasts are produced by the same companies/networks that provide the content you cable company sells you. I’ve got stuff from CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, etc., PLUS a ton of specialty/indie video content. All free. I already have so much free video content being downloaded for me by iTunes on a daily basis that I have a hard time keeping up with it all. Most of it is much more interesting to me than 99% of the stuff that the cable company pumps at me. And it’s all mostly commercial-free. When my Apple TV shows up on Friday, I’ll finally be able to watch all this from the couch without having to drag my computer over to the living room and plug it in to the TV. I have bought a few (less than 10) videos from the iTunes Store. It’s convenient and not too pricey to use occasionally, but the cost certainly would start to add up quickly if one used it to watch each and every TV show out there.
Of course, there are DVR solutions available for the Mac that will somewhat “automagically” record TV shows and send them over to iTunes for you. iTivo, perhaps? I might pick up one of these devices and see how it works.
Not to mention that it’s not all that tricky (but it *is* somewhat time-consuming) to rip DVDs into your Mac and convert them to .mp4 format which you can then add to your iTunes library.
Hey Matt, you made some really good points about the podcasts and I can’t believe I didn’t really think about those having subscribed to many video podcasts myself.
I would love to hear what you think about the unit when you receive it.