Monday, October 08, 2007

AppleTV a Flop?

CNET is questioning whether the AppleTV is a flop. They are leaning toward saying it is, but still hold out hope that it can be saved. This article includes some suggestions for the next version. We own one and my biggest sugestion is to add a DVR to the unit. This would allow it to be a true competitor to TIVO.

6 comments:

Nomad said...

As one of the "few" AppleTV owners, my thoughts are that AppleTV does what it said it would do: bring iTunes content to the TV easily. What it does not do is integrate well with other products that are out there. I'd like to see:

1. iTunes store on AppleTV, so you don't need to save all the content on your hard drive.
2. The ability to stream TV shows recorded using El GAto's EyeTV product.
3. An alliance with Joost similar to the YouTube alliance to bring more streaming content.
4. The ability to stream HD content (with commercials) directly from Fox, CBS, etc. to watch shows that would otherwise be available via cable.

Anonymous said...

I agree with your wishlist. However, I do not think AppleTV will survive unless Apple is willing to sell a product that is more open and not completely tied to its store. A DVR-like product would go against it's desire to sell things like television shows, and who would want to purchase a show the next day when they can TIVO (DVR) it?

Also, what is your rating of Eye TV? I might bypass Apple TV by simply modding an Mac Mini.

Nomad said...

EyeTV is a brilliant replacement for a TIVO. I actually have bought two Mac Minis to serve as my Tivo. (Reselling the first one now to a coworker.) It has been great. Add EyeTV (and an encoder, I prefer one that has hardware encoding to DIVX) and Toast, and you can record and burn shows to DVD, and export to any version that you want iTunes to have.

I really can't recommend EyeTV too highly. The only thing Tivo has over EyeTV at this point, is TIVO can learn your habits and recommend new shows. But EyeTV has no recurring cost, so you pay once (when you can afford it) and use it forever.

Anonymous said...

You cannot highly recommend EyeTV? Why?

quizwedge said...

I think he means that he can't say enough good things about it.

Nomad said...

Yes, I mean "I can't say enough good things about the EyeTV to accurately reflect how wonderful it is." Sorry if the grammar was confusing.