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wigby

macrumors 68030
Jun 7, 2007
2,747
2,711
I wont be interested if its 60". That's just stupid. They need about 4 different models:

32" 36" 42" and 48"

Any bigger and its no longer a TV, it's a cinema.

small sizes are fine but why wouldn't anyone buy a shiny new apple tv that is 60", 72" or larger if you can afford it? when screen size becomes the differentiating factor for price, why would apple want to compete with the bottom end of the market?

if they sell any screen smaller than 50" they will lose sales to consumers comparing the price of a regular 60" tv to apple's 40" set which would be approximately same price (based on apple's typical markup).
 

mankar4

macrumors 6502a
Aug 23, 2007
624
0
USA
In an ideal world we wouldn't have channels at all. There's no need for them. Just have shows that are all on demand. Much better IMO.



YES!!!!!
Something like a Pandora/Spotify combination for TV content would be great. Themed "stations" for discovering new content, or just when you want to watch something from a certain genre but can't think of something specific, alongside a completely on-demand service for the shows you know want to watch.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
He's only talking hardware. He hasn't really discussed what would differentiate from what really can/exists now.

What about content.

It's nice to conjecture about both. But it's pretty obvious that until the product is leaked/exists - the talk is all meaningless
 

sirozha

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2008
1,927
2,327
Ditto!

Our last TV was purchased about 5 years ago, and it's still going strong. If there's nothing wrong with it, it doesn't get replaced. You'd be a fool to buy a new TV just for the sake of it. They really dont change enough to warrant purchasing a new one.

I was of the same opinion with my Panasonic plasma professional panel that I bought exactly 6 years ago. It’s a 50’ 720p but wonderful picture quality, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it except for it weighs about 80 lbs and eats electricity like crazy. I stopped by a Best Buy yesterday and saw an 8000 Series Samsung 55’ LED screen. I could not believe the difference - it’s gorgeous, it’s light, it’s thin, it has a built-in camera for Skype and for gestures that you can control the TV with, it has Wi-Fi and a bunch of apps, including a web browser, and it eats $17 worth of electricity per year.

The Samsung is expensive for sure - $2,500, but there’s a huge difference between that TV and my Panasonic plasma. So, as long as 55’ TVs cost $2,500, there’s no way people will be replacing them every four years, but if the price drops to $1,000, it’s very possible that most current HDTVs that are 2 years old and older may be replaced within the next 2-3 years. I don’t know about the future replacement cycles though because that Samsung LED 8000 screen looks absolutely flawless. I really do not know how it can be improved so dramatically that someone who bought that screen for this X-mas would want to replace it in 4 years.
 

skippymac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2010
592
3
Hampshire, UK
I've never understood this. IF you've got it fixed to the wall in the way you describe, you'll be cranking your neck to look above the fireplace, and will be getting a big ass glare from the light on the ceiling :/

Obviously this will depend on your house, but typically I cant see that working, it'd be way too high up.

I can never see the point of tiny flatscreens as our TVs are always in the corner of the room. It's much more social and doesn't make the room feel like the TV is the only thing there. It's called a living room not a TV room.

Obviously I can see that some people would have a 'TV room' and I can see the benefit of having a TV be the focal point but I just think wall mounting is silly.

Plus you can only have the tv being optimal for 1 or 2 people as everyone else would be at an angle anyway! seems silly in my eyes.
 

crackbookpro

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,096
0
Om nom nom nom
Guaranteed Apple has already rolled up their sleeves on the hardware for this. Sharp will be the ones to partake with the display fo' sho'!!!

The negotiations with Comcast, Verizon & all other companies alike are what is holding the Apple iTV back from production. The market still isn't there for an Apple iTV, because well, the cable co's won't allow it.

The way Apple iTV becomes a mainstay is simply due to 'data speed/connectivity' issues.

No matter what, there will be an Apple iTV... it's just a matter of when. And due to adoption, there may be something much less expensive than an actual display, to give you some(but not all) features Apple is offering for TV. I'm hoping Apple & the large cable co's will negotiate their pricing/business model soon, and we could see an Apple iTV in the next couple years. If not, we won't see one till Fiber Optics have blanketed many markets, so the data speeds are near that 150-300meg range(viable for Apple iTV features/function set).

2014 will be the year we know which way Apple is headed for an iTV... 2013 is all about pushin' the wallet to the side for NFC & bio-metric thumb scanning.
 

rydewnd2

macrumors regular
Apr 3, 2007
176
11
New York City
Apple would/should release a radically redesigned iTV before ever entering the actual TV market. An Apple TV that essentially converts your existing set into a giant iPad, that you run all your devices (Cable box, Bluray...) from your iOS device. They are so close now I just don't understand why they don't finish the job. The Apple TV right now is half baked.

Apple TV is worth the cost of admission for airplay mirroring alone. What other device on the market let's you mirror your laptop / iOS device to your television wirelessly for $99 and works extremely well?
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,799
The Black Country, England
I guess it depends where in the world you live. I know of loads of people with TV's that are around 32-38" and only 1 who has a 50". Houses in the UK aren't big enough for massive TV's they just look stupidly out of place.

I agree. I've currently got a 32" and I could probably squeeze in a 37" but anything bigger would be too much for my living room.
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
Guaranteed Apple has already rolled up their sleeves on the hardware for this. Sharp will be the ones to partake with the display fo' sho'!!!

The negotiations with Comcast, Verizon & all other companies alike are what is holding the Apple iTV back from production. The market still isn't there for an Apple iTV, because well, the cable co's won't allow it.

The way Apple iTV becomes a mainstay is simply due 'data speed/connectivity' issues.

No matter what, there will be an Apple iTV... it's just a matter of when. I'm hoping Apple & the large cable co's will negotiate their pricing/business model soon, and we could see an Apple iTV in the next couple years. If not, we won't see one till Fiber Optics have blanketed many markets, so the data speeds are near that 150-300meg range(viable for Apple iTV features/function set).

2014 will be the year we know which way Apple is headed for an iTV... 2013 is all about pushin' the wallet to the side for NFC & bio-metric thumb scanning.

Again, "Apple TV" not "iTV" - thats a name that has been taken for over 58 years.
 

coolspot18

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2010
1,051
90
Canada
I agree with this. My parents house is pretty big and they just bought a 46 inch TV. It's the biggest TV I've ever actually seen in someone's house and it is MASSIVE. The other TV is 30 inches and I'd say that's a pretty average size here.

On the same note, a 46" TV would look minuscule in my place - but then I'm in Canada and our houses are bigger(?). In fact, it's becoming common to find 70 -80" TVs on sale here.
 

izyreal

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2012
219
814
USA
I agree with almost everything he envisions except for one thing. That putting "1tb to 3tb" of storage either in the set top box or the tv itself. Why would apple do that? They have been on a mission to move everything into the cloud. The first generation Apple TV had a lot of onboard storage, then they introduced the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TV that was only designed to work off the "cloud". I really don't think apple will go backwards and put that much onboard storage into one of these future devices. They will mend this into the "cloud".

One of the major functionalities of an Apple TV would be gaming. IMO it is better to have any games stored on the local hard drive than to have the entire game streamed to a device. Can you imagine trying to play Halo or Call of Duty when the whole game has to be streamed to your TV? Since Apple has moved decisively away from external storage media (CDs, DVD, etc) the only option that makes sense is to include a sizeable hard drive in the TV itself. Unless Apple can magically revolutionize the American (worldwide really) internet infrastructure to support gigabit+ internet they are going to need a large(ish) hard drive in any TV they produce.
 

damir00

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2011
744
7
At the end of the day, there's still the problem of there being hardly anything worth watching.
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
I agree. I've currently got a 32" and I could probably squeeze in a 37" but anything bigger would be too much for my living room.

I won't be interested if it's under 55".

I guess these two posts highlight what I was saying pretty well.

In the US/Canada huge TV's will work.

In Europe I dont think they will. 32 - 44" is the norm for us. Anything bigger just seems like it belongs in a Cinema. We simply dont have the space for TV's that big.


(funny sidenote: My uncle actually had an extension to his house to fit in a 50" TV...it looks very out of place.)
 

arkoh

macrumors member
May 24, 2009
42
15
Copenhagen
I can never see the point of tiny flatscreens as our TVs are always in the corner of the room. It's much more social and doesn't make the room feel like the TV is the only thing there. It's called a living room not a TV room.

Obviously I can see that some people would have a 'TV room' and I can see the benefit of having a TV be the focal point but I just think wall mounting is silly.

Plus you can only have the tv being optimal for 1 or 2 people as everyone else would be at an angle anyway! seems silly in my eyes.

Wall mounting is SILLY!?? What century are you living in!?? This is 2012... and flatscreens 1 inch thick are for what?... putting in the corner!? Ehhhh... you got to be kidding me!? :D If you place it in the corner, you might as well make it as in the "good old days" with a 60 cm deep back to fill up the space behind it! I personally freed up about 3 m2 of my living room (and no need for a tv furniture to lift the thing from the ground!) when I mounted it on the wall like a picture frame!
 
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rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
At the end of the day, there's still the problem of there being hardly anything worth watching.

We're not Apple's market for this one. It'll be for the stay at home family people. They have that market with the iPhone being so popular that everyone and their dog owns one. Apple is no longer a company for the elite or rich.

----------

Wall mounting is SILLY!?? What century are you living in!?? This is 2012... and flatscreens 1 inch thick are for what?... putting in the corner!? Ehhhh... you got to be kidding me!? If you place it in the corner, you might as well make it as in the "good old days" with a 60 cm deep back to fill up the space behind it! I personally freed up about 3 m2 of my living room (and no need for a tv furniture to lift the thing from the ground!) when I mounted it on the wall like a picture frame!

If you mount a TV on the wall (in most UK houses) it's going to be above the fireplace. That's already a good meter up in the air, so the TV will be VERY high up the wall. Meaning not only are you having to look up, but you will get a glare from the light in the middle of the room, plus it's a hell of a lot harder to watch from angles. A corner TV is just logical.
 

ThirteenXIII

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2008
841
274
nope. Apple is going to do what Apple does best. Completely reinvent it in their way and not how anyone would expect. I think it will marvel and trump this guys assertions and wishlist.
 

crackbookpro

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,096
0
Om nom nom nom
Again, "Apple TV" not "iTV" - thats a name that has been taken for over 58 years.

If you are debating about the name right now, you must also be a loyal fan to Obummer. :cool:

Name doesn't mean squat at this moment... it's all about market opportunity & marginalized profits that Apple is striving for.

rmwebs - Don't believe the hype, believe the truth... the facts. Find out what is important, not what isn't.
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
If you are debating about the name right now, you must also be a loyal fan to Obummer. :p

Name doesn't mean squat at this moment... it's all about market opportunity & marginalized profits that Apple is striving for.

rmwebs - Don't believe the hype, believe the truth... the facts. Find out what is important, not what isn't.

Trying political jokes is a bit stupid when I'm not in the USA ;)

If we go by pure facts, the fact is there is no Apple TV set and wont be. We're all basing everything in this thread on pure speculation. Hype.
 

World Citizen

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2011
168
1
Just as crap as the current formfactor

Do they really expect this thing to stay in the same place and look good with all these cables comming out of it?

My quality HDMI cable puls this thing of my furniture in a second

WE NEED FULL FLEDGED FORM FACTOR MADE OF ALLUMINUM WITH SOME WEIGHT!!
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
Just as crap as the current formfactor

Do they realy expexct this thing to staynin the same place and look good with all these cables comming out of it?

My quality HDMI cable puls this thing of my furniture in a second

WE NEED FULL FLEDGED FORM FACTOR MADE OF ALLUMINUM WITH SOME WEIGHT!!

Uh....what?
 
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