Don't have a Roku, but I am curious what channels it has that you think are better than what the aTV offers.
Roku has dedicated channels for cnet, IGN, rev3games, countless news channels, games!!, social networking sites, cooking shows, workout programs, etc. On the appleTV I can watch most shows I want through their YouTube channels, but the point I'm making is there is way more ala carte on the Roku. I thought apple was holding out for more premium services. not crunchyroll. which I never knew existed before yesterday.
It's not Apple, it's the content companies. Many of them don't want customers bypassing the cable box (cause then they can't charge rental fees) and they sure don't want direct subscripts without cable. And then there's the issue that they may have signed exclusive deals with other companies like Roku.
Apple is the wealthiest corporation in the world. no exclusive deals are out of their pocket. But you're right they probably did sign some kind of deal. once that exclusive timeframe ends I hope apple can get more custom with their channel offerings.
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only reason I bought the Roku was price and curiosity. it was 60 bucks and can be hooked to a non HD TV if necessary. the biggest problem I have is that it buffers. every. freakin. time. it's fuzzy, then once the signal catches up it clears. appleTV never has that issue. I also wish there was a hack to access my iTunes library through the Roku, but I won't hold my breath.