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Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Wow!

Recall that Steve Jobs traditionally referred to the Apple TV as a "hobby."

My original device still runs the latest version of the OS, I still use it more days than I don't, and it's shown no sign of slowing or malfunctioning. It has, what, 32 gigs of storage, and I've never even thought about it? (Surely it's outrageously unacceptable for the base model to have less than ten trillion gigabytes, isn't it?)

Despite barely ever having heard that anyone uses it for games, it's a capable platform for game development. Oh, and it's a HomeKit hub and an AirPlay destination.

And I wouldn't know firsthand, but apparently it's, like, the only TV-adjacent-type device (including smart TVs themselves) that aren't somewhat regularly reported as annoying and / or somewhat suspicious?

It's been a humble but truly profound success.
 
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Radeon85 said:
Worst remote ever, horribly designed controls, and what idiot puts glass on a controller, something that can get used and abused. The silver replacement for this was light years better, much better button placements and solidly built. The first thing I did was replace all those black controllers the moment the silver controller launched.
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Can I have them? That new silver remote is a nuissance.
 
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What was (is) "Apple TV HD" vice "tvOS"? Apple's applications to enable customers to purchase movies or series were perfectly reasonable functioning applications which are now defunct. Netflix and Prime Video do a good job at providing streaming and streaming plus purchase content, although each is tied into monthly charges.

How to avoid monthly charges and use an Apple provided entry to purchase or stream content? Perhaps the "black icon with a white apple followed by "TV" is intended to be available for this purpose. Unfortunately the "black icon with a white apple followed by "TV" is a very, very, very poorly designed application which is obviously only intended to beat and BEAT customers over the head to subscribe to "Apple TV+".

And this from a company which prides itself on product design.
 
Arislan said:
Aside from the remote being annoying, I still wish Apple had enabled the USB-C port for actual use on this model. Being able to have a hard drive full of content seems like such a no brainer for these type of devices.
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I agree but you can just hook a drive up to your Mac and stream it to the TV from there, though it got a little more annoying with it all inside the TV app.
 
Arislan said:
Aside from the remote being annoying, I still wish Apple had enabled the USB-C port for actual use on this model. Being able to have a hard drive full of content seems like such a no brainer for these type of devices.
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Apple would never :(
 
I’ve really enjoyed my Apple TVs I’ve had over the years but have made the decision to switch to Roku. Unless Apple adds something really spectacular in the future I probably won’t by another Apple TV.
 
gamerdude said:
Skipped a beat seeing an Apple TV article on the frontpage.
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Me too. As I write this it's 10:23am in California. Too late for a press release announcing the update today or does Apple sometimes put out new product releases later in the day? Given that the update rumours have been swirling around for so long it would be a rather nice bit of timing to announce the update on the 10th anniversary of the original announcement.
 
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Really the tv v2 was the showstopper. 720p and $99. Very good remote as well. This is what got me into podcasts/netcasts.

You also hack the v2 with Firecore’s tutorial 😎
 
Donkey Man said:
Not sure this article is relevant; the original revolution came with the ATV years before that.
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I respectfully disagree. The original silver ATV was a different animal, essentially a home server for content. The product introduced a decade ago is a genius network interface device, designed for a new era of home entertainment.

I can't count the number of these little boogers I've purchased over the years, and I love, love, LOVE them! As various TVs get deployed and updated throughout our home I've gradually upgraded to 4K units everywhere, giving the old units away to family and friends. I would also assert that it offers the greatest price to value ratio of any product Apple offers, and I suspect that it generates a ton of high-margin revenue via subscriptions for the Company.

It is damn near a perfect product.
 
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You can't beat the AppleTV box. It's easy to set up a new one, and it will even duplicate your existing layout. Love setting it up via the iPhone just near by to set up all the logins and passwords for the different streaming services. Apple makes it easy to stay on their eco system. It's almost as easy as setting up AirPods.
 
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Apple TV is probably the best streaming box on the market. Like most others, I like mine well enough and use it regularly (though TV is by far my least used screen and most streaming content bores the heck out of me).

However, I agree with the article that Apple TV has not achieved most of its original ambitions beyond being far less annoying to use than its direct competitors:

  • App ecosystem didn't really pan out. Beyond the major streaming apps + YouTube, I doubt there are any apps doing big usage numbers.
  • TV app failed as an aggregator of streaming content. While Apple TV+ has achieved a level of mainstream success and seems to be going well (even though I find most its content dull), the integration of other streaming services with the TV app has been slow to catch on. I would guess most people go directly to Prime/Hulu/HBO apps rather than consume those shows inside the TV app. And Netflix remains the big holdout that refused ANY integration with the TV app.
  • Apple TV box itself was a step back from Apple's much-rumored plan to sell their own TV set. In the end the economics and go-to-market didn't make sense to do their own TV, but Apple TV is basically a TV dongle just like the others in its category rather than the vertically-integrated device you'd typically expect from Apple.
  • Gaming remains a huge and baffling missed opportunity. Apple takes a a lot of flak for not understanding gaming overall, but I think it's justified in this case. Apple TV has the power and potential to be a great console replacement, but the games and 1st party controller support have never materialized. And therefore, gaming on Apple TV remains a very niche activity.
  • Siri....the same story as Siri in the rest of the Apple ecosystem. Useful for basic things but far from a primary mode of interacting with the device.
Ultimately, Apple TV hardware remains a hobby. It will be interesting to see what other Home devices Apple introduces and whether Apple TV remains a standalone device or gets subsumed into some larger category of home speaker/router/robot/voice assistant.
 
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Yet the TV app still lacks the ability to create Collections/Playlists so you can sort your movies into lists that work for you. It's ridiculous.

(And yes, the TV app can do this on a Mac, but you MUST download a movie to add it to a collection--it's insane. My iTunes movie collection is nearly 2TB. There's no way I could download all the movies I bought on my 1TB MacBook just so I can sort them into playlists.)

As you can do with the Music app, you should be able to create a Collection/Playlist in the TV app on any Apple device and automatically have those collections/playlists sync between the TV app on all devices.
 
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Simmias said:
Apple TV is probably the best streaming box on the market. Like most others, I like mine well enough and use it regularly (though TV is by far my least used screen and most streaming content bores the heck out of me).
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Agreed.

I really am starting to get worried about what they might do to it in the future though.

Things like the "ADs in Maps" push make really worried, as the reasons I use the ATV are:

1. Very powerful
2. No garbage, junk, excessive tracking, ADs, sponsored stuff, etc, all over the interface

If #2 ever changes, I'll be more flexible on #1 when evaluating my choices.
 
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I bought this when it came out and it still works flawlessly today. Gave it to my parents to use after I got the 4K ATV. Terrific product, but the original remote was not ideal. The new remotes are much better.
 
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sffun said:
That glass remote was insane, though. I can imagine some Apple designer going out to Burning Man or going on an ayahuasca trip and coming back to the office with an epiphany: "I've got it!! The best remote control is no remote at ALL. Let's make it a small sheet of glass that's impossible to use. Steve Jobs wouldn't want buttons."
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Agreed. One of the worst remotes ever designed. In contrast, I’d argue that the current remote is one of the best, with my personal preference to disable the touch option. I’m a long-time Harmony user, going back before Logitech bought them out. I’m even fussy about their remotes and strongly disliked their touchscreen models. The current Apple Remote won me over. I still keep a Harmony on hand to access my TV and AVR menus as needed, but with power and input source automatically controlled over HDMI, the one Apple remote does it all.
 
And I'm still waiting for an Apple TV Update. I keep saying that Apple TV is Apple's best product, but everything else around it can be so much better. An entire redesign of TVOS would be a start.
 
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abatabia said:
Still my streaming device of choice and the most reliable and problem free with the cleanest interface imho. Still I wish it had better access to live TV like google and Roku but it’s not the end of the world.
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I have Apple TV 4K Gen 5 as my main Live TV source. Just install Channels app + HDHomerun and you get free OTA channels in your Apple TV. You can also add Sling TV and Xfinity TV to your Channels DVR Server app and have all your cable and OTA channels in your Apple TV 4K.
 
sflagel said:
I thought that was the best remote ever! The current one with that silly scroll wheel that works differently in every app and on every page, and that has more buttons than a Victorian corset, is insanely dumb.
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You can make the crazy (too sensitive) scrool wheel "
click only" in settings for less missed clicks.
 
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