I wonder if they kept economies of scale in mind, probably not. AppleTV still overpriced in Europe! And everyone who has digital TV gets a thing like AppleTV for *free*
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Apple Selling Apple TV Near Cost?
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Blu-Ray is a disk. You can't download a disk... just an HD Movie ; )
For those comparing the Apple TV to an XBox. I own and XBox, PS3 and an Apple TV and there is no comparrison. The XBox alone is so stinkin loud you couldn't possibly bare to have it on unless your playing a loud video game. It freezes every hour. The market place sucks and has little content. The whole system is setup crappy for any of that stuff. Not to mention the POS doesn't ship every system with wifi. The PS3 is silent but has its own faults just the same.
I think that most people are missing the whole point of Apple and the Apple tv. Its to try and get everyone downloading movies and shows via itunes because right now its having a tough time. Unlike the music store... For Apple to continue to strong arm the movie industry and get more shows, they need more people downloading. They could care less about making money on the hardware ATM. By the time they want to do that they will be selling 1 TB touch-screen ipods that you drop in your HD Docking Station or something. There will never be a DVD player on the Apple tv because that would encourage something opposing to what the whole point of the Apple tv is. Although, I'm glad to see them offering a digital copy for itunes in some movies. I had to laugh at "Die Hard's" dvd because it contains a copy of Microsofts "Plays for sure" crap but then states that it won't play on MS's own Zune etc.
CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT!!!! Thats what this is all about!
(don't be an idiot and correct my capitalization or spelling either please)
I guess the lack of price drop in the UK is a marketing move - they want the big announcement of movie rentals and price drop both together for biggest impact.
That is like Greek to me.
Zoom zoom zoom!
I understand your point but what is it based on? Does Apple not treat customers in Greece very well or do they simply not have any Apple Stores? Elaborate please.
I think if Apple reduced the ATV price and brought rentals to Australia, I think they would do quite well. Only about half the people I know have cable TV, let alone any other kind of set-top box other than an HD decoder. There's a definite market here. Once rentals come out, it'll be mostly the price of the thing (currently A$449) that'll be off-putting.
As long as apple TV can’t play the formats below via SAMBA it is fairly useless. I would take it if it was FREE*, sins the (almost) only thing it can do is rent and buy movies from apple.
*would certainly be some rules attached like you have to rent X movies per time period.
popcornhour.com said:
*would certainly be some rules attached like you have to rent X movies per time period.
I don't understand everyone want this thing for free... You don't ask for your iPod free because it has a store to go with it, why would you want this free? I understand many cable companies hand out hardware, but its usually crap. Mine charges a about $100/yr for an HD device I rent, not own, and it can only be used to stream and watch live TV. I cannot store anything, view photos, play music etc...
And all the comments about formats... never going to happen. The files are managed through iTunes, so expect it to handle what iTunes does not to mention, why would you want some terrible WMV/A, ASF, AVI, ISO? Half these formats are ridiculous. Convert your pirated material to QuickTime or huddle up with your computer when you are trying to watch 320x240 movie theater video rips because its not going to be watchable on your HD TV anyway, that not the point.
It seems like a lot of people are missing the idea of the AppleTV as a hub. I have all of my DVD in a box in the attic tucked away to never be seen again and the digital copies on my AppleTV. That alone is worth it to me, no getting up finding the DVD putting it in the player and so on and no huge wall of DVDs junking up the place. Its instant and always there with no disc to scratch or lose.
And all the comments about formats... never going to happen. The files are managed through iTunes, so expect it to handle what iTunes does not to mention, why would you want some terrible WMV/A, ASF, AVI, ISO? Half these formats are ridiculous. Convert your pirated material to QuickTime or huddle up with your computer when you are trying to watch 320x240 movie theater video rips because its not going to be watchable on your HD TV anyway, that not the point.
It seems like a lot of people are missing the idea of the AppleTV as a hub. I have all of my DVD in a box in the attic tucked away to never be seen again and the digital copies on my AppleTV. That alone is worth it to me, no getting up finding the DVD putting it in the player and so on and no huge wall of DVDs junking up the place. Its instant and always there with no disc to scratch or lose.
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You could always get a HDMI switch. They work well and you can find one that you can switch with a remote so you could program a universal remote to switch it automatically. All this if you decide that you really want an AppleTV.
caliguy said:
You could always get a HDMI switch. They work well and you can find one that you can switch with a remote so you could program a universal remote to switch it automatically. All this if you decide that you really want an AppleTV.
I'm not surprised that these devices are not selling well. Why would I want one at all? What do they do (for me), exactly? Sorry, but most people - myself included - don't even know what these things do. It seems that Apple has decided that if you don't know what these things are for, you don't need one. Very, very poor marketing.
It's hard enough to fit all of the internets through the tube to Australia. Just think for a second how much bigger they're going to have to make the tubes to fit movies without bogging down other people's internets...
-Senator Stevens' explanation for why no movies and why aTVs are more expensive in Australia
(for those unfamiliar w/ Senator Stevens, this about says it all...http://www.boingboing.net/2006/07/02/sen-stevens-hilariou.html)
I agree, but on the other hand, it never hurts to ask, lobby, threaten, etc... especially on the internet.
Heck, since people are asking Mr. Jobs for free things, I'd buy WAY more iTunes content, if only he gave me a MacBook Air. It's a no brainer for apple. Honest...
Apple doesn't care about foreign markets. For Steve Jobs, Europeans are only a source of hard currency. Once they get the Euros the consumers are supposed to disappear and never show up unless they need to pay more money. Are prices too high? Are things not working? Tough... You should not have been in Europe
I thought HDMI was the same quality as component except in a more easy to use connection?
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Reading the "experts" here going on about "what the people want" ...
I think this is where someone links thread 500...
Reading the "experts" here going on about "what the people want" ...
I think this is where someone links thread 500...
Just bought my second one. Worth the money for music and blogs alone. The TV and movie piece is icing on the cake. Of course, the typical whiners are out in full-force focusing on what it CAN'T do vs. all that it provides.
My HT system is probably in the top 0.5% of those in the US and I have the full compliment of HD sources. I suspect I will not be a major renter of HD movies from Apple, but if on an impulse I want to see something different from what I own or is in my NetFlix pile it's nice to know it's available on line in a "watchable" form. Let's be honest, downloading 1080P content is not an Apple problem, it's a nearly universal problem with the current state of the internet. Even with the best FIOS connection it's still just too damn big an elephant to digest. 720P is fine with me for now.
I do have one complaint though. Apple should have watered down their claims regarding Apple TV until the damn software was released. I'm far from alone in downloading a movie to a Mac and thinking I could get it do the TV. That should be resolved soon though.
My HT system is probably in the top 0.5% of those in the US and I have the full compliment of HD sources. I suspect I will not be a major renter of HD movies from Apple, but if on an impulse I want to see something different from what I own or is in my NetFlix pile it's nice to know it's available on line in a "watchable" form. Let's be honest, downloading 1080P content is not an Apple problem, it's a nearly universal problem with the current state of the internet. Even with the best FIOS connection it's still just too damn big an elephant to digest. 720P is fine with me for now.
I do have one complaint though. Apple should have watered down their claims regarding Apple TV until the damn software was released. I'm far from alone in downloading a movie to a Mac and thinking I could get it do the TV. That should be resolved soon though.
They put up a web page at http://www.apple.com/appletv to explain to people what it does. It's very helpful if you read it.
Are you serious? Looks like you can write... and hopefully read. Why don't you go to the Apple website and try doing a little of the later.
It's not "useless" for me, since it does what I want. Sure, I would like it to do more, but if you color inside the lines, the picture stays pretty.
And... sins?
Indeed, well said. A little of the latter would go a long way in answering many of the questions here. Hell, they could even watch and listen to the keynote.
If I had an HDTV, I might consider getting one. Only thing better would be if it had built-in DVR, Blu-Ray/DVD player & displayed full 1080P HD content. I have a bunch of TV shows & movies from iTunes so I have the content.
As for the price, sounds great. Everyone knows Apple charges a premium for their components (especially RAM). I wonder how much assembly/ distribution, advertisement & R&D costs per ATV.
As for the price, sounds great. Everyone knows Apple charges a premium for their components (especially RAM). I wonder how much assembly/ distribution, advertisement & R&D costs per ATV.
Are YOU serious? Why should I have to do anything? Does apple want to sell these or not???
I rest my case.
iSuppli numbers seem off
I have to question the numbers that all this is based on.
Example: As a consumer, I can buy a 60GB drive for $45 (newegg.com). I'm thinking Apple can get a better deal than $37.50 for a 40GB HD. Or is iSuppli saying that Apple doesn't even get a 20% discount from the consumer price for an oem drive ordered in the tens of thousands? Come on. That doesn't add up.
Is Apple taking a lower margin -- could be, but I'm not going to base that conclusion on iSuppli numbers, which don't seem very reliable. Even if they are taking lower margins, I doubt they are as low as iSuppli's numbers claim.
I have to question the numbers that all this is based on.
Example: As a consumer, I can buy a 60GB drive for $45 (newegg.com). I'm thinking Apple can get a better deal than $37.50 for a 40GB HD. Or is iSuppli saying that Apple doesn't even get a 20% discount from the consumer price for an oem drive ordered in the tens of thousands? Come on. That doesn't add up.
Is Apple taking a lower margin -- could be, but I'm not going to base that conclusion on iSuppli numbers, which don't seem very reliable. Even if they are taking lower margins, I doubt they are as low as iSuppli's numbers claim.