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Also, it feels at the moment like Apple TV is an accessory to an iOS device. Like an AirPort Extreme.

Let's judge it harshly when it's earned a tab along the top of Apple's website. :D
 
There's an easier way. Try 'Beamer'. It's the best $15-$20 you'll spend for streaming any type of file, of any size from you Mac. MKVs play flawlessly (you can try it for free as the trial version plays for 15 minutes).
Beamer represents 90% of my Apple TV use. Fantastic app that works flawellesly.
 
So by that logic they should never have made iTunes, iDVD, Quicktime, integrated MP3 and all the other codecs on iPhones, iPads and iPods, included CD/DVD burners in their Macs and also not allow you to install 3rd party apps on Mac OS, just in case you install something "naughty" like uTorrent or VLC...

:rolleyes:


Well hello there, Slippery Slope Guy! Aren't you sassy!

Nice try, but Apple implemented those products and services as a legitimate platform. iTunes allowed people to transfer music off of their CDs and, later, created a platform to purchase music in the same MP3 format that everybody was already familiar with. iDVD worked in tandem with other Apple products, namely iMovie and iPhoto, Quicktime was their own file format that they, as with iTunes, implemented in ways to further their other products. Also, disabling third party apps on Macs would be going out of their way to cripple their products - a far cry from upgrading their products to support MKV format. It's like ripping and burning DVD movies in iTunes - Apple doesn't implement it because they see no reason to add features that would most likely affect their bottom line.

MKV files, let's be honest, are used mostly for pirated HD movies. Yeah yeah yeah, I know a few nerds on here will chime in to put me in my place about how they're just really serious about their movie watching, maybe they'll call themselves something annoying like "videophiles," and how they purchase everything legitimately on Bluray and rip them to their media server to save the integrity of the original disc, and how they need Plex to stream those MKV files they created to television because iTunes does not provide the "caliber of quality that I expect from my movie watching experience." How many of those nerds buy movies or music in iTunes? How many of those nerds do you think actually use Apple computers as opposed to crafting their own custom "rig" that they stream to their Roku or Chromecast?

Other than those nerds, and those who pirate their movies (essentially non-customers,) MKV isn't a format widely used by the general public. This isn't like the dawn of MP3s, where there high quality, low file size media files seemed like a thing from the future. Apple sees no need in implementing features/formats for a tiny market of users who buy their movies on Bluray and build their own computers.

If Apple implements MKV, it'll probably be if/when they decide to up the quality of their iTunes movies.
 
If you live in the UK the Apple TV is very poor value for money.

Agree - there's not much actual 'TV' to watch with an Apple TV in UK. In fact I've never watched ANY TV through mine. I used to use it to listen to music but not since Sonos arrived. Movies are more expensive than other options.

To me, the best thing they could add - which would compel me to buy a new one - would be a camera + FaceTime. I have a "smart TV" with a Skype app for this purpose, but it's a clumsy experience. FaceTime via your TV would be awesome. Might require some sort of little stand below the device to have the camera pointing at the right angle I suppose...
 
Why the hell does everything end up being about market share? Don't things like amount of media content, ease of use and usage time mean anything? It's always about who shipped or sold the most of some product. Chances are the the cheapest product will usually produce the most sales. Especially a product that's half the price of the other rival products. So what if one company sold X amount more than another company. All companies are not created equal. The most useful product will not always produce the most sales. It simply doesn't make sense to always make market share the most important metric.
 
I have two Apple TV 3's and Roku 3 and I must say I like my Roku a lot more just because of how much more is available for it.

Really all I can do on my ATV3 is Netflix and mirroring, mirroring works surprisingly well so I like that.

vs having native Plex support etc on the Roku.

I hope Apple TV stops becoming a side project and turns into something more.

Thats my expectation. They talk about new products, the board demands innovation, talk of an Apple TV set (that will never happen), freeing up old features in iOS8, tells me a more functional Apple TV is in the wings. Apps, allow a HD to be attached to play content

If Apple wants to go to a TV, the ATV is it.
 
Wow

Wow, I know Roku is good, but I didn't realize it sold that much. The Chromecast I can see selling because it is so cheap. But I still would have thought Apple TVs with all the foot traffic at the Apple stores would outsell them.

Question, has Apple ever advertised the Apple TV? Has there ever been a TV ad for it?
 
Apple TV has limited appeal, as it's just access to the apple ecosystem and airplay from ios. They've sold loads based on that but more can be done in a next gen which is overdue. We'll see sales in USA increase when that happenings.

I personally use a synology nas that provides me with plex like functions from my ipad for all my own ripped (cough) content and family movies.

A roku box seems like it has a bit of the functionally for this built in but for me it doesn't offer anything to access all the bought movies from apples servers.

Chrome cast is great but its a new product so is selling fast to all those android users who want to send their torrented movies and tv to their big screen. For the majority of people a box of any kind is still a geek extra most don't understand.
 
For whatever reason - apple just doesn't get some things.

The apple tv on paper is not bad, but its lacking and closed compared to other competitors. They need to rethink their strategy
 
There's an easier way. Try 'Beamer'. It's the best $15-$20 you'll spend for streaming any type of file, of any size from you Mac. MKVs play flawlessly (you can try it for free as the trial version plays for 15 minutes).

Playing other formats isnt an issue, the issue is software acceleration, does Beamer support that? I use Filebrowser to access my WDTV drive and as I have an iPad Air, plays sweet. But what about family members with an iPad2? It can play HD well as long as Apple formats but no go if software acceleration
 
That number will get worse because the new screen cast feature on Chromecast is awesome. I'm buying 2 more for a total of 4.
It's amazing how everything gets duplicated from screen to tv wirelessly from my Note 3. And for only $35 bucks!

"I am the biggest Android fanboy who visits this site..." I must admit that Android has more rabid Fanboys. I visited the Android Police site and suggested that Android was lacking in a particular way and the hate of the Fandroids was overwhelming. I think I received 40 plus 'get out of Dodge' responses!
 
I have an ATV3 that hardly gets used. Ill take responsibility for some of that by not getting stuck in and seeing what it can do. I also have a WDTVLive with a 2TB attacked to it. WDTV UI is basic, but it plays everything and is trouble free, thats what a media player needs to be. I can use ATV3 for Airplay, but what Can I Airplay thats on my 5S and iPad Air? Music is about it. I cannot Airplay my 2TB of movies as they are not in iTunes, so I can only Airplay my rMBP on websites. So the ATV is a great concept but quite limited for me.
 
Mine still crashes on netflix. Constantly drops wifi signal. Though every other device in my household (Mac iPhone iPads PC.) all happily stream on a very fast connection. Googling seems to bring up all sorts of people encountering the same problem. Some fix it others don't. I've played about with it. But I've just left it alone now. Too much effort. Apple seem to turn a blind eye to this also.
 
I have two Apple TV 3's and Roku 3 and I must say I like my Roku a lot more just because of how much more is available for it.

Really all I can do on my ATV3 is Netflix and mirroring, mirroring works surprisingly well so I like that.

vs having native Plex support etc on the Roku.

I hope Apple TV stops becoming a side project and turns into something more.

Yep,this report is not surprising at all.I've got both and use Roku 90% of the time,if not more.I've no use for airplay(yes I have an iPhone5 and iPad air),and NEVER buy video from iTunes.Roku has Amazon Prime,USB and Plex support,plus a ton of "channels"offering very old movies and niche subjects that I occasionally explore.PLUS games and an RF motion control remote(and an iOS remote app).Nearly all the channels Apple has added are of no use to me and are immediately hidden.I mainly use the ATV for streaming music and use the phone remote for that,which is fantastic.

I would not willingly dump either one,but if forced,the ATV would go first.

Of course if you use airplay a lot or are a big buyer of iTunes content,that all changes.
I love apple and have a strong feeling that in the end they will release a product that blows away the competition.But while I wait,Roku serves my needs well.

I'd encourage anyone to visit the Roku site and check out the channel guide before dissing it out of ignorance.
 
I love my Chromecast. The price tag and portability make it the best thing around. I have a Plex server with all my media and I can plug my Chromecast into anyone's TV to watch any of my stuff from. Nice for transforming a hotel room TV into your personal media hub too, if you travel a lot.

I wouldn't get an appleTV anymore

When in a hotel, are you able to accept the terms to get on the hotel WiFi with Chromecast? That's an issue with the ATV.
 
"I am the biggest Android fanboy who visits this site..." I must admit that Android has more rabid Fanboys. I visited the Android Police site and suggested that Android was lacking in a particular way and the hate of the Fandroids was overwhelming. I think I received 40 plus 'get out of Dodge' responses!

LOL, welcome from the dark side. I think the rabidness is the same for Apple users. Im an Apple fan, but I try to be unbiased, so I am happy to point out pros and cons of Apple, or Android or PC etc in a discussion. But, here, I can get picked on, as being anti Apple. Its a defensive attitude that can occur. Some just don't like negatives on their product of choice being mentioned. But its hardly a discussion if some are anti any negatives. If they don't like the negative, state its false and why, or discuss how it may change, or why its not that important.
 
Pirate downloads aren't sales for the industry, the average download is a file that either was already watched, previously bought or was deemed not worth buying. You can't create more money for consumers to buy movies with, they pay what can be afforded. Pirates watch more movies, they buy them too based on what they can spend.

If you like movies you tend to spend more but also pirate more, they go hand in hand.

You can watch mkvs on apple TVs already you just might need a PC to transcode or a nas?

Apple could open up native support for mkv but it's more likely pirates will and are switching to mp4 and other supported formats.

Well hello there, Slippery Slope Guy! Aren't you sassy!

Nice try, but Apple implemented those products and services as a legitimate platform. iTunes allowed people to transfer music off of their CDs and, later, created a platform to purchase music in the same MP3 format that everybody was already familiar with. iDVD worked in tandem with other Apple products, namely iMovie and iPhoto, Quicktime was their own file format that they, as with iTunes, implemented in ways to further their other products. Also, disabling third party apps on Macs would be going out of their way to cripple their products - a far cry from upgrading their products to support MKV format. It's like ripping and burning DVD movies in iTunes - Apple doesn't implement it because they see no reason to add features that would most likely affect their bottom line.

MKV files, let's be honest, are used mostly for pirated HD movies. Yeah yeah yeah, I know a few nerds on here will chime in to put me in my place about how they're just really serious about their movie watching, maybe they'll call themselves something annoying like "videophiles," and how they purchase everything legitimately on Bluray and rip them to their media server to save the integrity of the original disc, and how they need Plex to stream those MKV files they created to television because iTunes does not provide the "caliber of quality that I expect from my movie watching experience." How many of those nerds buy movies or music in iTunes? How many of those nerds do you think actually use Apple computers as opposed to crafting their own custom "rig" that they stream to their Roku or Chromecast?

Other than those nerds, and those who pirate their movies (essentially non-customers,) MKV isn't a format widely used by the general public. This isn't like the dawn of MP3s, where there high quality, low file size media files seemed like a thing from the future. Apple sees no need in implementing features/formats for a tiny market of users who buy their movies on Bluray and build their own computers.

If Apple implements MKV, it'll probably be if/when they decide to up the quality of their iTunes movies.
 
I found this confusing:

To date, Apple has sold over 20 million Apple TVs worldwide since launching the streaming device in 2007, while Roku has sold 8 million devices since its first media box in 2008.

So how is Apple in last place when it's sold over twice as many devices as Roku?

I agree with others who said that if Apple finally gets the App Store on the ATV, it will really take off. I'm curious why it's taking them so long.
 
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