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Passes the test?

  • Yes, it's almost too easy to use.

    Votes: 63 92.6%
  • Nope, everybody in my house is confused.

    Votes: 5 7.4%

  • Total voters
    68

SouthernMac

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 25, 2007
54
0
I know that this has been mentioned before, but the girlfriend test with electronics is a killer for me. I like to share the joy of my gadgets, but my girlfriend just doesn't get most of them. They are all too much trouble or whatever. She was skeptical about the Apple TV at first too. She said "it's the same thing as hooking your iPod to the TV." I had to just shake my head and say yes. After using it though she loves it (she was skeptical about using a Mac too, but now she won't even touch her old Dell laptop). I ripped all her palates DVDs and it was all over. So without further ado, does your apple tv pass the "girlfriend" test? For the record ladies I'm not meaning to be sexist, this is just my situation. Apply my analogy however it fits... kids, grandma, etc.
 

stomer

macrumors 6502a
Apr 2, 2007
608
1
Leeds, UK
It's the only home entertainment device that my wife can use. She'll quite happily navigate to her weekly episodes of Lost all on her own.
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,782
7,514
Los Angeles
Practically nobody understands the purpose of our Apple TV at first, until I explain that it's a giant iPod that uses our TV and audio system instead of its own screen and speakers.

Today, in fact, is the third day in a row I've explained it that way to someone.
 

uva25

macrumors regular
Feb 2, 2008
160
0
It passes the kids test for home movies. As for wife, nothing will ever top when we first got Tivo.
 

EarthDawn

macrumors 6502a
Feb 18, 2008
883
10
Long-eye Land, NY
at first I got the old "Did you really need this ?" ... and now she wont give up the damn remote !!!!

and she leaves DVD's that she wants Handbraked onto it on my desk ... lol


Best thing I bought since the Plasma !
 

AppleMatt

macrumors 68000
Mar 17, 2003
1,784
25
UK
Yep she loves the AppleTV, more than anything else 'Apple' I own (although she loves her green iPod mini).

AppleMatt
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Doesn't vibrate so no. She can't work it very well, keeps pressing menu when she gets back to the main menu so it flicks back and fourth, then chucks the remote to me.

How many girlfriends do you have? Since the second option says "everybody in my house..." :p
 

plaidhippo

macrumors member
Mar 30, 2007
89
0
same thing happened here...

after gf moved in, she took a few weeks to warm up to my powerbook, but since then has not touched her viao laptop. we ended up selling it.

she also got hooked on ipods and she gave me an apple tv as a wedding present last year. but after using it a few times, she has been addicted to the apple tv too! she likes watching some movies multiple times, so having it available in a split second (or two seconds, after the take two "upgrade" :p), that makes her very very happy. i love it too, just having access to any song, any music video, any home movie in a matter of seconds, it totally is worth the price of admission. and since we started renting movies, we don't even visit the stores anymore.

as much as apple can improve on the speed of the interface, i have to admit i really do love the device. and so does she!!

apple tv = passed
mac = passed
ipod = passed
iphone = passed (used a friends, loved it)
 

RedTomato

macrumors 601
Mar 4, 2005
4,155
442
.. London ..
I'd say Apple passed the boyfriend test.

I had a IBM ThinkPad when I met my girlfriend, and she had a red CRT iMac. After a few months, I stopped using the ThinkPad and got a PowerBook. :D

No apple TV here, but Time Machine passes. Network shares are a complete bafflement to her though :(
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
She hates it & to be honest so do I, barely any decent rentals now they've changed to 'Buy Only':eek:(For most)
 

anim8or

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2006
1,362
9
Scotland, UK
No luck here, apparently, I have "turned the telly into a computer" :confused:


This is what i am met with when suggesting AppleTV to my fiancee!

We just dont have space to put all of our dvds on show and i hate hiding them away unless they are going to be kept hidden....

...my solution, AppleTV!

Her answer 'NO!'

:(
 

fastgraham

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2008
38
0
lay down the law

If you are letting your fiancee dictate what you can buy now, it will only get worse. Be a man, tell her that you are going to buy this thing because you work hard and you want it.

Is she going to let you tell her that she can't get a $120 hair cut? She "needs" that, right?

My only point is that for a marriage to work, you have to speak your mind and sometimes that means being harsher that you usually are. But in my experience a woman ultimately respects you more for being a man, even if that means disagreeing with her.
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
If you are letting your fiancee dictate what you can buy now, it will only get worse. Be a man, tell her that you are going to buy this thing because you work hard and you want it.

Is she going to let you tell her that she can't get a $120 hair cut? She "needs" that, right?

My only point is that for a marriage to work, you have to speak your mind and sometimes that means being harsher that you usually are. But in my experience a woman ultimately respects you more for being a man, even if that means disagreeing with her.

Or do what I do and buy it see what happens
 

askthedust

macrumors regular
Jan 17, 2003
134
0
enlightenment
passed

Wife got it for me for my birthday when it came out. We keep the kids movies on it (read pixar) and grown-up movies in a shared library on external drive...

perfect set-up. my 2 year old loves it and often hands me the remote because he wants to watch a movie...
 

TheSpaz

macrumors 604
Jun 20, 2005
7,032
1
I think the only hard part about the Apple TV is ripping DVDs for it. It's not hard for me because I know what I'm doing, but to someone who doesn't know what they're doing, they could use the wrong settings and get very frustrated (especially considering how long movies take to rip). With Handbrake, there's no easy button... you pretty much gotta know what to look for since not all DVDs are the same... Interlace, Deinterlace, FPS, Bitrate, 2-Pass, Detelecine, VFR, Audio, File Type, and all that jazz.
 

dynaflash

macrumors 68020
Mar 27, 2003
2,119
8
HB's AppleTV preset will suffice for 90+ % . The only thing you should have to concern yourself with other than that is deinterlace.
 

blackpond

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2008
516
15
Yes, yes and yes

My wife was very skeptical but loves it. My friends and relatives who I have shown it to all want one.

But here's the kicker..

My two-year-old... I thought it would be too hard for a two-year-old so didn't bother setting Parental Controls... oops. At age two he navigates the interface, finds movies he likes, and rents them just as easy as he fists mac-and-cheese into his face at lunch time.

Fun movies in the house now come from the "Apple TV" according to my two-year-old.
 

lyonsden

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2002
13
0
Illinois
Passes the 'kid' test

I purchased mine shortly after it was announced, and the day after I discovered three DVDs ruined by the careless handling of my kids.

All of my kids except the three-year old and newborn can operate it easily and are not affraid of it at all.

My only complaint, is that I like the original interface better, but I don't use it that much, so it's not a big deal.
 
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