Apple TV Update

[jmorrow76]

I wouldn't DREAM of dropping cable without having a decent OTA HD setup in place first. Local news, special broadcasts, etc. You're over-simplifying the issue. OTA should definitely be part of this conversation.

Also, antennas being 80's technology? You are living in the twilight zone man... I would bet good money that 90% of this world does not have Satellite or Cable television.

I'm over simplifying the issue for you maybe but I'm afraid it is in fact that simple for me. Reason, I don't like local news and don't care much for the Grammys. So now you see how it's very simple for some but not you. We all have different viewing habits and needs.

As far as people with antennas, I'm really sorry to hear that but I don't mention the lure of pagers during a conversation about cell phones and you shouldn't either if you expect a reasonable response.

 

[jmorrow76]

Obviously you have no idea what OTA stand for and how a DVR works without cable and satellite. Oh well.

wow you are an arrogant, bitter little person aren't you. I know exactly what it stands for & if your that reliant on having every second of television at your finger tips at all times then pick up an elgato product. for the rest of us that get off of our sofas from time to time I think ATV works just fine.

I can't imagine sinking that kind of money & effort into TV but that's just me. I have better things to do so pushing that little button to have viewing pleasure presented to my face with no effort at all is definitely the tits in my book.

 

[fivepoint]

Wow. Words... just, words... escape... WOW.

"I can't imagine sinking that kind of money & effort into TV but that's just me. (and yet I own a new iMac, a 3G iPhone, 3 AppleTVs, and a $500 router/hard drive). Sniff... sniff... aaahhhhhhh!"

 

[Tilpots]

wow you are an arrogant, bitter little person aren't you. I know exactly what it stands for & if your that reliant on having every second of television at your finger tips at all times then pick up an elgato product. for the rest of us that get off of our sofas from time to time I think ATV works just fine.

I can't imagine sinking that kind of money & effort into TV but that's just me. I have better things to do so pushing that little button to have viewing pleasure presented to my face with no effort at all is definitely the tits in my book.

*adds jmorrow to buddy list*

 

[FaasNat]

I would bet the next major update to TV is iphone/itouch Apps compatibility. I can picture these apps working on your TV screen with your iphone/itouch as the input device. They will probably throw in a browser too.
......

Though this would limit it only to people who have an iPhone/iPod Touch. Now if Apple released a new remote like the iPod Touch -- full touch screen with the remote app + an IR port to control other home theater devices -- then it'll be pretty sweet (I'd pony up some money for that to replace my Logitech Harmony one). iPod functionality not needed as it will just be a remote....

 

[mandoman]

Though this would limit it only to people who have an iPhone/iPod Touch. Now if Apple released a new remote like the iPod Touch -- full touch screen with the remote app + an IR port to control other home theater devices -- then it'll be pretty sweet (I'd pony up some money for that to replace my Logitech Harmony one). iPod functionality not needed as it will just be a remote....

That would inflate the cost of the TV too much. I could see perhaps an TV+ipod touch bundle at a slightly lower cost ($50 off or something) though.

But you are right, adding IR+Universal Remote support would be sweet...

 

[FaasNat]

That would inflate the cost of the TV too much. I could see perhaps an TV+ipod touch bundle at a slightly lower cost ($50 off or something) though.

But you are right, adding IR+Universal Remote support would be sweet...

Hmmm, standard little white thing as default. Suped up touch remote for addition cost (or sold separately -- I would pick one up even without an AppleTV if it could control other stuff).

 

[jmorrow76]

Wow. Words... just, words... escape... WOW.

"I can't imagine sinking that kind of money & effort into TV but that's just me. (and yet I own a new iMac, a 3G iPhone, 3 AppleTVs, and a $500 router/hard drive). Sniff... sniff... aaahhhhhhh!"

yes you got me there. My iPhone, computer and backup/airport were all purchased for endless hours of watching tv on my sofa. You missed my house which exists so I have a place to watch tv and my car which exists only to get me to that place that I can watch tv.

Wow you and the other guy are so angry. Just a bad day or is it that time of the month?

 

[TomP80]

Now, please explain to me how this addition of a DVR hurts the iTunes store, especially when the number of TV users and iTunes store users increases exponetially because of the DVR addition..

But would it?

I don't know if you could expect an exponential increase in ATV sales just because of DVR functionality - especially with the associated price increase that would naturally go with it.

I can't really talk about US prices, but here in Australia the ATV currently retails for $449 and base-level DVR's retail for about $200, so unless Apple plans on making a loss on their units Sony-style, then it would have to retail the DVR-ATV at $600.

That is a pretty hard sell to the average consumer, when you can get a $50/month DVR-enabled cable package, or any number of DVR or media streaming products for around the $200-$400 price range.

Maybe Apple could get it to work if they seriously marketed the product, they could get that to work, and result in the exponential ipod/iphone type market domination - but to be honest, I don't think they care that much about the product at this stage to go down that path.

And why should they? They are making a killing selling ipods and iphones, and making even more of a killing selling content for them through the ITMS.

For Apple, it is a simple question about whether the pros of adding a DVR (small to moderate increase in new ATV sales, followed by small to moderate increase in iTunes downloads - forget any exponential growth patterns) outweighs the risks of giving their direct competitors a firmer standing in the marketplace, giving consumers one less reason to ditch their cable, and not pushing consumers towards Apple's grand plan of online content delivery.

At the moment, the risks outweigh the benefits.

 

[Tilpots]

But would it?

I don't know if you could expect an exponential increase in ATV sales just because of DVR functionality - especially with the associated price increase that would naturally go with it.

I can't really talk about US prices, but here in Australia the ATV currently retails for $449 and base-level DVR's retail for about $200, so unless Apple plans on making a loss on their units Sony-style, then it would have to retail the DVR-ATV at $600.

That is a pretty hard sell to the average consumer, when you can get a $50/month DVR-enabled cable package, or any number of DVR or media streaming products for around the $200-$400 price range.

Maybe Apple could get it to work if they seriously marketed the product, they could get that to work, and result in the exponential ipod/iphone type market domination - but to be honest, I don't think they care that much about the product at this stage to go down that path.

And why should they? They are making a killing selling ipods and iphones, and making even more of a killing selling content for them through the ITMS.

For Apple, it is a simple question about whether the pros of adding a DVR (small to moderate increase in new ATV sales, followed by small to moderate increase in iTunes downloads - forget any exponential growth patterns) outweighs the risks of giving their direct competitors a firmer standing in the marketplace, giving consumers one less reason to ditch their cable, and not pushing consumers towards Apple's grand plan of online content delivery.

At the moment, the risks outweigh the benefits.

I'm not sure it would hit the $600 price level but... even if it did, most people would have it paid off in a year with their savings from their cable satellite bill. I say a year figuring about 5-6 months of actual cable bill and then another 5-6 because they'd be paying at least some money to the iTunes store.

That $600 figure seems kinda high, too, considering most of the same parts and components are found in the TV and a standalone DVR. You wouldn't need to pay for redundant equipment.

I had another discussion about this on another thread and I'd love to hear an equipment pro chime in with what parts TV would need to make DVR possible. You might even have to figure in paying for the guide... Anyone got an idea?

I do believe that if people found they could get rid of their cable and still watch all their favorite shows, the TV would become the next Apple success story.

Still don't know about live sports or news, but many of the biggest games are on the major networks anyway, so I might have to visit the local sports bar an extra week or two a season...

 

[hokietoner]

The apple TV's goal is to get multimedia from your computer to your home theater system. It does that well with your pictures, videos, and music. But a big part of the multimedia that I want to get on my HT is online video streaming. I have ESPN 360 and I'd love to get games on the TV. Similarly with TV shows that you can stream for free, like Lost or the Daily Show, I want to get on my TV. I don't want to buy them on the iTMS if I can watch them for free.

So the dealbreaker for me is that if I'm going to buy a device that brings multimedia from my computer to my TV, it needs to be able to bring online streamed video to my TV. If ATV had Safari, this would probably solve this issue. So at this moment right now, the best solution would be another computer which is connected to my TV, along with a wireless KB/mouse that I use on the coffee table. That offers the greatest flexibility but unfortunately the biggest price tag.