The AppleTV is already useful, if you know how to use it. Of course, anti-Apple zealots think everything made by Apple is a waste of time.
I'm clearly not an anti-Apple zealot, I identified myself as AppleTV, multiple iPhone/iPod owner, and an Apple Fanboi.
I'll argue that only an Apple-zealot Fanboi who never sees anything wrong with an Apple product could call the AppleTV anything beyond "marginally useful as a media extender for iTunes."
In my own case, having the ability to use a computer with iTunes as a media server is great! I have access to my entire audio/video/movie/TV library on every machine in the house, plus full HD capability in the living room.
This is only useful if all of your media is within iTunes, and in a format playable by the AppleTV. Only a geek would go to that effort. Meanwhile, competing products offer more functionality along with the ability to tap into your iTunes music library. Example, XBox 360 allows gaming, NetFlix, and you can tap into iTunes.
For the typical non-Geek, some Blu-Ray DVD player with NetFlix or Amazon built-in offers less expensive content that's easier to access, unless you're willing to rent and rip DVDs to iTunes, which most non-Geeks won't bother with.
That's because Joe Public doesn't understand what the AppleTV really is--a complete multimedia device that, while it still has some shortcomings as mentioned, isn't the crippled device claimed.
It is NOT a "complete multimedia device" unless you hack it. You cannot watch TV on it, you cannot play a Blu-Ray DVD on it, you cannot play a standard DVD on it, you cannot play games on it, you cannot stream all-you-can-eat video on demand to it, you cannot surf the web, you cannot watch Hulu or do anything besides play iTunes music and video content unless you hack the thing.
I rarely use my AppleTV and found that adding a Mac Mini to the mix was a much more satisfying experience, for not a heck of a lot more money.
I'm glad you like the device, but you're clearly not part of Joe Public, you're an Apple loving geek, as evidenced by the fact that you read this site, if nothing else.
This is the one statement I can agree with. The device as displayed seems to make access to all the built-in capabilities much easier and more intuitive--not requiring you to go through 2 and 3 layers of menus. If this device is added to some of the other AppleTV rumors out there, this could well be not only a remote, but a game controller letting you play iPhone/iPod Touch games on your TV. If you look at some of the commercials for the iPhone now, gaming is becoming quite a deal for Apple.
No argument there.
