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iPod What the Apple TV is missing.

S

starnox

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 15, 2005
363
67
There is one thing that the Apple TV is missing which would make it a truly great product.

You know the USB port on the back which is used for 'servicing', well they should make it so you can connect your iPod up to it va the data cable or universal dock. Then access your iPod library through the Apple TV interface. The Universal Dock is OK for connecting you iPod to your TV and stereo but lacks the TV interface Apple TV offers, and the support for higher quality connections like HDMI and optical audio.

If Apple add this functionality at a later date then I may think about buying the Apple TV. That way instead of your friends bringing their laptop over to watch the latest episode of 24, they will only need to bring their iPod.

Yah?
 
I'd say the biggest part missing or maybe more like something that I'd like Apple TV to do is record shows. i know it pretty much sabotages the whole iTunes TV show model they have, but then it would make a true Media Center for a big high-def TV
 
I wish it had a PVR build-in, but it's still a nice product. I have a $500 Mac Mini connected to my TV for the sole purpose of watching iTunes downloads. The Apple TV does the same thing and would have cost me much less.
 
it's too locked into itunes. which means if itunes can't play it, neither can apple tv. rather useless for me, and quite a few others, i'd think.

the new spring box or whatever it's called coming out this summer is promising to be what apple tv tries to be: a device that turns your tv in a second display. none of this sync stuff and itunes restriction - if it shows up on your computer, it'll show up on the tv. wirelessly. that is what i, at least, am waiting for.
 
plunar said:
it's too locked into itunes. which means if itunes can't play it, neither can apple tv. rather useless for me, and quite a few others, i'd think.

the new spring box or whatever it's called coming out this summer is promising to be what apple tv tries to be: a device that turns your tv in a second display. none of this sync stuff and itunes restriction - if it shows up on your computer, it'll show up on the tv. wirelessly. that is what i, at least, am waiting for.
Click to expand...
Agreed. If the Apple TV could play avi, divx, video_ts folders,etc... I would have bought one yesterday. In its current incarnation the Apple TV seems absurdly limiting. Why in the hell with a 40gig hard drive can we not download directly to the device itself and sync back to iTunes wirelessly? For all its proclamation about separating iTunes content from the pc, this seems counterintuitive.
 
I would have also liked to have seen a more "heavty" remote, something that fits for a living room. The little apple remote they have now is great for computers, but I would loose it in a second in my living room. It will seem very outa play among the other remotes.
 
plunar said:
it's too locked into itunes. which means if itunes can't play it, neither can apple tv. rather useless for me, and quite a few others, i'd think.

the new spring box or whatever it's called coming out this summer is promising to be what apple tv tries to be: a device that turns your tv in a second display. none of this sync stuff and itunes restriction - if it shows up on your computer, it'll show up on the tv. wirelessly. that is what i, at least, am waiting for.
Click to expand...

:apple:TV plays MPEG 4 and H264 files which means that it will play anything I record using handbrake or my eyeTV 250. Its not locked into playing itunes media only. You only need to put these files into itunes in order to stream or down load them.

In my situation where my G4 Tower is upstairs with my entire music and video collection on it and my HD TV is downstairs I no longer have to buy a Mac Mini for $700 to play content on my HD TV (or try to connect my laptop on the TV). I can pay 300 and do the same thing.
 
$300 + tax is asking a LOT just to bypass the 30 second hassle of moving my macbook to the tv and plugging up the dvi and audio.

You are suggesting that, in addition to the $300, I re-encode most of everything I watch so that it will be iTunes friendly?

hmm.... $0 + 30seconds, or $300 + encode time, everytime, plus trying to explain to my wife why we just paid $300 for more hassle....

Yep, real killer app that apple tv is.
 
What is most absurd about apple tv is that it is software limited by design. i can think of no reason, from a hardware perspective, that you cannot stream a DVD/mpeg2, wmv, divx, or anything else that quicktime can play.

i have no problem with the itunes store/ipod drm deal. the ipod can still play all the media i have. that's workable. apple tv is ass-backwards restricted... i thought the business model was break even on the tv shows, make money on the apple tv; not the other way around.

I'm confident apple's sales numbers will rectify this debacle, but until then, i guess i'll just have to take those 30 seconds in stride.
 
plunar said:
$300 + tax is asking a LOT just to bypass the 30 second hassle of moving my macbook to the tv and plugging up the dvi and audio.

You are suggesting that, in addition to the $300, I re-encode most of everything I watch so that it will be iTunes friendly?

hmm.... $0 + 30seconds, or $300 + encode time, everytime, plus trying to explain to my wife why we just paid $300 for more hassle....

Yep, real killer app that apple tv is.
Click to expand...

The :apple: TV's essentially a stripped-down Mac Mini. In addition, it has a lot in common with the iPod in what content it can run and how it syncs.

Want more functionality? Pay more for a Mac Mini. Or do your Macbook 30-second plugging-in routine. I think this clearly is a case of "you get what you pay for."

EDIT: Finally. 500 posts!
 
plunar said:
$300 + tax is asking a LOT just to bypass the 30 second hassle of moving my macbook to the tv and plugging up the dvi and audio.

You are suggesting that, in addition to the $300, I re-encode most of everything I watch so that it will be iTunes friendly?

hmm.... $0 + 30seconds, or $300 + encode time, everytime, plus trying to explain to my wife why we just paid $300 for more hassle....

Yep, real killer app that apple tv is.
Click to expand...

re-encode everything? From DivX or something simmilar? Do you have a lot of home movies or something? Because last time i checked, it's still illegal to break DVD encryption.. so, either you have one buttload of home movies, OR you want apple to make it easier for you to view illegal copies of movies.

I currently have a DVI cable connecting my G5 to the plasma in my apartment, and an RCA cable for the audio (cant find optical cables that long :( ) but i definitely plan to buy an :apple:TV, even at $A449. I figure that one days pay is worth it to have the interface on tv. even FrontRow on a mini doesnt give you the same UI features, nor the easy streaming/synch features of the :apple:TV.
 
I was really hope the Apple TV would be more in the philosophy of a the TV, I was expecting a SD or HD digital tuner with it.

I really do think Apple has done a very nice job in regaurds to features/price/connectivity but I do believe it needs a digital tv component to make it complete.
 
starnox said:
There is one thing that the Apple TV is missing which would make it a truly great product.

You know the USB port on the back which is used for 'servicing', well they should make it so you can connect your iPod up to it va the data cable or universal dock. Then access your iPod library through the Apple TV interface.
Click to expand...

Following the iPhone the iPod will go Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and sync with Apple TV in this way. The older generation iPod owners will have to use their computers - let's call it an incentive to upgrade.
 
plunar said:
$300 + tax is asking a LOT just to bypass the 30 second hassle of moving my macbook to the tv and plugging up the dvi and audio.

You are suggesting that, in addition to the $300, I re-encode most of everything I watch so that it will be iTunes friendly?

hmm.... $0 + 30seconds, or $300 + encode time, everytime, plus trying to explain to my wife why we just paid $300 for more hassle....

Yep, real killer app that apple tv is.
Click to expand...

First you don't have to re-encode. I just have eyetv place it in the correct iTunes folder.

I consider having my entire music collection, photos and recorded TV shows available when I want them at my TV worth $300. Its far better than dragging the laptop out plugging in the DVI dongle, pulling out the DVI cable into the TV, plugging in the power brick and hoping that no one trips over the wires and trashes my laptop.

The incentive I gave to my wife is that she will be able to play the recordings she wants when I'm not around. ;)

Apple TV became much more attractive to me because I use on of my Macs as a DVR. You don't so its not as attractive to you.
 
pengu said:
re-encode everything? From DivX or something simmilar? Do you have a lot of home movies or something? Because last time i checked, it's still illegal to break DVD encryption.. so, either you have one buttload of home movies, OR you want apple to make it easier for you to view illegal copies of movies.

.
Click to expand...

It is NOT illegal to make copies for your own use, for example to watch them on your stupid :apple: TV that cannot handle MPEG2.
 
erikamsterdam said:
It is NOT illegal to make copies for your own use, for example to watch them on your stupid :apple: TV that cannot handle MPEG2.
Click to expand...

No, it isnt. but, tell me, how do you make a personal copy without breaking the CSS encryption (which IS illegal)?


Im not saying that ripping DVD's you own SHOULD be illegal. i will do it myself once i have an extra HDD, however I will use MP4/H.264 because a) they're open standards and b) they work with itunes/:apple:TV/ipod
 
Regardless, the fact is AppleTV cannot play DVDs streamed from the mac. we routinely use the macbook as our dvd player. In fact, the only 2 things ever on the TV in our house are DVDs, and my wife's japanese tv shows (which come in some variant of avi). Apple TV does neither, and is a painfully teasing and insulting abomination of media standards.

I'll wait for my slingbox.
 
starnox said:
You know the USB port on the back which is used for 'servicing', well they should make it so you can connect your iPod up to it va the data cable or universal dock. Then access your iPod library through the Apple TV interface. The Universal Dock is OK for connecting you iPod to your TV and stereo but lacks the TV interface Apple TV offers, and the support for higher quality connections like HDMI and optical audio.
Click to expand...

I think you nailed it. That would have made it so much better and still keep the price about the same and keeping it simple.
 
BornAgainMac said:
I think you nailed it. That would have made it so much better and still keep the price about the same and keeping it simple.
Click to expand...

Right. because being able to play the content on your ipod (which came from itunes) with your itv (which plays content from itunes) would be Über great. hey, wait a second....
 
Um. How about a $299 rebate coupon for early adopters or $200 iTunes music card?
 
Apple TV is for die-hard iTunes users with HDTV and plain stereo audio setup. In other words, it's designed for kitchen and bedroom TVs. Without multi-channel surround audio, it is ill-suited for home theater.

Transcoding video from other formats is not only time consuming (less so if you queue the task overnight) but will noticeably degrade video and audio. Personally, I think Apple TV is a ploy to get more serious users pay more for Mac mini. I will wait for updated Mac mini, which hopefully will add some of Apple TV features (mainly HDMI and updated Front Row).

P.S. I think Apple made a mistake in making Apple TV larger than Mac mini and 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station. Perhaps it is done to intentionally make sure people won't plug in external hard disk designed for Mac mini form factor?
 
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