Maybe it's because I just watched American Horror Story last night where the entitled hipsters were complaining that the bathroom tile had a crack in it, or the Yelp episode of South Park I caught last week where everyone felt like it was their purpose in life to review everything, but these recent posts about how bad the new Apple TV is for them just blow my mind.
It wasn't that long ago the mainstream consumer would wait for a product to mature a bit before committing to a purchase. The early adopters who wanted the cutting edge technology were willing to sacrifice stability, functionality, and better value (i.e. lower cost) in exchange for being the first to own an item.
Today we have a forum full of outrage because a new device doesn't fulfill the buyer's every expectation. Where did these expectations come from? Apple never stated that the Apple TV 4 would support profiles, or that it would definitely work with the remote app on day 1, or that it would (enter entitled unmet expectation here.) It's not like they're over-promising at press release and under-delivering at product release. So how are these expectations being set?
I'm all for discussing shortcomings & wish lists of services or functionality; however, this isn't what's happening. The outrage is so full of hyperbole it's painting a picture of a completely failed product launch that isn't actually reflective of reality. If the device doesn't suit your needs, why is it necessary to come online and create a new thread that tonally suggests the product ruined your life?
For what it's worth, I have an Apple TV 4. I still have 3's in the house. I've had 2's. I've had a Roku.
- The aTV 4 is a great product. It's a significant enhancement over the experience of the previous generation.
- It has room for improvement, which will be possible via software updates.
- None of its shortcomings are substantial enough to render it unusable.
- I know of no competing device which overwhelmingly improves upon the experience I'm looking for.
- I recognize that this is new hardware running new software, and therefore there may be anomalous issues which I will need to work around or through until a software fix is provided.
- I am also grateful to be using a device which can be (and is) regularly updated via software - unlike, say, my car infotainment system and other technology solutions I've experienced both past and present.
All of the angst surrounding early adoption has me pining for the days when only the fringe geeks and nerds bought the new stuff. If one catches fire or something, what level of angst will be left to escalate to since we're all so upset over keyboard layouts and game center profiles?
