Our favorite 'dead tree media' technology columnist, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, has a review out today (available free at ptech.wsj.com or with subscription at the mothership) of the Apple TV -- the 6-min video above includes most of the high points. Mr. Mossberg praises the unit for its simplicity and ease of setup; he appreciates the fit and finish of the Apple TV and likes the fact that it doesn't try to be everything for everyone. He and co-author Katherine Boehret say the Apple TV is a "pleasure to use," and it "worked great, and we can easily recommend it for people who are yearning for a simple way to show on their big TVs all that stuff trapped on their computers."
Walt thoughtfully points out that you don't need a Mac to use an Apple TV (XP or Vista with iTunes works fine), and that his unit performed perfectly skip- and stutter-free on his 802.11g network, even without the speed boost of 802.11n/Airport Extreme. Interestingly, Walt suggests the main competition for the Apple TV isn't a similar device from Sling, Belkin or other second-tier vendors: it's the big kahuna, the Xbox 360.
Thanks Ben!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-21-2007 @ 10:17AM
tevetorbes said...
"But the comparable Xbox costs 50% more than Apple TV, is much larger and stores only half as much material."
Apparently mathematics is not one of Mr Mossberg's stronger suits. Last time I checked, a 360 premium bundle was $399.
Oh, and you can download HD content from the XBLM.
*yawn* AppleTV - lets get some HD content from the iTunes Store if we have to use an HDTV, mmkay?
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3-21-2007 @ 10:38AM
eric said...
wallstreet branded apple fan boy lol!
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3-21-2007 @ 11:12AM
Jessica said...
Walt is a great Mac proponent. This review was very positive, and I imagine it will move a lot of units.
One thing I don't see mentioned is talks of the "bigger issues" surrounding this device. The shift to what some call "over the top" delivery is going to cause some major problems for the cable industry.
What if I stopped paying for cable TV, and just bought my songs off iTunes? That would halve their revenue from me. I can't imagine they'll stand for this on a large scale.
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3-21-2007 @ 11:13AM
Jessica said...
Walt is a great Mac proponent. This review was very positive, and I imagine it will move a lot of units.
One thing I don't see mentioned is talks of the "bigger issues" surrounding this device. The shift to what some call "over the top" delivery is going to cause some major problems for the cable industry:
http://advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com/emmyadvancedmedia/2007/01/over_the_top_fi.html
What if I stopped paying for cable TV, and just bought my songs off iTunes? That would halve their revenue from me. I can't imagine they'll stand for this on a large scale.
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3-21-2007 @ 12:07PM
Spock said...
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/01/managing-mossberg.html
Funniest article on Walt.
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3-22-2007 @ 8:39AM
JeffDM said...
He had enough caveats with this though, with regards to the targeted user base and its functionality. I'd say it's more like "one thumb up". I'm skeptical of the market for this, but then, I think a few million movies were sold by iTunes.
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