Filed under: Video, iTunes, Apple TV
Feed your Apple TV with Archive.org
The Internet Archive offers many treats to its visitors. These range from the WaybackMachine web page archive to a 38-thousand-plus live concert recordings collection to its nearly 200,000 eTexts, and that doesn't even touch videos. Archive.org's Moving Image archive is chock full of video already compressed to MP4 that you can load to your iTunes library and sync to your Apple TV without any further conversion or data massaging.
Yes, sure, the quality isn't great--but it's free, it's historical and a lot of the material is just plain fun. Expect a data rate around 350 kbps (more or less) and you won't be too disappointed by the results. For comparison, consider that a standard iTunes video runs at 1500-2000 kbps and a new High Def Apple TV video runs at closer to 4000 kbps.
Animations like Betty Boop, Looney Tunes and Felix the Cat are plentiful. Other standout items include old timey newsreel fodder and full-length features like My Man Godfrey.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ahmad said 3:15PM on 4-06-2007
mmmmm..... data massaging
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jason said 5:54PM on 4-06-2007
where do you see new high def itunes content, and how would you know its 4000 kbps?
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Erica Sadun said 5:55PM on 4-06-2007
Jason: That's the "Export to Apple TV" rate from QuickTime Pro. It syncs to iTunes and Apple TV and looks fab.
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Bob S. said 9:03PM on 4-06-2007
While overall the quality of the Moving Images section does vary greatly, the Prelinger Archives and the unfortunately named AV Geeks section both have mostly high-quality transfers of educational, industrial training, and government propaganda shorts that deserve a night (or even a festival). Those sections are also popular with remix artists and fuel the annual Stockstock competition.
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Derek F. said 8:49AM on 4-07-2007
Try out some of the public domain movies (like "His Girl Friday" or "Meet John Doe") - they're great movies. Plus the "Why We Fight" series detailing the U.S.'s entry into WWII is really interesting.
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