Filed under: Accessories, Analysis / Opinion, Apple TV, Road Tested
One month with Apple TV
Last Christmas, my wife surprised me with an Apple TV. I had mentioned it a few times, but not with the breathless anticipation I typically reserve for Apple products and baked goods. Still, I set it up and have enjoyed renting movies, listening to music and delighting the kids with enormous pictures of themselves.While the Apple TV isn't a flop, it isn't the type of runaway hit we've come to expect from Cupertino. When Tim Cook shared Apple's first quarter financial results last month, he referred to the Apple TV as "...a hobby." He also noted that sales tripled since they added movie rentals, but didn't share specific numbers. After a month of playing with it, I think I know why.
First, let me share what I love about the Apple TV, lest you think I'm a Negative Nellie. To start, it's tiny and unobtrusive. While I like owning fun gadgets, I dislike looking at a stack of ugly hardware.
The UI is extremely easy to navigate and the learning curve is nil. A 6-year-old could operate this with no instruction. I'm also quite pleased with the quality of the content. HD programming -- both TV shows and movies -- are ready to view just seconds after purchase, and look great on my TV. Additionally, I never thought I'd listen to music with my television, but I've been doing just that.
Finally, it "just works." All you need to do to get an Apple TV working is connect it to your TV (a single HDMI cable in my case) and plug it in. There isn't even a power button to flip. iTunes saw it immediately and began to synchronize media.
Speaking of the media, that's where we run into trouble.
Here's a scenario that we've encountered twice now. My wife and I love NBC's The Office. Two weeks ago, we missed it. I fired up the Apple TV, bought the episode that we missed ($2.99US) and we sat down to watch it in glorious HD. Nice, right?
Well, we could have watched it for free on Hulu. Or at NBC.com. Of course, my iMac's 20" display can't compete with my 34" TV, but "free" certainly helps lessen the disappointment of that discrepancy. It's not like that particular episode of The Office was one I'd want to own forever and ever (it was "Prince Family Paper" if you're wondering), I simply wanted to see what I had missed. And I was being penalized three bucks to do it. If only I could get a free replay on my TV.
Boxee is a service that lets you search and view content from Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, Comedy Central, Last.fm, and flickr and is easily installed on an Apple TV. Frankly, that's how I'll be using it most of the time, save for movies and TV shows I absolutely want to own.
But it isn't just about money. My other issue is how I'm used to consuming media.
Let's start with music. I'm dating myself here, but when I was young and wanted to buy a song, I'd go to the record store and pick up a 45 (for you young whipper-snappers in the audience, a "45" is a kind of "record." Google is your friend), then a cassette and eventually a CD. Ultimately, I "owned" the song; not in the legal sense, but in the sense that I had an ultra-portable, physical thing that I could hold, pop into a player and enjoy just about whenever and where ever I wanted.
Plus, listening to music doesn't preclude other activities. I can just as easily hang Christmas lights on the house, drive the car, make a sandwich or weather-seal the deck while listening to music.
It's different with video. I'm accustomed to having video delivered to me by a TV, movie theater or, more recently, an iPod or iPhone. While I carry music around with me, I must plant myself in front of one of those devices to enjoy television or a movie.
Likewise, I can't do any of the above things while watching video. OK, maybe make the sandwich, but even then I'm only glancing at the screen occasionally. In other words, while I want my music available any where, any time and as a physical "thing" that I control, I'm A-OK with taking a more passive role in interacting with my video.
For years, some people have been clamoring for a subscription-based iTunes Store. While I'd never want to see music go subscription, I'd love for that to be an option for video.
If Apple charged me X amount of money per month and gave me unlimited access to their library of television and movies from any approved device, including Macs, iPhones, iPods and, of course, Apple TVs, I'd be a happy customer (of course, this would send the cable companies into a frenzy, but that's another post entirely). Yes, I want to have my music files physically on my hard disk. But if the shows and movies I want to watch all lived on a free-range server farm in Cupertino, that'd be fine with me.
I'd save a lot of disk space. There'd be nothing to sync, or forget to sync, before a vacation. I wouldn't have to cough up three bucks just to watch The Office, and and Apple would maintain its revenue stream.
Right now, the Apple TV is designed to sell content from the iTunes Store. Well, there are free ways to get much of the same content. Let me pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to the full library, and I'll do it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
InfoMofo said 4:16PM on 2-02-2009
"Let me pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to the full library, and I'll do it."
It's funny I made this exact same suggestion to a friend last week about making a practical Apple TV monthly subscription model, and he made a good counter argument (he works in TV, so I guess he just knows the intricacies very well). TV content in the US is strange in that it is much more active in certain months than others. Saavy consumers would pick and choose which months to subscribe to, and only the lazy or stupid would subscribe during the relatively dry summer months. Instead, they'd really have to go to an annual subscription model, which is probably too big a pill for consumers of new media to swallow.
Reply
Victor Agreda Jr said 4:37PM on 2-02-2009
That's true, but it is changing. Just look at how, around the time of the writer's strike, networks had to get clever with programming schedules. And guess what? They found that by putting new content on during the summer, people actually watched it!
So I'd say the tide is turning to a TV schedule with year-round new content (even if 80% is reality TV and cheap comedy shows).
jollyllama said 4:41PM on 2-02-2009
The seasonal issue is only true if you actually care about watching tv shows at the time they're broadcast. I think its safe to say, given the rise of netflix and watching entire seasons at a time, that lots of people don't care if they're watching "24" in the summer 2 months late. I want to consume media when I have time for it, and I don't mind being "behind" on the season.
tves said 4:58PM on 2-02-2009
I think there's WAY too much TV out there to consume during the season that you'd have enough to watch during the summer/lazy months (bad weather days only of course!)
Plus you could use that time (If you watch on the Network schedule) to watch the now defunct shows or catch up on previous seasons..
Speaking of Netflix, are the streamed TV shows in 16x9 (the ones that are available in HD)?
Thanks
danielsoneg said 5:24PM on 2-02-2009
By that logic, the Cable companies should have the same problem though. TV exists through what I'd like to call the Firehose model: It's just a huge amount of content available at any time. It's not necessarily good, new, original, or previously unseen content, but it's content that you can turn on and stare at. That's why people pay for cable - because Bittorrent's a bitch and Hulu doesn't tune itself.
Robbie Cooke said 8:08AM on 2-03-2009
Apologies that this isn't a direct reply - but I do have a burning question about ATV and Boxee and i figured that the readers of TUAW are the best teachers!
I'm in the UK and want an apple tv to get music/artwork/photos through my TV. Obviously I'd love to show video too as I don;t have a regular tv licensce. I've got a tonne of downloaded shows in a variety of video-formats (none of which are probably suited to ATV's restrictions) .... will Boxee or any other plug-ins allow me to play these? if so I'm definately going to buy one ... Unfortunately my ageing powemac takes about 5 days to convert these video files into the ATV format or rip my dvds....
Cheers for the help!
Andy said 1:16PM on 2-05-2009
Surly this would work similar to a mobile contract, pay so much a month for a minimum of 12 months, every ones a winner.
I'd so do that.
Mark said 1:15PM on 2-03-2009
Couldn't agree with you more, a subscription would completely change the game for Apple TV. Especially if they have all the networks offerings available at the same time as broadcast. I'd probably dump cable.
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DarkLord7854 said 4:17PM on 2-02-2009
There's this thing called Netflix, give it a whirl :P
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Ashwin said 4:25PM on 2-02-2009
There is, but do I get unlimited access to Netflix on my iPhone? I don't think so.
Chris said 4:54PM on 2-02-2009
You said it - Netflicks! Thats the model Apple TV should follow. I don't want to buy these movies and $2.99 or whatever to watch one is too much. Charge me $15 per month and let me hold up to 3-4 movies onboard at a time (you could even slow downloaded to save bandwidth).
Netflicks owns the rental market! Maybe Apple should maker a deal with them. For $99 you can get a device that lets you download Netflicks On Demand movies. Thats a lot cheaper than the Apple TV.
Corey said 4:26PM on 2-02-2009
One word: Boxee
http://boxee.tv
Thats all you need turn AppleTV into ultimate entertainment center. Takes it from average to amazing.
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Dorv said 5:49PM on 2-02-2009
I just wish that the ATV could handle Netflix streaming through Boxee.
JR said 6:01PM on 2-02-2009
I'll second that. I've genuinely loved my ATV and used it quite consistently since I got it quite a while back, but I just installed Boxee last week and suddenly I'm using it a LOT more. Hulu, streaming from a share on my MacPro - the works. And it doesn't hurt ATV's primary functionality. Win!
Gary said 5:19AM on 2-03-2009
Sadly, Boxee on the AppleTV is a lot less useful outside the US. The big networks block content from IP addresses outside of the US, which is easy enough to bypass on a Mac, but not on the AppleTV.
In fairness to the Boxee team, they have incorporated the BBC's iPlayer for UK-based users, but the BBC only makes about five good shows, so original content is thin. Plus iPlayer is already available to me through my cable service and even my PS3.
GregCoogan said 4:26PM on 2-02-2009
I have never understood the appeal of the AppleTV. I have a DVR and a Roku player with Netflix. Both of these devices allow me to access and control media that I have already paid for, in the format of my netflix subscription and Dish Network access. Why should I buy another box that doesn't really do anything but allow me to purchase additional content from Apple? I am sick to death of companies thinking consumers have unlimited funds to purchase things that are available for free (Hulu) or that I have already bought in one format. So that I can listen to music from my TV? I have an ipod and a stereo so I don't need that. AppleTV is a horrible value, because it doesn't do anything that I need to have done, so I don't care how nice the interface is. Add a DVR to the thing for Pete's sake, or maybe a BlueRay player. Give me a good reason to buy this thing Apple, and I will.
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DrWho said 4:58PM on 2-02-2009
For me it's good value, it enables me to watch HD rentals, it saves me the cost of buying a bd player.
Yendi said 5:41PM on 2-02-2009
I have never understood the appeal of the Roku player or a DVR. I already have an AppleTV. This device allow me to access and control media that I have already paid for, in the format of my iTunes season passes and single show purchases. Why should I buy other boxes that doesn't really do anything but allow me to purchase additional content from NetFlix or the Cable company? I am sick to death of companies thinking consumers have unlimited funds to purchase things that are available for free (Hulu) or that I have already bought in one format. Roku is a horrible value, because it doesn't do anything that I need to have done, so I don't care how awful the interface is. Add an iTunes store interface to the thing for Pete's sake, or maybe a BlueRay player. Give me a good reason to buy this thing NetFlix, and I will.
balls said 2:29AM on 2-04-2009
@DrWho: The "HD" content from iTMS is garbage compared to the quality of Blu-ray.
It's a night and day difference.
Save yourself the money and rent SD content and let your TV upscale it.
Unknown said 10:37PM on 2-09-2009
Apple clearly pitches the Apple TV as a way to access all of the for-pay content of the iTunes Store. Personally, I use it that way about 1% of the time. I buy a few shows a year, and I've rented maybe 3 movies.
I still rate the Apple TV as one of the best products I have ever purchased. I don't have cable/sat and watch a lot of video podcasts. The Apple TV is perfect for this.
I record OTA HD using an Elgato EyeTV. It automatically gets converted and made available on the Apple TV. I miss my old ReplayTV like crazy, but for HD, EyeTV + Apple TV is an amazing solution. People complain about the Apple TV not being a DVR, but there are solutions to this. Would I like to see Apple take a shot at a DVR? Of course I would, but in the meantime, I've got more content than I can watch.
It's also amazing to stream my movie collection which I've ripped from my DVDs. It's perfect if you have kids because all of their movies are a menu selection away. Hate stupid-long DVD boot up times? Rip them down and skip all of that non-sense.
I've also been known to spend 30 minutes caught up in YouTube content. You go watch one and then click the next, and the next, and the next.
Toss Boxee on and you really have something.
The Apple TV isn't the only box that can do these things, but the Roku box can't (yet?) and I haven't seen a DVR that can either.
Look beyond how Apple is selling the Apple TV. It is an amazingly capable box.