Thursday, March 22, 2007
Apple TV Not Ripe Yet
Yes, per the reviews it is simple and elegant to use, as long as you purchased your TV recently. But the primary reasons for holding off are its smallish hard drive and lack of access to non-iTunes content.
If I'm paying $300 or more for a box, I need something that is clearly better than what I can get from my existing equipment, and there is no "killer app" on the Apple TV today. All of the movies and many of the TV shows that iTunes offers can be had online or through Netflix or Blockbuster today (or TiVoed), which offer a magnitude more of choices. You don't need to listen to your iTunes music on your TV as you can easily plug in your iPod to your stereo. Photo sharing is nice, but for less than $1 you can burn your photos onto a CD and watch them on your TV.
So what am I missing -- what can you do with the Apple TV that is unique?
The 40 gigabyte hard drive is too small, and it will be a pain to delete a movie every time you want to watch something new. When Apple, or TiVo, or Sling Media creates a box where I can wirelessly stream any free online TV show, YouTube or other video clip, or rented movies to my TV, then I'll spend a few hundred bucks.
Apple doesn't enable you to watch ad-supported Internet content because it doesn't make them any money, so it is more likely that they won't be first to market.
Posted By John Gartner at 09:46 AM
Permanent Link: Apple TV Not Ripe Yet
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