John on Tech...
A look at technology from MY point of view
Sunday 25 March 2007, 4:11 PM
Paul Thurrott's Apple TV review...
" Is the Apple TV really worth the $300? At this point, the answer, for most people, is no."
Well time will see how people react - the thing I do take exception to is the:
"For the same price, you could get an Xbox 360 (see my activity center and review) and use that device to stream media from any XP- or Vista-based PC, access live and recorded TV, various online music, movie, and photo services via its Media Center Extender functionality and a Media Center PC, or download rented and purchased TV shows and movies, many in high definition (unlike iTunes, which only offers standard definition video)."
Now Paul, you are just being naughty - the retail price of the XBOX is 100 bucks more for the version without the hard drive ($399) and a good 200 bucks more for the version with the 20 gig drive ($499)- and don't tell me about the higher capacity drives coz they aren't in the boxes stuffed into the channel at the moment in places like Best Buy.
Also as a media centre the XBOX is an enormous PC with big BOY connections and is as loud as can be imagined. The AppleTV is as small as needed to sit silently by the TV and just do its stuff. One cable from a power socket and whatever cable required to connect to the PC ( I have 3 phonos connected to the component ins on the TV which is the same requirement for DVD players with component ins).
For 300 bucks it was obviously a cheap expense to slag off the M$ competition. Let's see where we stand in a years time when Apple does indeed have hi-def content on the store. These all sound like the sort of criticisms aimed at Apple when they released the first iPod.
The full article can be found here: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/appletv.asp
PreviousComments on this post
He is so desperate for Apple TV not to be a success, his arguments and opinions are really stretching reality. His conclusion say it all. The simple fact is that Apple TV is designed to make watching content on your PC/Mac as easy and trouble free as possible. This is a version one product geared for what most people have on their PCs/Macs right now. I am sure HD will follow when content is pervasive. Thurrott thinks Apple has sacrificed "design" for functionality. The reality is Apple has provided a superb interface for accessing content on Mac or PC via your TV. I have looked at many solutions and nothing comes close to the togetherness of the Apple TV solution.
Nearly all the reviews I have seen on Apple TV read favorably. Thurrott has been banging his drum about Microsoft Media Center despite their failure in the market place for so long, that Apple coming in with a run-away success is too much to contemplate for him. How could something with less functionality be better than all the other alternatives?
Believe me, I'm not a huge Paul fan, but when you say "How could something with less functionality be better than all the other alternatives?", you MUST be talking about Apple TV being the "less functional" unit. The Apple TV resembles a Microsoft "Version One" product (much like the Zune--lots of potential, but not up to snuff yet). Interesting, but not compelling. Ooohh...it's an iPod for my TV. WTF? No DVR, very limited file format compatibility, and $300? Come on--I can get a dock for my iPod and a set of cables for less. All I'd be lacking is the remote.
AppleTV as a platform has potential, but this particular version is too lacking to be of interest to me and, I suspect, many others.
I think his review is pretty spot on. I was really looking forward to this product but it's sitting under my TV now and I have very little interest in it after only a few days. It's a version one product. I think like Microsoft you need to wait until the third version before it's a good product. They made a big mistake by not making the iTunes interface accessible from the TV screen.
Thurrott is quite fair in his reviews. I'm not sure why you feel he is biased. He's one of the few that isn't a MS or Apple knee jerker.
And boy does this thing run hot. It was on my Mini but I've since moved it so it is by itself.
The problem with the 360 in the room is that it is a noisy beast and it is huge. I'm not subscribing to the less is more cool aid - what I am saying is that the Apple TV does what it does. The fact it doesn't play games or DVDs or Blue Ray is not the point.
Apple have come up with a cross platform box that does the job. If you are not looking for a box that does that job then it won't be of interest to you. If you are then it will be.
People who don't want the box will come up with a hundred reasons not to buy it. Those who do will buy it.
I do think the fact Apple now have a 300 dollar computer for sale is kinda interesting and may point the way to a Mac Nano. Time will tell.
This comment has been deleted at the users request
Thurrott's review is silly and pointless. He misses the point every time. Apple is trying to make our iTunes library available on our big, beautiful HD tvs. In this regard, ATV is a very nice and functional product.
He says we should buy an xbox360. No thanks. I use iTunes (like most people) and want THAT stuff available on my TV. Plus I don't like noisy fans. He says Apple is applying form over function in its decision to not add an inch of height and a fan to the ATV. If he was this concerned about hot air, he wouldn't pollute the world with his blog. Lastly, he calls anyone who buys ATV a tool.
Oh well. I bought it and it's a very nice product. I'm excited about its potential and look forward to updates. He's also wrong in that you can replicate the experience with a dock and cables.
If one cannot grasp the concepts of Interface excellence, world-class engineering, ease-of-use, and the syngery of all 3 in one product, then one will not grasp the point of ATV. Paul is such a person. He just doesn't get it.
This comment has been deleted at the users request
Note the Xbox 360 is actually $600 (twice the price of the AppleTV) as the wifi card is yet another $100 to add to the $100 for the 20GB hardrive.
Thurrott also neglected to mention these disadvantages:
Heavy DRM on MS movies downloaded to the Xbox:
- Each movie available for rental only during a several-week window.
- Must watch movie within two weeks of downloading it.
- Once you start watching it, you must finish watching within 24 hours.
Otherwise the movie is deleted.
Tiny amount of HD material available. Huge download file sizes - how many HD movies will fit on that tiny 20GB Hard disk?
Can't copy movies purchased on the Xbox 360 to other PCs, Macs or portable players or burn backups to
DVD. (While you can't burn video DVDs from iTunes, you can burn movies to data DVDs)
No HDMI port.
Typical Microsoft quality code. David Pogue got a nasty “Can’t play this content because it may not be supported. Status code: 69-00-80004005.” when he tried to fast-forward a movie. Sheesh.
The Xbox is big and noisy and the game remote makes a poor movie/media controller.
To stream to the Xbox you need an expensive Media Centre PC while the AppleTV works out of the box with any PC or Mac running the free iTunes software.
Who wants to fight with the kids who want to play a game when you want to watch a movie which you have only got 2 more hours to watch it in before it expires and you waste your money?
The Xbox could be a good option if you have one, but it won't be for everyone, just like the AppleTV won't be for everyone. However, with 100
million iPod/iTunes users out it there represents a potentially massive existing user-base.
-Mart
First of all, Paul Thurrott is not evil and he is not "desperate" to tear down Apple. If he is desperate for this he has a funny way of showing it as he keeps on looking for reasons to alternately praise Apple -- something that clearly signifies that HE at least believes he is a reasonable man.
Personally I do not think he considers his opinions very deeply. I've seen him make incredibly snap decisions about a product based on some personal annoyance or quirk that has essentially no impact on most people and definitely no market effect. But, I think he comes by these incorrect opinions honestly. Some people just make snap decisions about things by their nature. I'm sure that you have also met some, as I have. Acknowledging this is enough to disagree with them -- you don't have put horns on him and draw a moustache, k? (Also, you sound WAY less believable when you do this, so take your fingers off the trigger please because that gun isn't pointing where you think it is -- the biggest mistake made by my fellow Mac users.)
As for the Apple TV, well nobody trying to score against this product has their eye anywhere near the actual puck, so I'm not worried. Put it this way: even if ALL the Apple TV did was play my iPhoto pictures in a one-touch manner, from any Mac in the house, on my HDTV -- it would still sound like GREAT TECHNOLOGY. The average person who is not wrapped up in these booster wars thinks this alone is an awesome function, a no-brainer must-have function even, and also hasn't really heard of anyone doing it before. And if you tell till average person to 'Get an X-Box for your photos' you'll get a blank stare, because that is never going to happen.
I'm sorry Paul, but all of the non-gamer adults I know who have iPhoto libraries that are growing like weeds are never going to buy X-Boxes: period. Or PS3s. Or Nintendos. It's their perception of use of resources. Even if the X-Box is not too much more expensive, they will automatically think, 'Well I don't need most of what this does. Never gonna use it. I'm not an idiot, nobody's going to talk me into buying a games machine, they've been trying to do that for years.' And whether or not this person is right about not being an idiot, they are still not going to lay out for that X-Box. They would much rather spend the 'extra-function' money on design and ease of use, because this is something that they WILL get value out of.
To a non-gamer who does not already have an X-Box, the Apple TV looks like all the functions will either be useful now or in the near future (when more movie purchases become available or when easier XviD hacks become available, take your pick). Whereas the X-Box looks and feels like a half-useless purchase. Again -- never gonna happen. Use the 'ask your dad' rule. Try to convince your dad with his brand new iPod and digital camera to buy an X-Box to take all the content to the logical conclusion, and if he's anything like my dad, he'll just wait for somebody not to try to foist 3D environments and game controllers and whatnot. And that somebody is here now: and it's called Apple TV. SOLD!
"Apple is trying to make our iTunes library available on our big, beautiful HD tvs. In this regard, ATV is a very nice and functional product."
Ya those crappy low res videos you can buy from the itunes store just look fantastic on my big screen hdtv.
"I use iTunes (like most people) and want THAT stuff available on my TV. If one cannot grasp the concepts of Interface excellence, world-class engineering, ease-of-use, and the syngery of all 3 in one product, then one will not grasp the point of ATV"
ya you don't sound like a tool. I guess Paul was wrong.
"Note the Xbox 360 is actually $600 (twice the price of the AppleTV) as the wifi card is yet another $100 to add to the $100 for the 20GB hardrive."
Oh really? And what if you don't need wifi? I don't, and you don't need a HD to do streaming either. The point he was trying to make.
"Heavy DRM on MS movies downloaded to the Xbox:
- Each movie available for rental only during a several-week window.
- Must watch movie within two weeks of downloading it.
- Once you start watching it, you must finish watching within 24 hours. Otherwise the movie is deleted."
Ya its how you rent a movie dumbass. You don't get to keep it.
"The Xbox is big and noisy and the game remote makes a poor movie/media controller."
Its only noisy when playing a game. and they have fixed that noise problem on newer versions anyway. oh and that crappy apple remote is better?
"To stream to the Xbox you need an expensive Media Centre PC while the AppleTV works out of the box with any PC or Mac running the free iTunes software."
Wrong again. All you need is window media player (which is free)
Microsoft sells over a million copies of windows media center a month so I don't see how you can say it hasn't caught on.
