John on Tech...
A look at technology from MY point of view
Wednesday 28 March 2007, 11:16 AM
Who Broke the iPod?
I find it interesting that Apple got all the blame for the iPod not working well with Vista. The general impression from the web was that Apple hadn't bothered to carry out full checking out or really bother to fix things.
We have had at least two iTunes updates in the last week or so and still Apple has warned people to stay clear of the safely remove hardware option.
So it is enlightening that yesterday Microsoft released patches to Vista to make it work better with the iPod.
It does appear that it wasn't the iPod alone that had problems and that Vista was prone to damaging data on other external devices such as Canon's cameras and other things.
It does seem a little convenient that this was somewhat spun in the MS press as Apple trying to clobber Vista when it appears that Microsoft themselves have to actually fix something which, in theory, had many man years of testing through the Beta release they must have been aware of as an issue.
Monday 26 March 2007, 7:46 PM
Paul was obviously upset...
Well yesterday was kinda entertaining. Not only did we get two postings from Mr T. about my reaction to his article it looks like he tidied up his original post.
I was wrong about the cost of the XBOX 360. But I don't think the smaller machine that he was comparing the Apple TV to has any hard drive capability so not directly compatible and er, you don't have wireless streaming - and certainly not at 802.11n rates without paying a lot more money and I also don't believe that any of the XBOX machines have an HDMI port.
For $399 dollars you can get a machine from Microsoft from which you can RENT movies for a set price. With a media center you may be able to stream stuff which you can get elsewhere. Like all Microsoft products everything is extra - OK I know the ATV doesn't ship with cables - but in a way the cable you need is kinda dependant on the thing you are plugging it into.
The thing I kind of objected to was the reference to Apple TV purchasers as "Tools"
Compared to other living room solutions, the Apple TV falls flat unless, again, you've really made a commitment to iTunes and have decided that's the way to consume TV and movie content. (If so, you're kind of a tool, actually.)
Cached version here:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Izvdp125e2sJ:www.winsupersite.com/reviews/appletv.asp+http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/appletv.asp&hl=en&client=safari&strip=1
Seems to have been changed to:
Compared to other living room solutions, the Apple TV falls flat unless, again, you've really made a commitment to iTunes and have decided that's the way to consume TV and movie content. (If so, Apple TV will disappoint you anyway, because its HD display makes Apple's low quality content look horrible.)
So maybe the article you guys read was different from the one I read. I think Paul maybe got up on the wrong side of the bed when he wrote that sentence and it does seem to have been fixed since he wrote it.
But all in all perhaps he was just disappointed that the Apple TV turned out to be what Apple said it was going to be - an iPod for your television. Nothing more nothing less. Scary thing is that it is actually a very cheap OSX machine... but don't tell anyone... after all Microsoft want a great big box with logos on beside your TV. So you know you are getting a Microsoft experience.
Sunday 25 March 2007, 4:11 PM
Paul Thurrott's Apple TV review...
Paul Thurrott does his expected hatchet job on Apple TV. We can't have the SuperSite for Windows being too Apple friendly. His conclusion is as expected...
" 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
