Apple TV: Apple’s Half-Assed TiVo
I know everyone’s going on and on about the iPhone, so I’ll spare everyone the posting. Instead, I want to talk about the other big product from MacWorld: the Apple TV
At first, the product sounds interesting. It does provide high definition content and has the connections to do so. It is wireless, using the 802.11n (draft) standard. If combined with the new Airport Extreme (also based on 802.11n), it should be a pretty speedy device. The device is not, however, all that it could be.
On possibility was that the Apple TV could have been a TiVo competitor. It could have been a one-stop DVR and media center, connecting the television to the iPod. This model does not make much sense, though, considering Apple’s recent venture into the sale of television shows and movies.
Another possibility was that the Apple TV could have been an iTunes device, a focal point for all of your digital media. You could connect your iPod, make purchases from iTunes, and generally centralize digital media across an entire household. But the Apple TV fails at this, too. It has a paltry 40GB HDD, half the storage capacity of the largest iPod, not that an iPod can be connected to the device, anyway. Apple TV does not seem to be able to pull content itself; instead, content must be delivered to the device (except possibly for movie trailers, but how often do people watch those) over the network.
I was anxious to see what Apple had in mind with their Apple TV (formerly iTV). However, instead of expanding upon their domination of the American media market, Apple has unveiled a device that is mediocre at best that appeals to no consumer. If the iPhone had not been the flagship product yesterday, Apple’s stock would have plummeted 7 points, not grown. You dodged a bullet on this one, Steve.
