Why AppleTV is underestimated and will take off

[Wolfpup]

It would pretty much have to be, if they're supporting component...

but that again makes you wonder why composite and s-video aren't supported. But then the target market for AppleTV seems to be people who throw away money, and thus probably have all of their TVs converted to HD models already...

 

[Diode]

It would pretty much have to be, if they're supporting component...

but that again makes you wonder why composite and s-video aren't supported. But then the target market for AppleTV seems to be people who throw away money, and thus probably have all of their TVs converted to HD models already...

With Large Plasma's/LCD tvs aproaching the 1k mark and bellow its only a matter of time before everyone jumps the gun to HD. Apple likes being ahead of the curve (USB - iMac) so the decesion to only support HDTV is just apple being Apple.

 

[mrgreen4242]

-/dev/toaster

Apple is just looking ahead - they've always done this. Never afraid to toss serial, floppies, AAUI, OS 9 out the window in favor of the next step - even if it's Somewhat painful.

It's less than two years before the death of 480i, it'll be here before you know it. You may not be in the market now, but that may change.

480i has a LOT longer than 2 years before it's gone. 480i TVs are still being sold, in fairly large numbers, right now. It'll be closer to 10 years before the last 480i TV is out of service.

The AppleTV MIGHT succeed, but nothing like iPod success. EVERYONE has an iPod now, the ATV isn't going to be like that. The only thing, imo, that will keep the ATV from becoming just a small, niche product is if Apple starts selling HD movies and TV shows, complete with 5.1 sound, from the iTMS. If the selection is good and the price is right they have a chance to compete with HDDVD and BR, as well as with the relatively costly HD DVRs.

 

[Diode]

480i has a LOT longer than 2 years before it's gone. 480i TVs are still being sold, in fairly large numbers, right now. It'll be closer to 10 years before the last 480i TV is out of service.

The AppleTV MIGHT succeed, but nothing like iPod success. EVERYONE has an iPod now, the ATV isn't going to be like that. The only thing, imo, that will keep the ATV from becoming just a small, niche product is if Apple starts selling HD movies and TV shows, complete with 5.1 sound, from the iTMS. If the selection is good and the price is right they have a chance to compete with HDDVD and BR, as well as with the relatively costly HD DVRs.

I stand corrected ... seems it doesn't support 480i. Sorry for the confusion

 

[patrick0brien]

-Gents

Got it! Dropped right in. And yes, the startup movie is really cool. Wish I could play it again.

Looks like it's exactly what it says it is. The hardware drive 480i all the way up through 720p to 1080p - which is what I'm running.

We'll all see the pundits barking about stuff like "the picture looks terrible" or such.

It's the content. Same thing happens when we buy HDTV's and hook them to 480i signals.

This thing is sweeeet - surprisingly heavy too! Got a lot to learn about it - one such thing is the rumor it streams DVD's.

Looking forward to Apple releasing the USB port for HD expansion...

 

[clevin]

my iTunes library is filled with music, no videos, My videos are all DivX/Xvid, etc. I hooked my Mini to HDTV, I can watch my videos easily from there.

Right now, I don't feel ATV is attractive, nor useful for me. But if it's price drop to <$100, would be different.

 

[zap2]

my iTunes library is filled with music, no videos, My videos are all DivX/Xvid, etc. I hooked my Mini to HDTV, I can watch my videos easily from there.

Right now, I don't feel ATV is attractive, nor useful for me. But if it's price drop to <$100, would be different.

If it wouldn't be able to stream your video, why would a different price point matter? Its it was going to be useful, wouldn't you buy it? It being 99 might be nice, but not needed.


Also a 99 dollar price won't be here for a long time...its has a full GPU, 1GHz intel chip, harddrive ect. Basicly its a full computer

 

[motulist]

Apple TV works with regular old standard def 4:3 TVs.
Check out item #2 on this site:

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Article/appleTV-2007-03-22-21-30

p.s. I've already posted this on a couple of other threads because a lot of threads have been discussing the lack of standard def support.

 

[patrick0brien]

If it wouldn't be able to stream your video, why would a different price point matter? Its it was going to be useful, wouldn't you buy it? It being 99 might be nice, but not needed.


Also a 99 dollar price won't be here for a long time...its has a full GPU, 1GHz intel chip, harddrive ect. Basicly its a full computer

-zap2

Well, I'd say it's a bit more like a thin client. It doesn't have a traditional logic board in a computational sense. It's more specialized - like a console gaming platform.

After spending a few hours with it, the video functions are fast as crap, and I'm having it drive at 1080i - even though there's no 1080i content available aside from the pictures and screen saver functions.

A few observations, it remembers where you left off in the videos - whether watched in the iPod, or in the iTunes library, neato.

And it runs a little hot. I figured out a contributor to it's weight (heavier than it appears), is that it's actually metal. So you don't want anything within a few inches of it. Made the mistake of putting the Mini on top of it for a while, overheated both.

I used to drive the TV with my Mini, but it seemed to leave a ribbon of black around the display, and it is Core Solo so it skipped a bit on playback.

More observations later...