With Apple ’s fall music event just around the corner , much of the surmisal around the vane has focused not on Apple ’s iPod batting order , but on the party ’s “ hobby”—the Apple TV .
And for good understanding . Other than hard - drive capacity , the Apple TV ’s computer hardware has n’t been updated since the gimmick debuted back in other 2007 . The gimmick ’s software has been improved several times since then , adding movie rental and purchases , better 5.1 - audio bread and butter , photo streaming , the Genius feature article , AirTunes support , direct net wireless browsing , and even an improved interface and support for iTunes L-P and Extras . But the product ’s hardware potentiality and overall functionality stay much the same — it ’s still essentially the same gimmick Apple unveiled closely four years ago , and it feels positively dated in a domain with so many alternative for both hardware and rootage of substance .
If you believe the rumors , a newfangled Apple TV — whether we see it this hebdomad or not — will run a reading of iOS and will get you download and establish apps for using on your TV . It may also miss a heavy driveway , instead streaming medium from your calculator and the net ( and hopefully from more germ ) .
But instead of talking about what the next Apple TV might be , I ’m interested in what the Apple television thus far has been — one of the few recent Apple products that has n’t been a raging commercial success . At least , we do n’t think it has . AsMacworldcontributor and Daring Fireballer John Grubernoted , Apple has never talk in public about Apple TV sales agreement numbers , an specially famed deletion devote Steve Jobs’scomment last fallthat “ if [ you ] sell a slew of something , you desire to tell everybody . ”
But whyhasn’tthe Apple TV sell like the iPod , iPhone , iPad , Mac , or MacBook ? After all , Apple ’s forté is intaking Cartesian product , boil them down to their meat , and making them well-fixed — and playfulness — to use . And when it comes to the family elbow room , there ’s a real need for an Apple - inhale converging machine . So why is n’t the Apple telecasting another notch in Apple ’s consumer - electronics belt ?
have ’s startle with useableness . The first problem people who use an Apple television notice is the short carrying into action . I ’m not lecture about Ab - geek complaints such as restive playback or onscreen motion artefact . No , I have in mind the stuff you note before even starting playback — the dog - slow public presentation of the fare and the too - basic Apple Remote .
Assuming your Apple Remote ’s commands are regularly recognized by the Apple TV — for some people , an achievement in and of itself — the Apple TV has the most sluggish interface of perhaps any AV component I ’ve ever used . After pressing a button on the remote , it can take up to ten seconds before anything happen , leaving you marvel whether or not the Apple TV even detected the control . Of course , if you push the button again , a few second subsequently the Apple television set executesbothcommands , taking you somewhere in the interface you did n’t want to go . ( And do n’t get me started about how this phlegm affect “ typing ” when you must voyage an onscreen alphabet . ) Most penis of my family unit turn away to even concern the Apple boob tube — it ’s just too frustrating to use — and I ’ve see from more than a few potential emptor that this deficiency of reactivity doomed the product from the moment of first demo .
But even if you could make the Apple TV ’s user interface snappier and the remote more capable — Apple ’s Remote app move a long way toward accomplish the latter finish , specially now that you may apply gestures — the Apple goggle box would n’t be a standout gadget . There ’s still the larger proceeds of what it can do . Or , perhaps better put , what itcan’t .
I ’m not talking about spec - sheet chest clunk . I think of basic functionality . The best Apple Cartesian product seldom have the most features , but they generally get the basics right in a path other marketer have n’t : They ’re usually the easiest to use , or have the best port , or are fun to apply ( or all of the above ) . But the Apple TV fails on all these counts .
Put bluntly , the Apple TV is currently Yet Another Box , but one that , for most masses , is n’t compelling enough to make it worth the hassle of adding Yet Another Box .
As it is today , the Apple TV ca n’t truly take the place of any other portion : TiVo , cable system loge , videodisk player , Blu - ray player , you name it . At the same time , the Apple TV ’s movie - rental and -buying feature are essentially matched , or surpassed , by a identification number of other devices consumers may already have , let in TiVo and cable boxes , and XBox , Playstation , and Wii plot consoles .
The Apple TV ’s only unique characteristic is that it lets you get at , on your TV , written matter - protected contentedness from the iTunes Store . But much of that content is also usable from Amazon ( MP3 and Video ) , Netflix , and other sources — sources that can be accessed from other devices . The current Apple TV is especially difficult to recommend when you consider that you may get a Roku HD player for $ 70 ( $ 100 for the wireless edition , $ 60 for the non - HD model ) . The Roku boxes ca n’t play iTunes depicted object ( protected or not ) , but for a fraction of the price of an Apple TV , theycanstream depicted object from NetFlix , Amazon Video , Pandora , MLB.TV , and nearly 50 other free and pay “ channels . ” Heck , if Hulu finally enable video output for the company’sHulu Plusapp , even the iPad will offer more content than the Apple TV . The iPad already lets you watch , for innocent , ABC shows you must pay to view on the Apple TV .
In other words , the past few years have been filled with missed opportunities for the Apple TV . In society to avoid being a perpetual “ sideline ” for Apple , the gadget call for compelling functionality . Some have suggested TiVo - like functionality , though I think that would be a misunderstanding unless Apple could either integrate TiVo itself or improve upon TiVo — a tough taproom to reach , considering that TiVo has succeeded by fundamentally being the Apple of DVRs . Others , include myself , have hope for a videodisc or Blu - ray drive , so the Apple TV can at least interchange a dedicated disc player . But that would still raise the query of why your Average Joe / Josie should pay excess to get a platter player with the Apple TV build in , instead of , say , a cheap Roku boxful or a newer TiVo .
It ’s for these reasonableness that I feel the rumors of an iOS - power Apple TV so interesting . Setting aside questions about how you would control such a touchscreen - less gadget — and assuming the gimmick would also offer performance at least corresponding to that of the iPad — having clamant approach to thou of inexpensive apps proper on your video would indeed be a compelling lineament , and one that could make thoseTVs with build - in cyberspace appslook dated before they even become coarse . Given the right ascendency system , an Io Apple video could even take a lump out of the huge game - console table market place — perhaps not among hardcore gamers , but I have it off more than a few mass who ’d be happy to spend $ 200 or so on a system that does n’t require you to spend $ 30 to $ 50 a pop for “ family ” games that are matched , both in visuals and gameplay , by $ 1 to $ 5 games for iOS .
So while Apple ’s free fall “ euphony ” events by and large focalise on iPods and iTunes , here ’s hoping the company pass some time talking about the Apple TV — and not just to duplicate the well - wear “ It ’s just a hobby ” line .
