March 21, 2007
Apple TV: It’s no iPod
Apple TV is out, and the tech-heads are weighing in from across the blogosphere. In spite of a glowing review this morning by the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, there is a fair amount of skepticism about Apple’s attempt at a home media device.
Thomas Hawk’s list of ten gripes includes a lack of ability to stream content from anything other than iTunes (no YouTube, for example) and the lack of a built-in DVD player.
Meanwhile, Wired seems to have struggled to come up with "5 reasons why Apple TV rules" to balance out its "5 reasons why it sucks." Somehow, praise like "It’s sexy" and "there’s not a lot of high-profile, branded competition" doesn’t quite rise to the same level as complaints like "it doesn’t do much" and "it offers nothing new."
That last point - "it offers nothing new" - may bear repeating. At its core, Apple TV provides an easy way for people to view their favourite films and TV shows on their television sets. But so does a basic cable set top box. In Apple TV’s case, the content just happens to come from iTunes.
Users can also display other content, such as photographs, over their televisions using Apple TV, but only if they use certain software to do it (Apple’s proprietary iPhoto on the Mac and Adobe’s Photoshop photo album on Windows PCs). For now, at least, users who want to watch a video clip on YouTube or display photos that sit on sites such as Flickr or Snapfish will be locked out.
Apple TV may have a slick design. It may be a breeze to set up, and for a few early adopters it may prove the be all and end all of internet TV. For the rest of us, it is likely to remain one device among many competing for attention in the increasingly gadget-centric living room.
See our earlier coverage of the Apple TV debut here and here.
