“Apple’s decision to lower Apple TV’s price to $229 is eerily similar to Toshiba’s announcement on Monday that it’s lowering the price on its HD DVD players,” Phillip “Swanni” Swann writes for TVPredictions.com. “When you’re losing — and losing bad — you lower the price. And with Apple TV’s sales numbers to date, it’s been a loser.”
“However, even at $229, Apple TV will struggle to generate significant sales,” Swann writes.
“Americans have demonstrated that they have ‘set-top fatigue,’; their interest in buying yet another TV set-top is limited at best. Just ask Moviebeam, or even the retail division of TiVo,” Swann writes. “Set-top fatigue is one of the reasons why Blu-ray and HD DVD player sales have lagged as well; it’s not just the format war. Prices need to be lower to persuade consumers to give a new TV set-top service a chance, particularly in a down economy.”
“If Apple really wants Apple TV to succeed, $229 is a good start. And, adding the high-def movies is a no-brainer,” Swann writes. “But most consumers will decide that they can get those HD (and SD) movies from more convenient (and easier-to-use) sources such as cable’s Video on Demand, premium movie channels and your basic DVD player. (And, in time, even the Blu-ray players will be under $200, if not lower than that.)”
“Plus, they won’t have to invest in a new product that seems foreign to them, such as the Apple TV device,” Swann writes. “Consequently, I stick to my prediction that Apple TV will be a bust.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The last we heard from the eerily unprescient “Swanni” was less than a month ago when he predicted that “Apple will dump Apple TV in 2008.”
Did Apple sound like they were dumping Apple TV today? Hello? Anyone?
Back in October 2005, soothsayer “Swanni” gazed into his occluded crystal ball and predicted that “‘The video iPod will be Steve Jobs’ folly.”
Smirk.
Apple TV is now more affordable. For free, Apple TV, including all 800,000 or so of them that are already out there in the hand of users, have instantly become more capable. Apple TV can now instantly rent HD movies from all of the major film studios with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, now with no computer required. All of that on top of the already useful ability to bring TV shows, music, photos (now from .Mac and Flickr, too), podcasts, and YouTube videos to your television and/or home theater system.
The Apple Stores will drive consumer education and awareness for the device. Just as the video iPod was not Steve Jobs’ folly, Apple TV will not be a bust and Apple will not dump it in 2008.
Related articles:
TV analyst predicts Apple will dump Apple TV in 2008 – December 21, 2007
TV analyst says Apple TV will bomb – March 21, 2007
TV analyst says Apple’s video-capable iPod is a bust because he says so – May 03, 2006
TV analyst blows it, says Apple’s 12 million video downloads ‘a big disappointment’ – February 08, 2006
TV analyst’s uninformed prediction: ‘video iPod will be Steve Jobs’ folly’ – October 12, 2005
I own an AppleTV. Hopefully this change makes it more useful. IMHO
This is the instant video rental service that will be a success. Blu-
ray and HD DVD haven’t succeeded yet because people aren’t willing to pay $800 for an HD player when people don’t even know which format will be around in 2 years (we remember Betamax too well).
Apple dropped the price similar to why it dropped the price on the iPhone – grab market share. The more people using your products helps cement you as the king of the hill, and in this new video content delivery market, being the first and best known is very important.
I own an Apple TV, and it hasn’t been plugged into my TV for months and months. It was wasting a HDMI port.
This upgrade gives me some hope, maybe the movie rentals will be enough.
So, I will set the Apple TV once the update is out and give it another try. Hopefully the second time is the charm.
Glad the update was free. It really needed to be.
Strange that Apple would include Flickr but not Picasa Web Albums. They have YouTube videos after all, so Google already has their foot in the door, so to speak.
That Swanni dude writes like he has a stick up his ass all the time. Pay no attention to him, now or ever. This guy is not right very often.
I’ve tried Shaw’s Video-on-Demand service, and what a pain in the *** it is. Horrible navigation, variety, long waits for it to load up…. and then it’s not the cheapest shop in town. I don’t call that “more convenient. Apple TV is going to bust open this industry. People want smaller, and Apple is delivering. Here in this town, the local digital cable boxes are bulky and have their own fan for cooling, to watch TV!!! Unbelievable.
This time the “swanni” might be right. There’s still not enough to the TV to convince me to buy one. This is a typically reverse market case where Apple needs to load in features to convince people to drop their current set-top boxes. Right now, the TV is nothing more than a proprietary merchandising platform that blatantly limits anything else I might want to use it for.
Few give a hoot about Flickr, YouTube and the rest of that crap.
There was a reason they choose the annual accounting for the Apple TV… because they *planned* to continue to enhance it. They wanted to get the box out there, into homes, so they could tell studios there was an established custome base. 800,000 is nothing to balk at. Add in all the iPods, iPhones, and computers, and it was impossible for the studios to deny Apple rights to rent movies. This was all planned, a long-term plan.
TV is dead.
The funny thing about Swann’s analysis is that Apple TV is a VOD service. It’s a legitimate alternative to Cable TV and Optical Disc players. It may not be right for every customer out there, but it’s certainly a player (in the good way).
I proudly own an apple tv. I was part of an electronic christmas for me.(the second gift was a sony psp). I love and use my apple tv almost every day. I don’t think that it is a bust. For people deciding to buy one. By all means, purchase an apple tv and enjoy.
iCal’ed.
Way down on the Swanni iRiver…
I think when people decide on a platform, most will wonder how viable it will be in a year or two. Yes, I still have my Sony Beta Hi-Fi. $800.00 for two years of use before the format was hard to find.
I had no desire to buy an HD disc player until the standard was settled. Moviebeam never seemed like it stood a chance. Wal-Mart isn’t known for technology. Microsoft scares everyone. Netflix is great, but they are just now getting to where you can view online downloads on your TV. And can you rent content on Tivo? No.
The funny thing about Apple rentals is, there is an installed base of not only iTunes users, making it easy to at least give it a try, but just enough TV owners to kick start this rollout as Apple eases into new territory.
Apple also offers stability. Now when people look at an TV, they know that the movie store will most likely be around for awhile. Together with ripping my DVD with Handbrake or with the new option, I can view DVDs along with almost any other content I want.
And, naturally, Apple will continue to add content like Picasa to be available for TV viewing.
I too, like Andrew above, have used my Apple TV most every day since I got it last March. Frankly, I’m surprised that there are so many that don’t find it useful even in its current state.
I’ve got music, tv shows, movies podcasts and photos all loaded up, and man, I just love it.
This is a great upgrade that is going to make an already great device even better.
What an idiot trolling for attention. AppleTV is what VOD was suppose to be. You now have today in 2008. Movies from all major studios and more. Audio and Video PodCast and some in HD. All your iTunes music streamed. All your photos. The most popular TV shows commercial free. No NBC content is a bonus. Oh and major newscast on video podcast. All coming thru HDMI through my AV. Both audio and video. Now with rentals and no need to have a computer either. Like I say this is what MEDIA on demand should be. VOD nah, MOD.
iPod will never sell, iPhone will fail, and now Apple TV. This is a good sign. Apple must be on the right track.
Actually the first casualty will be my premium channels on Comcast (what a horrible interface) followed by my NetFlix subscription. Then I’ll be cutting the number of DVDs I buy from Amazon.
Perhaps someday TV programs won’t be scheduled — they’ll be posted. When that day comes I won’t need my Tivo anymore either. For now my Tivo and Apple TV are all I need.
Mike
He’s so wrong. I’ll be adding an Apple TV shortly after the new units become available.
Goodbye cable TV. I can’t wait to tell Comcast to take a hike. I’ll download all the stuff I really enjoy (which isn’t much) and watch sports over the air. It’s the cost effective thing to do.
Apple just taught the cable morons what “On Demand” means. Think they’re listening? I don’t. BUY APPL!
I don’t see paying 3 or 4 bucks to rent a movie over the internet. I go down to the local HEB grocery store and rent a DVD for a buck. I like having the disc in hand. I can watch it on either of my TVs or any of my computers and even my portable DVD player. And OH BTW I can copy it (yeah, I know) but I’m being honest about it. Rarely watch the copy anyway. Also a thing I don’t like about the Apple TV and front row is that when I am playing music I can’t turn on a visualizer. I get tires of album art. And how about a browser? My Wii has a browser. If Apple can put Safari on the iPhone and iPod Touch then it shouldn’t be hard to put on Apple TV. And while your at it throw in a DVD player. One box for everything. Hell, I just described Mac Mini. Never mind.
I don’t think this thing competes with On Demand. At least the On Demand I have. Hell, if I lost PBS Sprout on demand my 3 year old would drive me nuts. Until there is more free stuff on iTunes to rent then I’ll pass. Oh, I know cable isn’t free but sense I work for Comcast it is for me. And yeah, they suck. Liked working for TWC much better.
Apple TV will be a bust just like iPhone was a bust. Mark my words! (Bring back VHS and 8-Track.)
@TowerTone
who wrote:
>And can you rent content on Tivo? No.
Uh, yes you can, via Amazon Unbox. I do it all the time. That is, when Amazon has their 99-cent movie sale. It works pretty well. You can order via Amazon’s website or with your Tivo remote control. (Though the interface sucks — the worst is that there’s no way to see the rentability or price on the movie listing page, so you have to view each movie’s info to see the price or if it’s offered for sale or rent. Very annoying.) Same restrictions as Apple (30 days, 24 hours once you start viewing).
Despite this working pretty well and Tivo handling many other AppleTV features (pictures, music, etc.), I’m still tempted by AppleTV. I’m not sure why.
I have an AppleTV which I use mostly to view podcasts and view my pictures on a large screen. (My 1 year old daughter loves watching slide shows)
For me, on-demand never had enough of a selection to replace my netflix subscription, and besides that the $@!#! interface on the cable box is absurd.
I am going to cancel my netflix subscription tomorrow. The iTunes movie rental store looks like it will have a great selection of movies and I only pay for the ones I actually watch. (Netflix can be a good deal, but with an infant daughter I am lucky if I can watch 2 movies a month…)
If the APPLETV is dead, then I want the bones!
After the presentation I am very happy to buy an APPLETV. To be able to lay in bed and just scan the itunes directory and select my favorite independent movie on demand is just priceless.
Sorry, but this is what I have been waiting for.
rw.
I think Swanni makes a valid point about set-top fatigue. Where do people turn after their Motorola DVR erases their hard drive during a firmware update? Consensus is that TiVO beats Moto / Comcast, but that’s after purchasing the box in addition to a monthly fee for access to a program guide. Or there’s the Panasonic HD / DVR, with all the nostalgic joy of manual programming. Along comes AppleTV. It’s not a DVR (yet), so for many people it’s a new video player on top of their existing recorder.
Apple’s movie rental policies should work well for a lot of people, but not for those who have their Netflix routine down. For $17 per month one can rent and possess three movies at a time. There is no waiting time for new DVD releases. There are no due dates or late fees. There are no per-movie rental fees. Shipping and handling are free. Returning movies is easy thanks to clever packaging. The Netflix website is fine for browsing, ordering and tracking rentals. And once the queue is loaded, it’s pretty easy to cycle through nine or ten first-run movies per month, with minimal restrictions, at half the cost of Apple SD rentals.
This is what Apple is going up against in the existing rental market. While Apple will do well against other download services, Netflix will keep winning as long a they can set the rules of the game. I do not see Apple giving up on Apple TV in 2008, but there’s gonna be some pretty intreresting discussions in the board room I’ll bet. Sky
So the price drop to the iPhone two months after it’s release was because it was losing, according to your logic? Errrr, wrong.
Creates demand, and this will be a great draw to those who are sick of an annoying format war in HD. I haven’t purchased either a dedicated Blu-ray or HD-DVD player in hopes that Apple would have a (legal) digital solution for HD. Viola TV Take 2! =)
Ha, I didn’t even skimp for the bargain HD player for the 360. I’m so glad I waited!
I think Swanni makes a valid point about set-top fatigue. Where do people turn after their Motorola DVR erases their hard drive during a firmware update? Consensus is that TiVO beats Moto / Comcast, but that’s after purchasing the box in addition to a monthly fee for access to a program guide. Or there’s the Panasonic HD / DVR, with all the nostalgic joy of manual programming. Along comes AppleTV. It’s not a DVR (yet), so for many people it’s a new video player on top of their existing recorder.
Apple’s movie rental policies should work well for a lot of people, but not for those who have their Netflix routine down. For $17 per month one can rent and possess three movies at a time. There is no waiting time for new DVD releases. There are no due dates or late fees. There are no per-movie rental fees. Shipping and handling are free. Returning movies is easy thanks to clever packaging. The Netflix website is fine for browsing, ordering and tracking rentals. And once the queue is loaded, it’s pretty easy to cycle through nine or ten first-run movies per month, with minimal restrictions, at half the cost of Apple SD rentals.
This is what Apple is going up against in the existing rental market. While Apple will do well against other download services, Netflix will keep winning as long a they can set the rules of the game. I do not see Apple giving up on Apple TV in 2008, but there’s gonna be some pretty intreresting discussions in the board room I’ll bet. Sky
—-
Sounds like alot of hastle to me.
Why mess around like that when you can just press one button on your Apple tv remote to rent and watch a movie that downloads instantly???
This is the very reason why Apple is succeeding where all other companies (including Netflix) fail… it’s called ‘user experience’.
I think it’s remarkable that Apple was able to get all the major movie content providers to agree to the conditions specified in the keynote announcement. That may have been to best accomplishment from MacWorld 2008.
For many customers, Apple’s per movie rental fee will work better than a set monthly fee for as many movies as viewing time and USPS delivery speed allows (a la NetFlix and Blockbusters). I used to have NetFlix. At first, it was fun, but it caused me a bit of stress because I often could not find time to watch the delivered movies in a timely manner, and then I felt a bit “cheated” because I wasn’t getting the most bang for the buck. Watching a movie should not feel like an ongoing “job” (unless you happen to be a movie critic).
So with Apple’s service, I can watch when I want to watch, and pay a reasonable fee. And I can choose only things I REALLY want to watch… After “force-feeding” ten movies per month for a while, it became difficult to find quality stuff to put on my NetFlix queue.
I noticed one odd detail, if I’m interpreting the keynote details correctly. It seems like you can rent HD using an Apple TV, but you can only rent “regular” DVD-quality if using iTunes Store on a computer. Is that right?
@ken1w
You can rent regular movies via Apple TV as well as HD. It just presents one or two buttons to choose which format you are after. Either Rent Movie or Rent HD Movie.
***********
Regarding this swanni and all the rest of the critics, clearly they cannot do their sums. lets see now $300 x 800,000 = $240 million revenue. And this for a product with no real marketing effort. That does not sound like a flop to me. That is an amount of money that cannot be ignored no matter how big your corporation is.
Apple TV is now the product that it should have been when it was released. The real big difference is not anything that Apple has doen with the Take 2 but the changing minds of the studios. Without their support any device like this is pissing in the wind.
Finally they are beginning to ge the new media landscape that Apple have been developing products for all this time.
Apple TV and its inevitable successors are the future of media delivering into and around the house.
This drives a bus through the BRD vs HDDVD debate as now I can rent a HD film from any studio and watch it at how and not bother with buying a next-gen disk player and use that money for a better HDTV.
TV is not like an iPod or other personal device. It’s sort of a me-too category. It offers nothing earth shatteringly unique, though the convenience factor is quite something. I would rent through iTunes, but not really want to through my cable company because I feel ripped off by them already.
It’s a wait and see game here, but no one in their right mind would expect these things to fly off the shelves yet. I might get one and experiment– dump my cable connection and subscribe to the couple of shows I like, watch a movie here and there, and rediscover time AWAY from the tv again. And maybe that’s it– a la carte tv has its appeal and may be this product’s unique weapon.
It’s correct that the major appeal of Apple TV is another VOD service. I have Verizon FIOS TV and there are many flaws with their VOD system, but the biggest one is: NO HD CONTENT.
Apple has just taken the lead with their VOD offerings because of HD content. The winner in the race to provide VOD is about content, content, content….and a little about ease of use, which Apple will certainly win.
I knew as soon as Apple said they were lowering the price people would start saying its a bust, look see they are lowering the price because its a bust.
Nothing they do is a win for the glass half empty people.
Add a TV tuner, TIVO capabilities, and Blu-Ray at about the price it is today…
Then Apple will move lots of them.
I see no need to buy a Blue-ray player now.
I think I will drop all of my premium channels. Maybe not HBO!
I still much prefer Blu-ray on my PS3 to what the Apple TV offers, but it’s nice to have the option for rentals there from Apple as well. I’ll continue to use the Apple TV for music, photos, and the occasional TV show purchase, but I’ll rarely ever use it to rent movies. And my movie buying will be exclusively on Blu-ray.
Too many gadgets for the TV—-stop!!!
@ fenman
> You can rent regular movies via Apple TV as well as HD. It just presents one or two buttons to choose which format you are after. Either Rent Movie or Rent HD Movie.
You misunderstood my question. From the keynote, I know that you can rent both regular DVD and HD resolution movies from Apple TV. But it seems like you can only rent regular DVD quality movies if you are using iTunes on a computer. Am I wrong, or is this correct?
I think Apple missed the boat on this one. I have a mail in subscription to Blockbuster. It’s great. For $15 bucks a month I can have 2 DVD’s at a time and when I am done with one, I run by the store and pick another one up. The system is fantastic. I can normally go through a lot of discs in a month. Turn around for the mail is about 2 days. So I almost always have a move. Add that onto the Online Streaming of TV shows and I I haven’t payed for cable since I left college. Haven’t missed it a bit.
Now flip that over to Apple. It’s almost like they are stuck in 2003 here. $4.99 for a rental? I haven’t payed that for a rental in over a year. I’m not going back to paying per rental. I’m really disappointed with Apple here.
Until I can have a subscription where I pay for Unlimited downloads per month, AppleTV still blows.
I have set top fatigue. I’m sick of paying Comcast $50 a month for their box and two hundred channels I don’t watch. Apple TV now appears to be a viable alternative. And the price is right. My only problem: Apple TV doesn’t work well on analog sets (or so I’ve heard). If not for this last bit, I’d buy one right now.
You guys begging for another monthly bill really need to get lives. Take more walks. Make more friends. Go volunteer somewhere.
No no, I want to replace a monthly bill. I replaced a cable bill with Blockbuster. I would like to replace Blockbuster with AppleTV, (ATV could be more convenient) but Blockbuster is the better deal.
Quick question – when not watching TV, is it possible to stream music from iTunes to the AppleTV for output through a hifi system, like you do with an AirTunes?
That would be nice but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t (but I can’t say for certain). It would need to be a WiFi hub, and if it were, I think Apple would have touted that feature like it does with Time Capsule.
A TV Analyst, so that means he went to college to get a degree in watching TV? Boy a real expert, what he writes must be true if its on the internet, and they would never let him tell lie on line. The sad part is he gets payed for his drivel.
@ dallas
> I think Apple missed the boat on this one. I have a mail in subscription to Blockbuster. It’s great. For $15 bucks a month I can have 2 DVD’s at a time and when I am done with one, I run by the store and pick another one up.
For customers who can consistently watch 8 or movies per month, the NetFlix and Blockbuster deals are great. If the number is more like 2 or 3, and sometimes none, Apple’s service makes sense. Also, I think Apple current offering was limited by the current agreement with the studios. It’s obvious Apple had to compromise to get all the majors to play ball from Day One. The 30-day delay from DVD release is an obvious studio-imposed limitation, and pricing is probably another. It’s even possible that Apple would have offered a flat-rate monthly fee plan for up to X movies, but that was not allowed by the “consensus” of studios.
What Apple got from the studios are not the best terms, but Apple can make it work doing what it does best. Making the user’s experience fun, elegant, and convenient. For the subsequent round of negotiations with the studios, Apple will have more clout and demand better terms… just like with music.
The pundidiot doesn’t get it. With OS X as its brain, Apple TV can be anything that its hardware can support. Features and policies that get in the way of an Apple TV living room takeover are a software upgrade away. Those who fail to take this into account are doomed to spewing stupidity into their alternate universe.
OS X is the key to almost all Apple products. No competitor comes even close to matching its capabilities or ease of use as a development platform. And as Moore’s Law works its magic, over time OS X will be the common thread behind all of Apple’s major products.
Pundits: their stupidity is our AAPL buying opportunity.
The other thing that they should add to the Apple TV is to add an email function. I think that for all the grandmas out there would really appreciate it. And the ability to get photocasts and store your own digital pictures on it. It would be cheaper than buying a computer and since it is on the tv, it would be less intimidating…
Things I hate about Cable VOD:
too few selections, esp. in HD
clunky user interface for making those selections
Things I love about Netflix:
lots and lots of selections
great queue management software
Things I hope to love about AppleTV movies:
selection in HD
great UI
Yes, Zmarc. I forgot about that one.
Thanks
When they add the iptv support and I’ll be able to bypass the cable company and only subscribe to the channels i want… Then I’ll buy one. I think it’ll happen in the next year or two.
DVR capability is the ONLY thing keeping me from Apple TV. I am about to switch from satellite to cable, and will use TiVO (which means I’ll be committed for a while due to subscription and cost of the unit).
I wish Apple would add DVR…
Petey says “Why mess around like that when you can just press one button on your Apple tv remote to rent and watch a movie that downloads instantly???
This is the very reason why Apple is succeeding where all other companies (including Netflix) fail… it’s called ‘user experience’.”
Bingo. Sure those that like a physical plate and watch a lot of movies will like Netflix mail. GREAT. THose that spend all of their time renting and coping can do that. GREAT.
But Apple is looking for the sweet spot. Those people that enjoy simplicity and will pay for it. High profits and lots of happy people.
Apple has said more than once that it is not into making crappy hardware or a race to the bottom of the price barral (sp). So why do people insist on trying to push them into it?????
Hey, want a cheap mp3 player, buy one. There are still lots of them out there. I have 3 I will sell you cheap. They all work, have music on them, have user replaceable batteries, etc. I just keep using my gen one iPod. And I am quite happy with it. I am lookng at a video model but still have not decided which way to go. But this ease of use to buy a dvd and drop it onto my new iPod video, or rent a couple of movies for the next work trip, sure make it a tempting toy.
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en
MDN “way” I think they read our comments.
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“TV analyst predicts revamped Apple TV will be a bust”
It runs on triple Ds?
This Apple TV could be a game changer. At the very least it will add billions to Apple’s bottom line with very little or no hardware development. This thing probably didn’t take half the time or money to invent like the iPhone—they just had to get some more content and have the HD/5.1 option.
This past year, Apple totally dominated the video download market, yet they had very little selection, no HD, no 5.1 surround AND you needed a computer.
Now they have fixed all those things and I predict AppleTV will be a HUGE cash cow.
The cable companies have just lost a very big reason for their existence.
“TV analyst predicts revamped Apple TV will be a bust”
Yes, TV is starting to get a feel for this market. It may be squeezed initially from all the others, but will hold up pointedly to the licking that that they will try, and buy the bi, they will end up being the suckers….Excuse me, I need a smoke.
Apple almost fixed every aspect that made it a none appalling product. If it wasn’t for the greedy studios forcing Apple to put out new releases 30 days late, it would be perfect. I am on board. As soon as I can get the funds, I am going to get that and a Time Capsule.
Swanni, how i love ya, how i love ya but wrong you are my Swanniii.
If lowering price is a sign of failure (sometimes it is) then someone better sit Jobs down and tell him the iPhone is a monumental, 4-million-sold, 19.5%-in-3-months-market-share flop!
I’d definitely get one but that would mean upgrading from my CRT TV and I’m not ready for that. Would be nice to have everything in one spot and rent the movies straight from that box.
Philip Swann is a jerk. He sent me a rude email after I commented on one of his stupid predictions a year ago. I was polite, and yet he was rude. I suspect that is his normal personality.
“He sent me a rude email . . . “
Why am I not surprised? This shithead is a self-anointed expert and a self-important blowhard.
“Only a Mac fanatic would say the video iPod has been a success. Nielsen reports that only 2 percent of content on video iPods are actually videos. People didn’t buy into Jobs’ vision for small-screen video devices. And they won’t buy into Apple TV, either.”
– Phillip Swann (Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 10:07 AM)
He’s also probably extremely bitter that he looks like
” rel=”nofollow”> an effeminate Andy Dick.
I no longer have a standard TV connected DVD player (all my DVD’s are stored on my Computer and available through my Apple TVs, I no longer have a CD changer all my CDs are stored on my Computer and available through my Apple TVs. I do no plan to buy any type of high definition DVD player ever. My TV Tuner is connected to my Computer that captures and encodes the few Broadcast shows that we might want to see and they are available on my Apple TVs too.
Let’s see I have a 42″ LCD monitor connected to an Apple TV that is connected to my stereo in the family room (No Cable/Sat Box, No DVD Player, No CD Player, No VCR, No TiVo), Office and Bedroom 42″ LCD monitors connected to Apple TVs with sound from great stereo systems (and again No Cable/Sat Box, No DVD Player, No CD Player, No VCR, No TiVo).
I don’t rent many movies so NetFlix is a waste of money, The Local Video Rental Block Buster place sux. I’ve bought a few movies from iTunes and the quality was good. HD Movies will be better.
The Apple TV for everyone I know, that owns one, it has replaced one or two of the components in their home A/V system. While I’ll admit I’m at the far end of the spectrum as my home A/V Systems now is comprised of 42″ HD Monitors (no Tuners), Digital PerAmps, AMPs, Airport Expresses, Apple TVs (in storage with my LPs is a Turntable, with my DVDs is a DVD player, with my video tapes is my VCRs (one VHS and one Betamax) and with my CDs is the CD Changer)
I have a friend that told me if he could sit in his easy chair and order/rent a movie with his AppleTV it would replace his DVD player and if they had some HD Movies it would be even better cause he just bought a new HD TV. He doesn’t own any DVDs they just rent them. His wife loves buying Music Video’s from iTunes and watching them on the TV using the Apple TV. He’s ripping their CDs to the computer cause his CD Player died and he doesn’t want to buy a new one when his AppleTV can replace it and he can pack away all the CDs into a closet.
High-Def DVD player – $200.00
SD upscaling DVD Player (mid priced major brand) – $150.00
CD Changer (mid priced major brand) – $175.00
Total + $ 525.00
Replacing them with an Apple TV (average price) – $279.00
The space savings created from dumping the old media players and all that outdated media. Priceless!!!!
For most people I think the Apple
Petey –
LOL! Looking in the mailbox is no hassle at all, and because we’re often on foot (our transportation preference), walking past a mailbox is pretty easy too.
But I see your point. From an environmental perspective, I would love to do away with physical distribution altogether. And while Netflix is currently less expensive than Apple downloads, I can see this changing in the near future. Sky
@ken1w
You can rent regular movies via your TV as well. There are no restrictions on the format of the movies you rent that are based on whether you rent from TV or Computer.
As soon as they bring movie rentals to the UK i’ll be getting one
I can’t wait to get one! No way near a bust to me…
To me everyone forgets the benefits of integrating iPhoto into an easy way to share/show its content. Ditto for iTunes…
This is how Apple TV sales can take off successfully:
10 free rentals if you can watch them all in 24 hours.
But seriously, 5-10 free movie rentals with purchase of Apple TV will help sales big time. Or maybe even a few free older movies and a few new movies.
That’s the only way I see Apple TV taking off in a big way quickly. Get folks started and comfortable using the system watching movies. If they like it, they will be back for more. Everything else will seem so yesterday.
“Only a Mac fanatic would say the video iPod has been a success. Nielsen reports that only 2 percent of content on video iPods are actually videos. People didn’t buy into Jobs’ vision for small-screen video devices. And they won’t buy into Apple TV, either.”
Geeze.
Perhaps we should all chip in $5 each and buy Swanni-Boy his very own Apple TV. That way, he doesn’t have to speak from complete and utter ignorance.
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-hh