Tag Archives: appletv

That’s a lot of Wi-Fi!

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A strange realization hit me during all this Wi-Fi router nonsense. When asked “how many wireless devices do you have?” I found to my surprise that the answer is nine.

How’d that happen? Well, there are two Windows laptops and one Mac laptop–that’s three. There’s two Android phones and one iPhone–that’s six. There’s two Apple TVs–that’s eight. There’s one iPad–nine.

Wow. And when you consider that two of these devices do almost nothing but stream video, you can see that my insistence on upgrading to simultaneous dual-band 802.11N wireless was completely warranted.

Cutting the cable

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I’ve been thinking about my chosen TV entertainment scheme and how it matches up to what I might be getting by just subscribing to cable. Here’s a table that I made up to help me.

AppleTV+Netflix Instant Watch Cable
Watch my six favorite TV shows Yes Yes
Commercial-free Yes No
Watch any time Yes Yes with DVR option
Streaming radio stations “Hundreds” “Over 40″
Easy remote/onscreen interface Yes No
New-release movie rentals Yes Yes most packages
Back catalog movies Yes No
Catch up on previous seasons of TV shows Yes No
Idle channel surfing Not really Yes
A la carte purchasing of current TV shows Yes No
Podcasts Yes No
Project iPhone/iPad to TV Yes No
Youtube Yes No
Pro sports option Yes, but no NFL Yes
Shortcomings never tempt you to piracy No No
Free updates with new features Yes No
Eliminates need for disc rentals Pretty much Not really

Note that I really place high value on things like commercial-free viewing, a la carte purchasing and integration with iOS devices. And I don’t place a lot of value on things like channel surfing or pro sports. Your mileage may vary quite a bit.

The cherry on top is that, depending on movie rentals, specific cable packages and other factors, I estimate that going my route saves me 50% or more over cable.

To Blu-Ray or not to Blu-Ray

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Connie wants to get a Blu-Ray player. I don’t. She fears a future where newly released movies won’t be available on DVD, but only on these new discs. I look forward to a future without discs of any kind.

What do you think? Is buying a Blu-Ray player worth it? My TV is only 720p, I don’t have cable and I rely entirely on internet-delivered television programs and movies (with the occasional DVD from the library).

On the one hand, if DVDs do become scarce, I’ll be able to play the new discs. Also I’m an Amazon Prime member. And since some Blu-Ray players feature access to Amazon’s streaming service, I’ll be able to augment my existing movie streams beyond what I already get on my Apple TV.

On the other hand, if I could will the entertainment industry into adopting streamed solutions quicker, I’d do so. Buying into the next-gen disc player seems like placing a bet on the team you hope loses. And of course once you have the player, you’ll acquire discs–and of course once you have a library of discs you’ll need to maintain a player for as long as you own them, even if streamed solutions really do take off like I hope they do.

I don’t want any more plastic spinning discs. They break, they scratch, you lose them. They aren’t available to all my playback devices. I’m willing to keep a DVD player for the purpose of accessing our existing library of those discs. But I don’t want to be saying the same about my Blu-Ray collection in ten years.

TV Rentals

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The chief problem with internet-based television programming is that the content owners are dragging their feet.

Case in point: My new Apple TV.

Among other features, it allows me to watch free streaming content through my Netflix account. So on the advice of a friend I started watching a program called Dexter, a Showtime channel drama about a Miami serial killer who only snuffs those who deserve it.

Good show. I watched two seasons of it this way, streaming it off Netflix directly to my TV. But where are seasons 3 and 4? Not available for Netflix streaming.

I figured maybe they would be available on iTunes. And they are. But not for rent, only for purchase. That means instead of paying 99¢ each for the 24 episodes in season 3, I would have to pay $1.99 for each episode. Furthermore, I can’t just get it directly through the Apple TV, as it only displays rentals. Instead I have to purchase and download it on my computer, then point the Apple TV to it in order to watch on my television.

To be fair, it works beautifully. I tried it last night. But why should I have to do this? Why should I have to pay double and go through the hassle of using my computer as a middleman?

The answer seems simple. Showtime isn’t allowing iTunes rentals of their shows. Only purchases.

Foot-dragging. Or price gouging. Or something.

Now that I have all the hardware and services lined up to get a la carte internet-based entertainment to my television set, I really hope the content providers open their doors and let it happen.

Apple TV

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“…at $99, you don’t have to fully understand what it does. It has the Apple brand, so there must be something cool about it, right? It plays TV shows, movies, and slideshows? Well, that sounds good. Netflix too? Wow, nice. And it’s only $99? What the hell, I’ll give it a try.” – Macworld

So I got my Apple TV a couple of days ago. Is it as great as I thought it would be? Pretty much! I have a slick way to do Netflix streaming on my TV and also to get iTunes movie and television show rentals into the TV. All I had to do was buy an HDMI cable and plug ‘er in.

There was some tedium involved in entering my iTunes and my Netflix account information by clicking on onscreen letters via the remote, but after that: dead simple.

Of course it also plays music out of my computer’s iTunes library.

Overall, I’d have to give the Apple TV a thumb’s up.

NPR on Apple TV

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A smart criticism of the new Apple TV. But buried down at the bottom, this gem which perfectly describes me.

These are the people who have, in many cases, already dropped cable or perhaps never had it, and who get the TV they do watch from Netflix and existing online outlets anyway. For them (if all the providers get on board someday), this could be a very good deal indeed; cheaper than buying, faster than waiting for DVDs, wildly less expensive than springing for cable.

Behold

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The new idiot box. I even got an antenna, so I get 18 digital broadcast channels for free. Unfortunately, only a few seem worth watching.

I also ordered the new Apple TV. So between the antenna, Netflix streaming, iTunes rentals and the DVD player, I should be all set to thoroughly pollute my brain on a regular basis. I feel so modern.

I found myself watching some local news and it occurred to me that these anchors and reporters are probably famous enough to be chatted up every time they go outdoors–but I’ve never seen them before in my life. Also, commercials. I watched dozens. All new to me.

I’m not turning in my Luddite badge just yet, though. How many people still don’t have cable or satellite?

Apple TV

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Apple just announced some new products today. The new iPods are impressive, but I have no need for one. Alas, there’s no new iPad that does FaceTime video calls. (Sorry, Dad.) But there is one new thing that I want: Apple TV.

It’s getting pretty close to fixing my broken-ass living room entertainment experience. It’s got 99¢ TV episode rentals, HD movie rentals (apparently with lots of just released to DVD selections), Netflix streaming, YouTube, Flickr.. Plus it integrates with iPhone and iPad.

Not too shabby for something that fits in the palm of your hand and costs $99.

Before I pre-order mine, though, I have an obstacle to overcome: My TV. I got it as a much-appreciated gift when I moved into this apartment. Problem is, it does’t have the HDMI input required for Apple TV. So if I want Apple TV, I have to get a new television.

Anyone want to sell me their old one? If it works and has an HDMI input, I’m interested.

I want my goddamn flying car

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It makes me mad that fishing DVDs out of the mailbox is still my best option for video entertainment.

I thought we’d all have flying cars by now!

Seriously, though.  Where’s the video rental downloads?  I mean, they’re there–they just aren’t any good yet.  Both Apple and Netflix have online stores and even settop boxes to bring it all to your TV.  The chief problem with these operations, however, is that the selection stinks.  Netflix has over 70,000 DVDs in its mail-order library.  I think their download library has less than 10,000.  Apple has even fewer downloadable titles.

And the local brick-and-mortar video store isn’t a better option.  Their selection is the worst of all.  Not only do I have to drive there and back, by the time you factor in the inevitable late fees it’s also the most expensive.

Please let 2009 be the breakout year for downloadable movie rentals.  What’s the holdup here?