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Johnny
Premium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
 ·Comcast
| reply to ossito16
Re: Do it right the first time
Why is it that Apple can't give people what they want, especially for $300?
Who says it's what "people want?"
The Apple TV is for the purpose of displaying the iTunes Library, and the contents of the Photo Library or equivalent on the PC, on a widescreen television, by streaming or syncing.
iTunes video files are .mp4. Not Xvid, VidX, DivX, AVI, WMV, RealVideo, etc.
It's great that the hackers have managed to make use of the fact that the Apple TV runs OS X, and thus can do anything a regular OS X machine can.
But if Apple had added all that mess of different formats, the product would lose the simplicity and singularity of purpose that is the reason the iPod had the success that it did. So they chose not to do it.
I also doubt that there are many people wanting to play all those formats. How would you get such files on your computer in the first place? | |
FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD
| uhhhhh...No so if you actually viewed their tv ad. Im assuming you didn't because A- in said commercial you see your computer wirelessly streaming content to your tv. B- no where does it imply ONLY Apple products, codecs, etc. can be streamed.
So, false advertising. OK, lots of companies do it. And here I was thinking Apple was "different". W.e., right?
How would you get such "files"? You mean the extension/codec or are you implying someones gotta STEAL a XVid? Well then damn! Maybe I should toss my conversion proggy's 1 and 0's to the MPAA, uh? Smaller file, better sound compression, etc. is HOW you get Xvids,DivX, WMV, RealVid files onto your PC. Not so hard.
So in conclusion, the "it'll get to messy" factor is irrelevant once you actually SEE thier TV ad. Looks to me it added a whole lot of bloat to the simplicity equation. | |
thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY
1 edit | reply to Johnny
quote:
But if Apple had added all that mess of different formats, the product would lose the simplicity
How does it become less simple because it is functional?
My MP3 player can play vorbis, FLAC, and wma files as well as MP3s. When I put an MP3 file on it, it doesn't say "is this an mp3, an ogg, a flac, or a wma file?" I understand how this would make it less simple. But it doesn't. It checks the file extension and assigns the proper decoder so it plays back when I hit play, like any player. My player could support 100 formats, and I'd never know. It doesn't make it harder to use at all.
How does adding xvid support make it less simple? Do you have that little faith in the average consumer that you think just by virtue of it being a more flexible product, that it will become harder to use?
--
The Problem With Music.
Our Rationale
Time to rewrite the DMCA. | |
Johnny
Premium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
| reply to FiL
"It's on your computer.
It's on your iPod.
Now, it's on your TV."
Sounds fine to me. Anything that can be on the iPod can be on the TV.
Now let's check the iPod specs to see what formats it holds... oh why bother. Anyone that says "proggy" is a PC user and Apple hater anyway. | |
Johnny
Premium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
| reply to thender2
Because files with those formats don't stream from iTunes. So it becomes a mess having to point the thing at whatever folder you put them in. Another mess having to get the file extensions correct. Geeks can do it, but the target market doesn't give a shit about those things. And Apple doesn't have any reason to support streaming a dozen different types of stuff that didn't come from legitimate purchases. | |
GreedyConsumer
@cgocable.net
| Because files with those formats don't stream from iTunes. That's a plus, not a minus. If that's all you see this unit as, you should be upset it's not free.
So it becomes a mess having to point the thing at whatever folder you put them in. Wait a minute. Just because a file is not streamed from iTunes means it must end up in a "whatever" folder...that I picked? Oh no! 
My DVD player presents those confusing folders in a list that I use my remote to navigate through. Once in a folder with media files, I'm presented with the filename (without extension) and any additional information the player has gleaned from meta data / media tags. The big old 'select' button sets things in motion. The average pet cat could figure this stuff out.
Another mess having to get the file extensions correct. Is this a problem on OSX? Every media player I know handles extensions and most follow up with a file content/header verification.
Geeks can do it, but the target market doesn't give a shit about those things. Anyone can do it, geeks just did it first - better. Every consumer on this planet wants more for less. Most want it simple. None want vendor lock-in.
And Apple doesn't have any reason to support streaming a dozen different types of stuff that didn't come from legitimate purchases. Hyperbole is unbecoming. Keep it in the OS war threads. | |
thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY
| reply to Johnny
quote:
So it becomes a mess having to point the thing at whatever folder you put them in.
I don't see how it's a mess. Put the file in a video folder, and viola.
quote:
Another mess having to get the file extensions correct.
99.9% of the files I download come with extensions, where are you looking?
quote:
Geeks can do it, but the target market doesn't give a shit about those things.
Yes, I know, I've heard this before. The target market doesn't care about quality, freedom of use, have a brain, can't walk and chew gum at the same time, etc. I don't buy it. I don't believe joe blow can't put an avi file in a folder titled "video" or whatever the appletv uses, just as easily as he can a .mp4 or .mkv.
--
The Problem With Music.
Our Rationale
Time to rewrite the DMCA. | |
Johnny
Premium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
| The target market doesn't care about quality, freedom of use, have a brain, can't walk and chew gum at the same time, etc. I don't buy it. I don't believe joe blow can't put an avi file in a folder titled "video" or whatever the appletv uses, just as easily as he can a .mp4 or .mkv.
It's not that he can't - after all, he can be taught to run 8 different antivirus products on Windows... but he doesn't want to. He wants to take his existing iTunes, and iPhoto (or PC equiv), which now 100 million people have, and watch it on the TV. That's all. He doesn't know DivX from Shinola. He doesn't even know what MPEG-4 or H.264 is, but he knows there are files that play on his iPod, and he knows they come from iTunes. And he knows that the files on iTunes come from either his purchased CDs or the iTunes Store. He doesn't want to mess with folders or file extensions - just choose it from the databases that iTunes and iPhoto keep.
The Apple TV can be easily modified to play those other codecs, for those who want to.
As far as marketing, Apple is leveraging the iPod and iTunes installed base of 100 million to try and make the Apple TV the easy-to-use choice for living room viewing. Six buttons on the remote, not 40. Music, Photos, Movies, TV Shows, Trailers, not a huge confusing selection of different video types. No menu items or buttons for little-used or geek-only functions cluttering up the works. Same Front Row interface already used on all Intel Macs except the Mac Pro.
Simplicity of the interface is what made the iPod the overwhelming success that it is. They are trying to leverage that. They know that the competitors already have, or are going to be coming out with similar items. They are relying on word of mouth to make the Apple TV the product of choice due to ease-of-use. Note that the voice recorder, FM radio, etc. did nothing to help other mp3 players beat the iPod. It's because their interfaces still sucked. | |
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