Aside from the iPhone which probably deserves most of the hype, I think the Apple TV which started shipping this week, does not.
The Apple TV can connect via HDMI/Component cables to HDTVs to deliver photos and iTunes content; movies, TV shows, music and podcasts. First coined by Steve Jobs, Apple says “Apple TV is like a DVD Player for the 21st Century”. I disagree.
First, let’s consider the content and alternative ways to distribute this content to your television. Since the birth of the iPod video, there are all sorts of docks and cables — including Apple’s own iPod AV kit — to get all of this content on your television. And they don’t cost $299.
But what about HDMI and HDTV? This has to be the biggest farce of Apple TV and nobody seems to be talking about it. Since none of the videos, TV shows and movies sold on the iTunes store are of HD quality, I really don’t see a point. Minimum HD resolution, 720p displays at 1280 x 720. iTunes store video formats are limited to 640 x 480, neither HD quality or aspect ratio. Not to mention the older videos iTunes customers may have when they were pushing out 320 x 240. I’m sure they look great on the iPod but certainly not on an HDTV.
Other nitpicks I’ve read about Apple TV include storing photos on the local drive instead of streaming. Coming from someone who shoots with a digital camera outputting 8+MB for each photo, I think I could fill up the 40GB hard drive sooner rather than later. And Apple may insist on having a minimalist interface but when it comes to remote controls used from the couch, people insist on having a lot of buttons to control a lot of things. As such, the tiny Apple remote, which lacks volume control, among other things is useless.
Aside from all of these issues, journalists and analysts are reaping praise upon Apple TV. Perhaps it’s because they want to see AAPL’s value to rise and convince others of the worthy investment. I just don’t see the value, especially when the iTunes store doesn’t sell HD quality media. And until they do, they should have a hard time competing with DVD formats that do support near-to-true HD quality support digital surround sound. Unless consumers are as dumb as Walt Mossberg and Piper Jaffray suggest, this device is going to flop.
I was just listening to Dntel - Dumb Luck