I’ve always had a desire to go mad on the house technology wise – computer in every room, server in the garage downloading new music and movie clips daily, VOIP phones for the house, an RFID reader in the fridge to read RFID tags instead of barcodes to let me know when to shop (lazy but interesting if I can telnet into my fridge from work to see what was available for dinner…).
BUT!
All of these things cost money and you can’t have everything you want at once. I should be picking up a new TV this coming Friday, finally replacing the broken Sony widescreen thats been in the corner for the bones of the last three years. What I wouldn’t mind getting in addition to it is Apple TV.
Apple TV launched yesterday, pretty much as a set-top box allowing you to send your movies, music, podcasts etc. via wifi to the included 40gb hard drive. Take one teeny-tiny remote control, hook Apple TV up to your own TV and you’ve got a short and sweet entertainment system without the fuss of masses of cables.
You are going to need a widescreen TV and a copy of iTunes would be handy too – Apple TV syncs itself with every iTunes update so as soon as you buy something through iTunes it can be picked up at the tv. The system also works the other way, tell Apple TV to go off and download a particular movie, track or clip from the iTunes store and away you go…
After watching in awe of the clips belting out full screen on John’s iMac yesterday, I think the US$299 price tag is paltry. Of course in typical bloody fashion, a $299 price tag in the US means a €299 pricetag on European soil. Still, looks to be a fantastic investment, particularly for someone who prefers TV from the computer instead of forking out for Sky Digital or another expensive monthly TV service.
To use it would you “have” to buy the tv shows of itunes. Or “”””THEORITICALLY”””” could you just pop tv shows on itunes like you would to sync them with your iPod and they will all be on the Apple Tv box?
Thats the plan – once you get them to iTunes, you’ll get them to Apple TV
Over at Highbrid Nation we have been talking the Apple TV and how unimpressed we are with it. I just don’t believe that most people will be able to get much out of it. Too many issues to deal with. I’ll likely be a while before I make such an investment.
Mmm.. if i can get the tv shows i already have onto it i would consider getting it. Would be pretty handy!