1 Million Apple TVs? What About a Real TV?

Will the sheep ever stop following Apple?

Not when they can pay 3 times the price of a regular TV for inferior hardware in a nice white case.

According to past history, an Apple TV will have a glossy finish instead of flat, so good luck watching TV with the lights on. It will have brightness and color variations across the body of the screen (like so many other Apple notebook and computer displays). It will come with an internal, non-replaceable battery that doesn't do anything except cause the TV to not work a week after your 18-month warranty runs out, and it will still only be 720P, even though you pay twice as much as a Samsung 3D-TV.

Anodized Aluminum*

naw thesupermedium ... that'll be the pro model and cost 5x as much >_

^Lol

It will get all scratched up as soon as anything touches it. You will need to buy a protective case.

So they might sell a million of something else you don't want. Shop with your feet and use whatever TV you want. I'm sure most everybody here is a brand whore of something overpriced whether they admit it or not... cars, computers, coffee, etc. That's why navigating Tom's is like navigating a mine field of pop-up ads, everyone here is a consumer.

My brother in law bought one, and showed it to me just a couple days ago. I have to say Apple TV is actually retardedly awesome. He pulled up a video on his iPad, then hit a button and suddenly we're watching it on TV. Then he opened up his music and sent some songs to his Airport Express playing the music on a boom box. Then we browsed pictures on his iPad, which he then also sent to the TV. I was extremely impressed, and I don't like Apple because I think it's a ripoff. But Apple TV is actually a really really good technology.

Lots of the above posters clearly don't know what they're talking about. Apple TV is NOT A TV. It's a small box with HDMI output that connects to your TV and WiFi, and it's only $120 CAD.

I've always been of the opinion that TV makers should just focus on making the pixels pretty and having lots of connections. The more stuff they integrate into it, the more can go wrong. Say if the Apple TV component breaks but the rest of the set is fine, you would have to send the whole thing in for repair.

i hope to god that people don't soon reconsile the term "TV" to some Crapple box that offers TV compatibilities, instead of knowing what a TV really is.

Why so few companies think about building a 3D LED backlit LCD tv with a blueray drive and support for various internet fileformats is unknown to me.
The first hardware manufacturer that enables mkv playback as well as mp4, avi, and ogg for audio will probably sell millions of those devices!

Having everything in one box is much better! no longer the extra space underneath the tv used by tv boxes, dvd and blueray players, etc...

Heh, the one obvious problem not mentioned = bandwidth.

Internet isn't free, and there are bad width caps.

It would be nice if you could drop the $50 / month cable bill and fill it with better content from apple TV.... but you will probably have to increase your internet plan. So, if you have to increase your internet plan by $25 per month, are you really getting a better deal then keeping your $50 cable bill?

You didn't read the article?

A gorgeously overprice TV with an IPS display... Yup I'd prolly buy it in all seriousness. Apple really does know how to make really sweet looking displays.

I look at the Apple efforts and wonder "what's taken them so long". Seriously: I've been using my XBox 360 to stream video and audio since it first came out (my wife was nice enough to by me an original XBox 360). And, let's face it, the Xbox360's video and audio streaming wasn't exactly "new" tech if you felt like setting up a Linux-based home media solution.

At the end of the day, the one that's going to win is the one that provides me with the greatest level of value (content-flexibility, ease of use and price combine to make "value"). Apple's always been big on ease of use and "pretty", but not exactly big on content-flexibility or price.

You forgot one thing...
That you have to be sitting the right way to be able to view it lol or the signal won't come in

None of this is new... we have already been able to do all that you have mentioned for quite some time now.........

It's only new, magical and revolutionary when Apple does it and until they do it it never happened before

Its not that the technology is new, it is that is works so easily...and seamlessly. Apple's forte is making technology accessible to real people through its ease of use and through its thorough integration with the technology they are already using. You can control your Apple TV with your iPad while streaming video from your iMAc and making a phone call on your iPhone using apps and contents purchased in iTunes. All by simply putting in your wifi password...and credit card information. People don't want to have to hire a geek squad to set up a network of interconnected devices, they just want a network of interconnected devices. People are willing to pay a price for this, which is why apple has been so successful.

"In our view, Apple is one of the few companies in the world that will be able to offer consumers a broad digital media ecosystem with iTunes, iBooks and the App Store"

You can't truly offer a "broad digital media ecosystem" with the gates closed, you dumbass.

Apple MKV support... no

You probably should read the article before saying people leaving comments don't know what they are talking about. Pot calling the kettle black...

I'm sure Apple TV works great with other "Apple" products. I wouldn't buy an Apple TV, no way...I highly doubt it would be compatitable with my home server to stream content. You will likely be forced to use iTunes even if you prefer Media Monkey. I will be forced to use Quicktime format. The Software inside the TV will want to convert all your formats to Apple formats to read them, and most of the control a power user would need will be hidden, and inaccessible through the menu.

Google TV makes sense. Android applications have proven to be popular in cell phones as Google is quickly overtaking Apple's closed ecosystem approach. Apple insists on producing their own hardware, originally they wanted to create their own cell phone network before signing with AT&T, I'd rather buy a TV built by a company that has been doing it already for some time. I highly doubt Apple would be able to work with any leading TV producers because they would most likely want exclusive contracts prohibiting them from using Google, (or any competing software for that matter), on any of their other TVs. This would not be good for consumers and while there may be a very loyal Apple fan base there are far too many people that would run from an Apple TV than those who would want one.

To me Apple is much to like Microsoft, they want to spoon feed you bits and pieces of the internet they feel is good enough for you. I'd rather they just give people what they want and stop playing corporate parent to their consumers.

My question is, is this 1 million units sold of the newest version, or is this counting all versions ever released. If it's all versions, that's pretty sad because I think this is the third or fourth iteration, though I'm too lazy to look it up.

You'll need to put a bumber cover on it in order to get the free channels. Becuse we all know that we'll set up the tv facing the wrong way.

I guess after that Apple will go into the cloud computing business or will develop it much further.

This is only the second iteration of the device.

Just wanted to clear that up.

Now, as to the AppleTV itself: I prefer the original generation, which I own. On it's own right, it was a relatively conveniant and usefull product. When hacked, and opened up for new content, it became amazing. I remember when the second generation was in the works all the rumors that were flying around about what it would be that ended up being untrue, which is a shame, because those would have added up to a product I would have bought.

If all they do is find some way to slap/build one of this generation model into a real TV, I will pass, thanks. BUT, if they do like rumors first pointed to, and incorporate iOS into a TV and allow for touch content and control through your iPhone or iPad, that would be worth it. Nothing short of that will satisfy me though.

(BTW, I thought it was supposed to be the Apple users who were elitist snobs? That sure seems to be the feeling I get from the people around here, who clearly ARE NOT Apple fans.)

Meanwhile, my droid just needs an HDMI cable to do pretty much the same things you describe here. Its not wireless yet, but thats not too big of a deal for me personally.

PS3 / XboX360 + Netflix > Roku XDS > Apple TV