The Mac Sucks!

ExtremeTech’s Jim Lynch posted an article on October 24 entitled “5 Reasons Why Apple TV Sucks!”  He references a statement from Steve Jobs saying that Apple TV is still a “hobby” for the company, and that he expects it to continue to be a hobby into 2009.

Lynch’s reasons (and he owns one) why Apple TV sucks are, in order:

Interestingly, the TiVo DVR does have solutions for some of these.  Naturally, being a DVR, it answers item 1.  It doesn’t have a web browser, but it does provide access to a number of video services on the Internet, such as Amazon’s digital download service.  It definitely has a variety of different options that include optical drives (but not for ripping/playing DVDs that I’m aware of) and storage that’s much larger than Apple TV’s 40 and 160 GB models.

Unless Apple manages to address issues like those Lynch cites in his article, I think it’s unlikely the device will ever really take off with consumers.  Right now, TiVo’s a much better deal.

On January 31, Apple delayed the Apple TV software update it planned to
release, saying they needed “a week or two” to finish it.
 This update to Apple TV is expected to include interface tweaks,
bug fixes, and support for iTunes movie rentals, according
to The Register.

According to the article on The
Register, “Viewers will have just 24 hours to finish watching a
rented movie once they’ve started watching it.  But they’ll
have up to 30 days to press Play before the content vanishes from the
Apple TV’s hard drive.”  This is pretty much identical to
the Amazon Unbox functionality on the TiVo DVR.  Content can be
purchased for prices ranging from “free” to several dollars.
 Rentals are typically 99 cents to $3.99.  Purchases typically
cost more, but stay on the TiVo hard drive permanently (or until deleted
by the user).

What do you figure are the odds that this
software update is going to cause the Apple TV owners some trouble?

David
Cotriss of Dailyiptv asks the question “Is Apple TV Doomed?” in an article on the site.
 The article makes a number of interesting points about why the
AppleTV device hasn’t been a big
seller:

• “Apple TV simply hasn’t been
  that attractive a proposition for consumers,” said Richard
  Broughton, an analyst at the media research firm Screen Digest.
  “Yes, you can [now] watch YouTube on your TV, but does anyone
  actually have a pressing desire to do so?  The main problem Apple
  TV has faced in the U.S. is that 95 percent of households have pay TV -
  cable, satellite or more recently, IPTV from AT&T, Verizon or
  smaller providers. Consumers don’t want to have to shell out on
  another set-top on top of their existing service, especially if it only
  gets them content they could get on their PC.”  (To this, we
  would add that TiVo owners can get that same content and more from their
  subscription, further decreasing the “value proposition” for
  Apple TV.)
• “Apple TV is likely to struggle to make headway
  against pay-TV operators — it is offering the equivalent of only half a
  TV service.”
• “Cable and IPTV services have both
  broadcast content (for IPTV, often free with a broadband subscription),
  along with free catch-up TV and an extensive VOD (video on demand)
  library,” Broughton noted.  ”Consumers are not really
  saving any money for the most part by going with Apple TV.   Apple
  TV also limits their options if they want premium
  content.”
• “There will be people out there who will buy
  the box just because it’s Apple, but that alone is unlikely to
  provide enough ROI (return on investment) for the company.

If
you’re thinking about buying an Apple TV, the above points (and
others made in the article) are worth thinking about before plunging
into the purchase.  In fact, we’d encourage you to look at the
TiVo because it offers a lot that Apple’s device doesn’t (video
recording and games being two notable additions) and the price is
similar (before subscription).