Comments on: fatal flaws

By: rachel

rachel — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:29:38 +0000

Dang, Jeff, how many channels do you get?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:25:39 +0000

I’m not crazy about the “ala carte” system, but that’s only because we shell out for cable every month — so I’m already paying out the wazoo for TV. If the AppleTV gizmo was a little more robust and flexible, I’d look seriously into replacing cable entirely with it, but for right now I guess we’ll continue to send Comcast their $70,000 a month.

By: cauley

cauley — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:15:41 +0000

Not to take this in a different direction, Jeff, but do you have a problem with the ala carte system? I’m really just wondering, because I like it; I think it’s a step forward and I hope others follow the iTunes model. We haven’t had cable for years, but I’m sure I would have caved in eventually if it weren’t for iTunes. That said, all I want to watch is Battlestar Galactica and LOST anyway. If only there were individual NBA games available for purchase…

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 16:55:49 +0000

Ever since Apple started offering TV shows “ala carte”, I’ve resigned myself to give up on them offering a TiVo-style TV-recording solution; TiVo exists in a world all its own.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 02:59:59 +0000

How does a TiVo factor in at all? Or does a TiVo need to be hacked in order to satisfy the requirement of playing the media types you’re after?

By: Gene

Gene — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:19:25 +0000

Agreed one hundred percent. The only consistent thing I glean from these products is that they only work correctly with purchased content from iTunes.
Sadly, when I decided to buy a Mac Mini and use that to play my video files in the living room, the $600 expenditure was hardly a rebuke to Apple for crippling their media offerings.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:38:52 +0000

FIXED. Thanks, Jesse.

What you’re talking about closely describes the ad-hoc system I have now — with some music files on one laptop, some music files on another, and even more on the network. Without a way to index all the media, it’s an inelegant system, and it’s nearly impossible to manage a backup.

Also, it’s in danger of overrunning my poor laptop hard drive. A couple years ago, the average person might have had 5-10 GB of mp3s and maybe a gig or two of movie files. But I’d wager that in 2007, the average user may have accrued way more that that, and it would be great to have a way to archive and manage all that stuff.

Bottom line: video files are much, much larger than audio files, and I suggest that consumers’ appetites for downloading video are going to be curbed pretty quick if their only two options for keeping it around are to burn it to data DVDs or keep it all rattling around on their (smallish) laptop drive.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 06:50:35 +0000

ps – i think you mean airport extreme

By: Jesse

Jesse — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 06:48:30 +0000

at the risk of being an apple fanboy (seems my opinions aren’t that popular around here these days anyways) I’d offer this:

the missing key of the apple media system is apple’s bonjour (for the more technical, zeroconf networking, for the less technical, it just see things on the network and access them as needed – think of shared itunes libraries on your work network). The media isn’t meant to really live on the media “clients” (apple tv, airport express), but rather lives on your main computer, and the end pieces see your itunes libraries, and streams it, no config necessary.

confession: there’s a healthy chance i’ve been helped form these opinions at daringfireball.net

~jesse

By: cauley

cauley — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:31:23 +0000

I can’t say much about the technical drawbacks of the systems you shat upon, seeing as I’m near AARP-level in my understanding of such things, but I know you wouldn’t dare speak that smack to Devastator’s giant metal face. Decepticons RUUUUUUULE!