ars technica: Hands-on photos, observations of new iPods, Apple TV.
”Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.” This is why I remain chary of buying Apple’s newer products; the Newton effect. Not all of us have bottomless pockets.
Comments:
If it requires a hardware upgrade, I’d agree with you. If it’s just a software update ... well then, I think they should roll it out. Perhaps they’ll reconsider in this case, if enough users yell ... as they seem to be doing with iOS4.1 and the iPhone 3GS.
[Caveat: I don’t own an AppleTV, but am considering a set-top box, if not a tv equipped with Wifi.]
If you don’t mind my asking, how has your experience been with the Apple TV? Good, bad, average?
We got our AppleTV as an unexpected gift, and at first I wasn’t sure what we’d use it for. It has turned out to be pretty useful though. I’ve got kids, and kids love to watch things over and over. I’ve ripped our DVD collection and added everything to the AppleTV. It makes it much easier for them to pick movies to watch. Previews and DVD menus are insufferable, and after using the AppleTV so much they’re even more so.
I like having my music at hand, but that’s a lesser-used feature for us. The kids love that we can pull up YouTube and watch “David after the Dentist” or other silly stuff.
So all in all I like it a lot, but mines a pretty narrow case.
Does AppleTV let you rip DVDs natively, or did you have to do something special? Sounds like a great convenience feature to me (Sandra likes to hide everything in cabinets - fewer dvd cases around would make her very happy).
The AppleTV is just a receptacle for your stuff, so you have to have a computer running iTunes which syncs to it. It’s on that computer where you do your ripping. I’ve always used Handbrake.
To be fair, Apple has given me several Apple TV OS upgrades over the few-years-life of my Apple TV. Personally I consider it a bonus that I’ll still be able to purchase through my Apple TV (although I rarely do).