The Really Official Apple Event Thread of Awesome

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ponyo

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
126
Finally, new ipod touch. 32 gigs looks like the sweet spot. I'm going to order one for my 7yr old daughter. She loves using the ipad. She's going to love the ipod touch.
 
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scootermaster

Platinum Member
Nov 29, 2005
2,411
0
0
2 things:

1). For me, it all comes down to sports, or, to put it another way, "ESPN". If ESPN was somehow available OTA or in some other non-cable format, bye bye cable. But I'm not giving up MNF and all the basketball, college football etc. Sucks. =[

2). Where the heck is iOS 4.1 and the new iTunes??!! I'm hoping the new iTunes somehow fixes the "cover art doesn't show up in 10.6.4/iTunes 9.22" bug.
 
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Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
all y'all buying ipods for your kids... dang they're lucky.

I only got one when I went to college (4th gen) because it made sense with the walk to class and stuff. Plus I lived far from campus.. like a solid 15 min walk at least to class if not more for some other lectures.
 
theeedude

theeedude

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,197
126
Does iPod touch work with google voice? Could be good IP-Phone replacement if it does.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,691
7,291
136
nace186 said:
$1 an episode? Fail.
Click to expand...

Well, yes and no. Lost Complete HD series on Amazon is $195:

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Complete-...dp/B0036EH3WK/

There's 121 episodes, so at 99 each that's around $121. If you buy it on Bluray, you own it AND you get better quality. But - #1, 720p vs 1080p isn't that big of a difference (especially for TV shows), and #2, how many people go back and watch episodes over again? I'll rewind the show after I watch it to re-watch portions of the show sometimes, but that's about it - I don't go back months later and re-watch it. So for somebody who doesn't do Tivo and doesn't care about ownership, it might be a pretty good option. But then, you can also just watch it right off the Lost website...lol.

Most people I've talked to had the same reaction - "you have to pay $1 per episode? aww...". Dunno how well that pricing scheme will pay off. If it was $1 to rent an HD movie for 24 hours, now we're talking. That's an impulse purchase. The kids are screaming for Avatar, you're frazzled and don't want to go out, hit the button and boom, movie time. But TV shows have less value to us mentally. Plus, I can just go down to Red Box and get an actual movie for a dollar while I'm getting groceries.

I dunno. It's a tough pricing game. A lot of people pay $50 - $100 a month for Cable TV or Satellite/Dish TV. Even basic is like $20 - $25 a month. $20 a month gets you 20 TV shows. If you watch an hour of TV a night, that could be pretty nice on an AppleTV, and you'd still get your basic channels for free (news, etc.). You don't get as much variety as when you're piece-mealing it, but you do get exactly what you want, when you want it. I think people prefer the options that network television has to offer. If Apple could do something like that - $99 a month for unlimited TV shows and movies, for example - I bet that'd fly over pretty well. Like a Rhapsody or Napster for movies. But Netflix is already integrated into computers, Roku box, Wii, Xbox, and a variety of network players - so why not just stream from there?

It's a nice idea. I can definitely see my parents using it. But I think a lot of people will want an option that is cheaper or offers more variety for the money. iTunes has the ecosystem, they just need to market it right...
 
S

Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
Basic Comcast is $44.95. Ever since they cut off all of the QAM streams and force you to get a box, the best box you can get at that plan is the regular STB which has no HD capabilities.

So my only option is to pay $10/month more for local HD. How sad. Either I sacrifice all my expanded channels because they're now encrypted so I can watch my favorite local stations in full HD because local HD is guaranteed by law, or I have to use their free box which kills all HD quality (wow for SDTV on a $2000 LCDTV), or I have to pay more. Yeah... dunno. I really don't get how people can justify paying more and more and more for TV. At a certain point it's just ridiculous. This might make more sense.

Just like as much as enthusiasts want to bag AT&T for killing unlimited data, 98% of the consumers are saving money. I think this might be the case too with Apple TV. Of course limited watching and pay per view is always a concept difficult to grasp for many, including myself, even if it means that I save money in the long haul.
 
Spicedaddy

Spicedaddy

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2002
2,305
77
91
I like the updates to the Shuffle and Touch, but my fingers hurt just looking at the new Nano... Too small for multitouch, it must be almost impossible to use with just one hand.
 
C

Crow550

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2005
2,381
5
81
Might as well get a Roku DVP as they have dropped the prices on all 3 models. Offer more channels & the XR unit can do 1080P.

I don't see the appeal with the I-TV?

Well see how the Boxee Box & G-TV does....

Popbox & WD Live....Never hear much about those?
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
ah ok that link works better, for some reason the apple site streaming bugged out on me part way and lost sound..then it wouldn't let me drag the playback forward again:p
its now on itunes for download finally
 
D

dmw16

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
7,608
0
0
lokiju said:
100% agree.

It'll come down to what codecs it can decode.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the codecs making or breaking the ATV. Most people don't know what a codec is.

What will make or break the device is more content providers getting on board.

Kmax82 said:
Well, the other thing that's wrong is that it's only abc and Fox. I watch a lot of Fox, but I also watch a lot of CBS, NBC, USA and a couple shows on SyFy.. so I hope that this expands quickly. Right now I'll stick to Hulu/Netflix on my Media Box.
Click to expand...

I think that if the model proves successful for ABC and Fox then more networks will be on board. Whether you like Apple or not you have to acknowledge that they changed the music distribution model and could very well do the same thing for TV. I am not saying they are going to run cable out of business just like people still buy CD's. But there sure are a lot of people buying their musical content from iTunes.
 
K

Kmax82

Diamond Member
Feb 23, 2002
3,008
0
0
www.kennonbickhart.com
dmw16 said:
I think that if the model proves successful for ABC and Fox then more networks will be on board. Whether you like Apple or not you have to acknowledge that they changed the music distribution model and could very well do the same thing for TV. I am not saying they are going to run cable out of business just like people still buy CD's. But there sure are a lot of people buying their musical content from iTunes.
Click to expand...

Agreed. However I feel like cable providers feel like they're in between a rock and a hard place. They like the current revenue that they're getting, but they want more. However, they want to get the same money they get from cable online, which isn't going to happen. They, however, have much more room to grow online. I really hope they kick it in gear and make this happen. I want to ditch cable so badly, but not all the networks want to jump on board.
 
K

Kmax82

Diamond Member
Feb 23, 2002
3,008
0
0
www.kennonbickhart.com
MotionMan said:
I made an icon for the GV website (on my iphone) so long ago, I forget that it is not actually an app.

MotionMan
Click to expand...

Yea, my only complaint with GV as a website is no push for SMS. So I use TextNow to do it, which has been fine.. but it'd be nice to keep it all integrated with the GV mobile app.
 
T

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Patranus said:
Not missing much unless you like a lot of gray.

You would think Apple would follow its own OS X UI design guidelines but they didn't.
Click to expand...

The Pro apps always go against the grain, but iTunes often does as well. Garageband too.
 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
Here's my problem with the 99 cent TV shows. I have ATT Uverse. I pay 67.00 a month for 200 channels w/ HD. I typically watch 2-5 TV shows a night (or have them on in the background while I'm working). The DVR I get with it can record 4 shows (or 2 HD shows) and is typically recording all the time. I usually only watch recorded tv.

If I was to do that with this new apple tv I would be paying anywhere from $60 to $150 a month and probably a lot closer to $150. It simply is not a good deal for me. I already own devices that can do netflix (although I don't use that functionality). The only thing I'd really want is hulu, but only if there is no monthly fee involved.

What I'd really want is some kind of monthly channel rental. If I could pay a reasonable rate (that ended up cheaper then my current uverse tv) for say USA, G4, SPIKE, Showtime, Discovery, History Channel, etc with unlimited viewing I'd buy it. However, it would also need to be able to live PPV such as UFC events which I rent monthly.

Otherwise it's useless to me. Their other option would be to release a really good upnp streaming device that supported 1080i at a minimum and a ton of codex and containers. Because I'd buy a device that let me stream those mkv files I download when my tv screws up instead of using my xbox/ps3.
 
D

dmw16

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
7,608
0
0
sourceninja said:
What I'd really want is some kind of monthly channel rental. If I could pay a reasonable rate (that ended up cheaper then my current uverse tv) for say USA, G4, SPIKE, Showtime, Discovery, History Channel, etc with unlimited viewing I'd buy it. However, it would also need to be able to live PPV such as UFC events which I rent monthly.
Click to expand...

I think this is the ideal model as well. I hate paying for 300 channels when I watch about 10. I feel like the iTunes/AppleTV provides the framework to make that happen. I can't see major content producers getting on board to support Porcorn Hour, Roku. But Apple has the user base to do to TV what it did to music and that I can see the big content producers getting on board with.
 
jpeyton

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
sourceninja said:
What I'd really want is some kind of monthly channel rental. If I could pay a reasonable rate (that ended up cheaper then my current uverse tv) for say USA, G4, SPIKE, Showtime, Discovery, History Channel, etc with unlimited viewing I'd buy it. However, it would also need to be able to live PPV such as UFC events which I rent monthly.
Click to expand...
A la carte channel rentals won't happen. Comcast, ATT and every other cable/satellite provider would shit huge bricks if that happened; their business models are centered around packaging huge bundles of channels.

And the 99-cent rental model simply won't survive. Only an idiot would pay that much to watch a show once. Hulu Plus is $10/month and you get season tickets to all the popular shows, and you can watch them as many times as you want.

$10/month gets you:

10 watch-once TV show rentals on Apple TV

or all this: http://www.hulu.com/plus#content

Tough decision o_O
 
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