What's the hard drive in apple TV for?
Cringely is convinced there's a deadly secret in the HDD in the Apple TV. He has a nice, complicated, techno-p2p theory about what they're up to.
I'm pretty sure he's wrong. Part of it is that Apple doesn't generally build those kind of cutting edge solutions. But more to the point, there's a simpler explanation.
Apple did a bunch of experiments and discovered that most networks can't really really reliably serve up video, especially if you get to HD content. While he's right that video at 1.5Mbps should be able to stream across wifi (in theory 11 or 40+ Mbps throughput), in practice there are problems.
The Mbps rating on Wifi is an average, under ideal circumstances. It drops dramatically when you are making popcorn in the microwave. Ditto when the computer or the Apple TV isn't in the same room as the router. There are many similar problems. Plus, not all users want to keep their computer on 24/7 so they can listen to music!
So Apple TV has a nice feature - you can sync music and videos to the 40GB HDD and not worry about any of the above. the videos trickle over as you get them, and they're ready on the local HDD when you want them. Nice.
This has a single main downside - cost. The $299 apple TV is a tough sell for most users at that price, and the HDD is a big chunk of the cost of goods. I think this will be a major limiting factor on it's success, but was probably the right choice for making the solution go mainstream.
13 Comments:
better question...what's the wi-fi for in zune?
Personally I don't quite "get" the Apple TV, but then again I have a 360 so I've really had Apple TV for awhile now. Considering for basically the same price you can pick up an XBox 360 Core system and get everything Apple TV is PLUS Live and the ability to play games boggles the mind a bit.
I suppose if you've invested heavily in iTunes then perhaps it makes sense, but otherwise it seems like a rather expensive solution to get your media off your computer and into your TV.
Exactly. $299 is too hefty.
I agree with you Shawn..XBox is far more capable for the money. There are a few things I'd watch out for though that could make AppleTV compelling (if they do it)...
1. USB TV Tuner Accessory
2. USB Storage Expansion Accessory
3. Download Music/Movie/etc and Sync iPod without a computer
4. Network Storage Device & Backup Solution
5. Multi-room Audio Solution
I doubt it they'll do it with their 1st gen product.
I bet you $500 it reaches a million unites before the Zune. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, just say, Yes, and I'll contact you via email.
I'll make it $1000 dollars. My email once again is Zunesucks2007@yahoo.com
I pre-ordered one
Looks like Cisco/Apple suit has been settled with both using iPhone name. That should make Zune marketing team happy.
But there was also an agreement to explore "wide-ranging" interoperability between the companies products. This one worries me abit because of Cisco's desire to get a piece of living room.
Speaking of hard drive: how does my Zune determine a computer relationship? If I were to clone (Ghost) an image of my sync computer to another harddrive, used on a different computer, would my Zune sync with both? If so, how would it keep track of what's supposed to be in the library vs. what's not? If not, what prevents it?
Oh, and is it possible for me to make an image of my Zune? I don't want to have to download and then re-upload everything on my new one. Is there anything I can use?
Thanks.
Dave,
Back on January 9th you had a blog entry that said:
"A number of comments have mentioned the reports of skipping and unresponsiveness on my part. I'm sorry, and definitely don't intend to bury the topic by any means. For a progress update:
I took the mails folks sent me, compiled, and forwarded to the test team
They're investigating and trying to repro to understand the thing(s) that might be causing skipping
When I hear back, I'll post an update."
The Zunes are still 'a skipping and you have been remarkably quiet about this subject. What have you found out about the skipping problem with the Zune? I know a lot of folks would LOVE to know when MS is going to fix this design flaw...
To anonymous and others...They are not going to address the issue!!!
They do hope that it goes away quietly.
It is a major design flaw. Pure and simple they F****D up in their design of it. But I can tell you this; I've done my own experiments on the 4 Zunes that I've worked with. It's a Zune Pass issue w/DRM. My own music does not skip. Once my Zune reached about 900 songs it would skip every 3rd song for 9 seconds. The hard drive whines like it's burning up. But I was finally able to fix the problem...I exchanged it for an IPOD. Shame on me for ever buying a First Gen anything. Shame on me twice for trusting MS to do the right thing.
And you wonder why everyone hates the big kid on the block. Because where I grew up. The big kid always walked around smacking the little guy.
And for all you Zune lovers with your... "You probably never owned a Zune" or "Probably a MS hater" or "I don't know what your talking about my Zune works great" or "You must not be doing something right" or "It's an isolated incident". Do me a favor...STFU and then email me at Zunesucks2007@yahoo.com and I'll send you an attachment with all my exchange receipts, my warranty receipt, my documentation and MP3's of my calls to the "Support" center and then you can tell me why I shouldn't be pissed that I paid over $400 (with accessories) for a glorified portable record player.
Dave you're being a real arse about all this too! Don't patronize me or others with your "I took it to the tech team" crap. I really hope someone gets fired for this. Because maybe just maybe you might start to give a damn about the only one that matters in this situation; THE CUSTOMER. But what do I know...I only have an MBA in Business Administration and I work as corporate speaker and trainer on Customer Satisfaction and Marketing.
chris paytas your post might be deleted, but I do agree with 100% on everything you said, I can’t believe this issue hasn’t been fix. I visit this blog almost everyday waiting for any news on the Zune but all I see is crap about other things. "What's the hard drive in apple TV for?" I mean come on worry about your own product and leave others alone. I’m sitting here reading at the blogs name Zunester what’s the Zune in the title for, I think you need to change your blog into a personal blog.
Sorry but I don’t usually act like this on any situation but this is getting ridiculous, I had already two family members turn down the zune. My sister loves music and was very excited about the sharing in the Zune, don’t get me wrong I also was very excited about the feature. She did some research and read all the complains about the skipping. The next day she went out and brought a Zen Vision M. I ask her what made her choose the Zen and the only thing she said was “She doesn’t need her MP3 to skip she already has her CD’s.
I feel ashamed the only person I was going to share music with now doesn’t have a Zune. There’s nobody in my town who owns a zune and I live in New York.
I will also return the Zune it’s a great product and all but the makers are not taking it this seriously.
I hate it when these company’s keep being so top secret about releasing any information on their products I mean come on it’s a problem give us some info or something, don’t let it spread allover the internet, you do know that most if not all the people research product over the internet.
Sorry if I’m been rude but thats just the way I feel.
I wonder which Microsoft division David will be working for this time next year?
Perhaps Clippy will need a blog by then?
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