[geeks] Mac World announcements...

[Jonathan Katz]

On Jan 16, 2008, at 2:57 PM, Mark wrote:
> Until Apple announced the Movie Rentals service on AppleTV it *was*
> just a geek toy. It's ceased to be that now - it's a mode of getting
> movies into the house from the internet easily and connected directly
> to the TV. The key here is 'no computer required'. It will play ball
> with iTunes if it's there, but crucially it's no longer REQUIRED to be
> there. This is essentially an Apple set-top content delivery box.
> Kinda like having a BLOCKBUSTER in your living room with no worries
> about scratched discs, returning it on time, not having the movie you
> pick in stock, or you having to get in the car/walk there. I can see
> it being quite popular as an idea myself.

Even at $229 I can't really justify an AppleTV.

The family and I watch a lot of downloaded TV; things like Doctor  
Who, Top Gear, etc. Unless an AppleTV is appropriately "hacked" that  
content can't be watched; codes need to be added, etc.

The good thing about "hacking" the AppleTV is that there are NES/SNES  
and other emulators built into the "hack" package (google for  
"patchstick") and that makes it a pretty amazing device.