[geeks] Mac World announcements...

[Mark]

On 16 Jan 2008, at 20:10, Phil Stracchino wrote:

> Mark wrote:
>> On 16 Jan 2008, at 01:15, Rick Hamell wrote:
>>
>>>> [3] Apple TV price cut: http://www.apple.com/appletv/
>>> Bleh, perhaps it'll push the Apple TV more, it's a product that
>>> really needs
>>> it. Personally I have no use for it but I'm sure  a lot of people
>>> will geek
>>> out on it.
>>
>> 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.
>
> Huh .............
>
> And it's a standalone device?  No Mac infrastructure required?

Indeed. That's one of the 'Take 2' biggest selling points. I quote [0]:

"Want to rent a movie? Just grab the remote. With Apple TV, you dont
need a computer to rent digital movies  you rent them directly from
your TV. The completely redesigned Apple TV interface makes it easy to
browse, rent, and watch movies from every major Hollywood studio. Best
of all, you get instant movie gratification. Without losing your spot
on the sofa."

> It
> sounds like it might be a better alternative than Netflix, for whom I
> have significant third-hand dislike.  (For things like "Unlimited
> rentals, only some are more unlimited than others", for one example,
> and
> various people's stories of Netflix apparently going out of its way to
> send them parts of series intentionally out of order.)

NetFlix are reported to be teaming up with LG[1] to make a similar box
that works with all their content.

This is gonna be a war I suspect.

[0] http://www.apple.com/appletv/rentals.html

[1] http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/netflix-partner.html

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Mark Benson

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