Slashdot title: Apple TV "Barely Watchable" TheLedger title: Apple Appalls Where Xbox Excels
Too bad, then, that where looks really matter - in the quality of the video on the TV screen - the $299 Apple TV comes up very short. It's as if Apple had launched an iPod that sounded like a cassette player.
So he puts the AppleTV down its "video quality"...
On the TV screen, the Apple TV projects a very iPod-like interface, commendably clear and easy to use. It also looks great, especially on a high-definition TV. It uses your own pictures as an animated screensaver.
But then say it's got a great-looking interface on a high-definition TV...
It's surprising, then, that videos from Apple's online iTunes store look horrible on an HDTV set. The movies and TV shows have the same nominal resolution as DVDs, but look much blurrier, approaching the look of standard-definition broadcast TV.
And THEN complains about the real problem, which is the iTunes Store content itself, not the AppleTV. The movies and TV shows will look even worst on your computer LCD display, which are even better than a crappy HDTV that will most probably rescale your image before displaying it. But no, he has to make it sound like it's a problem with the AppleTV.
According to the company's specifications, the Apple TV can play HD video with a resolution of 1,280 by 720 pixels, but it doesn't actually seem that well suited to it. The hard drive is small, and the low power consumption speaks of weak processors inside. And since Apple's standard-definition video looks so bad, I'm not confident the HD video will look good either.
What does he mean by "doesn't actually seem that well suited to it"? The hard drive is more than enough for H.264 content (requires less space than regular MPEG-4), low power consumption means nothing with dedicated solutions (if the MPEG-4 and H.264 decoding is done by the GPU, you don't need a Quad-Core 3GHz processor).
And what the hell does SD content looking bad has to do with HD content? That's like saying my 1280x1024 LCD will probably look shitty with a 1280x1024 wallpaper because it looks shitty when it has a 320x256 wallpaper on it. No correlation at all, this guy is an idiot.
So, the guy knows the real problem (varying video quality from the iTunes Store, but that's the content providers fault, not Apple) but still puts down the AppleTV for fake flaws.
Sure, "Bright and innovative" people only use Macs. Buy a Mac and you can be bright and innovative too!
You see it as a reaction to an action, i.e. using a Mac equals bright and innovative user. The truth is, you first have to realize that you do have a choice in computers and operating systems (reaction) and you can switch to OS X, BSD or Linux (action).
When you buy an appleTV you're essentially guaranteeing that you will, in the future, be buying content for it too.
Because movies and TV shows, of course, are available for all countries. Oups, they're not.
Just like there was no iTunes Music Store for other countries at first either, which didn't stop Apple from selling iPods outside of the USA.
If you think Apple are selling the AppleTV at a loss, you're kidding yourself.
If you think people only buy the AppleTV to buy online content via the iTunes Store, you're also kidding yourself. I, myself, bought one so I could finally have an easy-to-use movie jukebox. My Mac mini is currently busy compressing one of my DVDs into H.264/AAC as we speak. It will be added to my 90+ already ripped DVDs.
If anything, Apple should start selling Apple-branded network storage devices for their next product.
Just like 93% of the population thinks that computers get viruses and problems (hint: they think the hardware is at fault, they don't understand hardware/software). To them, "computer = Windows" just like "presentation software = PowerPoint".
The quote from slashdot is "At a speed of 350 miles per hour, they came close to breaking the all time record of 361 miles per hour, held by a Japanese maglev train.", and if you enter "350 mph to kph" into Google, you get "350 mph = 563.2704 kph" as a result. Also, I don't know where you learned maths, but 350 implies 350.00000000000 (infinite zeroes), we just don't write them, just like we don't usually write zeroes before numbers either (unless you're describing registers or something).
I don't give a damn if it's been rounded to the nearest 50 mph, which is completely stupid considering we're talking about speed records where even fractions of mph/kph are important.
I'm not buying one until I get can both the PSP and Locoroco for 100$CAD. It may take another 2 or 3 years, but so far that seems to be the only original game not available on another platform.
So now, people who use iTunes get to buy higher-quality music that comes with no physical waste and spend less time downloading the tracks than going out to buy a shiny plastic disc, all for the same price as before for complete albums, which was already cheaper than most CDs. What a deal!
You omitted the one crucial information about your system: how much RAM do you have? The best way to speed up Mac OS X is usually to increase the RAM.
Running Mac OS X with 512MB is painful, 1GB is the minimum for a responsive system, 2GB and more for power-users. With the size of your music library, I'm guessing you have less than 2GB.
I could be wrong of course, but that's the first thing I would check.
Sorry but I just bought an Apple TV and have been ripping my DVDs since they announced it last year. It also started shipping last week, so the timing is part of why I mentioned it.
I didn't say the Wii remote and nunchuck were better than the keyboard+mouse. However, for a console, it is better than the current gamepads with their little analog thumbsticks.
As for the precision, I'm guessing it's more of a software problem than a hardware problem, similar to debouncing a button via software.
It's sad to see the console with the best First-Person Shooter controllers gets pushed aside for its lower CPU and GPU capabilities.
So you end up playing FPS games on more powerful systems with crappy controllers.
And before you tell me that I only need to practice, I've got plenty of experience. About 15 years with a keyboard and mouse. The Wii remote and nunchuck take about 30 seconds to get used to. The analog sticks and dozen buttons on the Xbox 360 and PS3 gamepads? I gave up after 2 hours.
It's not all about the looks. I'm tired of the "People only buy Apple gear because of the look" cliché. Some of us buy it because it "just works". The fact that the gear looks nice is just a bonus.
Slashdot Mirror
TheLedger title: Apple Appalls Where Xbox ExcelsSo he puts the AppleTV down its "video quality"...But then say it's got a great-looking interface on a high-definition TV...And THEN complains about the real problem, which is the iTunes Store content itself, not the AppleTV. The movies and TV shows will look even worst on your computer LCD display, which are even better than a crappy HDTV that will most probably rescale your image before displaying it. But no, he has to make it sound like it's a problem with the AppleTV.What does he mean by "doesn't actually seem that well suited to it"? The hard drive is more than enough for H.264 content (requires less space than regular MPEG-4), low power consumption means nothing with dedicated solutions (if the MPEG-4 and H.264 decoding is done by the GPU, you don't need a Quad-Core 3GHz processor).
And what the hell does SD content looking bad has to do with HD content? That's like saying my 1280x1024 LCD will probably look shitty with a 1280x1024 wallpaper because it looks shitty when it has a 320x256 wallpaper on it. No correlation at all, this guy is an idiot.
So, the guy knows the real problem (varying video quality from the iTunes Store, but that's the content providers fault, not Apple) but still puts down the AppleTV for fake flaws.
In short, I call Microsoft shill on this guy.
Just like there was no iTunes Music Store for other countries at first either, which didn't stop Apple from selling iPods outside of the USA.
If you think Apple are selling the AppleTV at a loss, you're kidding yourself.
If you think people only buy the AppleTV to buy online content via the iTunes Store, you're also kidding yourself. I, myself, bought one so I could finally have an easy-to-use movie jukebox. My Mac mini is currently busy compressing one of my DVDs into H.264/AAC as we speak. It will be added to my 90+ already ripped DVDs.
If anything, Apple should start selling Apple-branded network storage devices for their next product.
Just like 93% of the population thinks that computers get viruses and problems (hint: they think the hardware is at fault, they don't understand hardware/software). To them, "computer = Windows" just like "presentation software = PowerPoint".
You should see the bump mapping on the female NPCs!
Wasting millions on the two Xbox projects (so far), but mostly, they all but killed Open GL for most game companies.
The quote from slashdot is "At a speed of 350 miles per hour, they came close to breaking the all time record of 361 miles per hour, held by a Japanese maglev train.", and if you enter "350 mph to kph" into Google, you get "350 mph = 563.2704 kph" as a result. Also, I don't know where you learned maths, but 350 implies 350.00000000000 (infinite zeroes), we just don't write them, just like we don't usually write zeroes before numbers either (unless you're describing registers or something).
I don't give a damn if it's been rounded to the nearest 50 mph, which is completely stupid considering we're talking about speed records where even fractions of mph/kph are important.
350 miles per hour = 563.2704 kilometers per hour
I'm not buying one until I get can both the PSP and Locoroco for 100$CAD. It may take another 2 or 3 years, but so far that seems to be the only original game not available on another platform.
Canadian iTunes customers currently pay 0.99$CAD per track. That's the equivalent of around 0.86$USD. :p
it's also a sign that the store is down!
Groups like the CRTC can't adapt fast enough to new technologies and actually hold back the people they want to protect.
There, fixed that for you.
And since you can fake web adresses (at least for Internet Explorer) and fake email adresses (nobody is immune), you can't do anything at all.
The real solution is to disconnect your computer from teh intarweb.
You omitted the one crucial information about your system: how much RAM do you have? The best way to speed up Mac OS X is usually to increase the RAM.
Running Mac OS X with 512MB is painful, 1GB is the minimum for a responsive system, 2GB and more for power-users. With the size of your music library, I'm guessing you have less than 2GB.
I could be wrong of course, but that's the first thing I would check.
Sorry but I just bought an Apple TV and have been ripping my DVDs since they announced it last year. It also started shipping last week, so the timing is part of why I mentioned it.
Hello DVD-ripping in iTunes! And not a moment too soon as they just started shipping the Apple TV.
Not that it matters to us nerds since we've been ripping DVDs with Handbrake/MediaFork for a while, but still.
Dvorak who?
I didn't say the Wii remote and nunchuck were better than the keyboard+mouse. However, for a console, it is better than the current gamepads with their little analog thumbsticks.
As for the precision, I'm guessing it's more of a software problem than a hardware problem, similar to debouncing a button via software.
It's sad to see the console with the best First-Person Shooter controllers gets pushed aside for its lower CPU and GPU capabilities.
So you end up playing FPS games on more powerful systems with crappy controllers.
And before you tell me that I only need to practice, I've got plenty of experience. About 15 years with a keyboard and mouse. The Wii remote and nunchuck take about 30 seconds to get used to. The analog sticks and dozen buttons on the Xbox 360 and PS3 gamepads? I gave up after 2 hours.
And no, I don't own a Windows PC either.
I'm guessing they want to keep their precious bandwidth for the banners or something.
It's called PHOTOS you morons!
It's not all about the looks. I'm tired of the "People only buy Apple gear because of the look" cliché. Some of us buy it because it "just works". The fact that the gear looks nice is just a bonus.
Because the Mac mini os way overdue for an update and the AppleTV is much more recent than the last revision of Mac mini?
Seriously though, I'm also hoping to get (at least) that GPU along with a Core 2 Duo CPU in the next revision.