My make or break question for Apple TV
When I got my first iPod, there was no question that the biggest selling point for me was that I could take all of my previously bought CD’s and import them onto my iPod via iTunes. A lot later in the piece Apple (finally) opened the Australian iTunes music store and I dove into the world of buying music online. While I was somewhat skeptical of the whole idea behind buying music online, I quickly learned that my purchase was secure and if I happened to loose my music library I could download my purchased tracks again from the store - bonus! However, for a long time my iTunes library was and probably still is made up in majority by tracks imported from CD’s.
So Apple have just released their new entertainment device, Apple TV. I like this thing, it has a good form factor, beautiful interface and allows the owner to access movies from any computer on the network – sweet! BUT, I have one ask of Apple TV. Just one thing to make or break my decision to purchase; Will it allow me to import movies from DVD’s I already own?
Now, it’s quite possible that I am just ignorant to some feature in iTunes that already allows you to do this. I don’t discount that for a moment. But, you know, I work in IT and I’d hate to think I was stupid enough to miss such a feature??? However, the point is that after scanning the Apple website for information regarding Apple TV and DVD’s, I came up with blank. This leads me to conclude that Apple TV does not in-fact allow me to import/backup DVD’s that I have already bought and payed for. Also, with only a 40 gig hard-drive, one would be hard-pressed to fit any kind of normal-sized DVD library on the thing, further concreting my suspicions.
You see, I think Apple have made a fatal error (yes, I am not a big enough fan boy to think they don’t make mistakes); They have foreseen that the future of entertainment and movies is online and via digital downloads. However, they have failed to see a very important point; most people are hesitant, if not scared of online purchases and not one person I know owns less than one DVD that I’m sure they would like to watch via such a system as the new Apple TV.
So, for now – Apple; You know I love ya, but no thanks…
January 15th, 2007 at 11:45 am
EXACTLY my own thoughts. It does raise the interesting question of why only a 40gig drive if infact importing of dvds was going to be part of the plan. Maybe we shall see development of different models ala ipod?
Although - the flipside is maybe Apple sees is that your main point of data storage will not be on the appletv itself, but rather on your mac or pc??
January 16th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Actually, that’s a very valid point and makes complete sense from a DRM point of view also. Good thinking Benny!
February 2nd, 2007 at 11:40 am
Arguably, apple only sell the content so their hardware sells (thus why the content only works on THEIR players). Point being that RIAA, MPAA etc like to sell us the same thing 7 times, and if apple wants the content that sells the hardware, they might have to play along.