Further Reflection on why I think AppleTV is a worthless piece of crap(tm)

[Image: apple tv]When the MacBook Air came out, I wrote a post where I also dismissed offhand the usefulness of the Apple TV updates that Jobs announced at the keynote.

Cyd called me out in the comments, pointing out (correctly):

Of course, you are conveniently forgetting to mention that Apple TV will let you rent and buy movies in HD with Dolby 5.1.

That’s a big deal. And you can’t get that with Netflix streams.

True, you can’t get HD, Dolby 5.1 streams from Netflix. In fact, the only other system I know for (legally) getting HD movies onto your TV without buying a physical disc is Microsoft’s Xbox Live. (If you do the math from Microsoft Points, each HD movie rental is about $4.50).

My problem with AppleTV is not really in it’s technical prowess or engineering; I’m sure those are top-notch. What disappoints me is how Apple is so clearly taking steps to move the consumption model backwards.

Think about it. First, there’s network TV. Then there’s cable TV. Then there are VCRs tapes - now people can tape a show and watch it later. Then there’s TiVo. Now people can tape a show and watch it later, but it’s much much easier to do so. Then the cable companies introduce their own versions of TiVo.

Then there’s Windows Media Center, which lets you stream ‘net video, record shows like TiVo, and store a library of movies, pictures, and music on your hard drive. Then there’s Apple TV, which lets you play things you bought from iTunes on your TV.

Wait. Does it let me record TV? No. Why not? I dunno. Probably because if you could record TV on it, why would you pay money to buy TV episodes from the iTunes store.

But it lets me rent movies! Ahhhh…OK, here we go.

Wait, the movie expires 24 hours after I start it? Are you kidding me?

The movie rental market is the one place that American consumers have repeatedly and overwhelmingly voted with their pocketbooks for subscription pricing.

Apple’s in the right place with music---we all want to buy it, not rent it---but movie rentals? please. Let me keep my movie for as long as I want.

It’s a step backwards to before Netflix. This is the blockbuster model, minus the drop-box.

It irks me that Apple thinks they can sweet talk me into spending tons of money on TV shows by not providing me with the option to record the ad-supported shows when they air. The model for media going forward is free and ad-supported, not paid.

It irks me that Apple thinks they can get me to shell out $5 a pop for 24 hours of access to an HD movie when I can get a month’s worth of access from Netflix for $9.99.

Don’t get me wrong, AppleTV is a sexy product, like most things Mac, and if they offered a subscription-based service like Netflix (say $15.99/mo for SD movies, $24.99/mo for HD movies), I’d be all over it.

But the fact is that I don’t buy TV, Music Videos, or Movies on iTunes currently. And there’s no reason that a prettier interface should be enough to make me want to do so in the future.