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Just OnTime Marketing Blog
If you've read Hamid's blog article titled Axosoft Gives OnTime Team Apple TVs, then you know a lot of us here at Axosoft have been playing with a new toy lately. Thank you, Axosoft! Here are some of my most notable impressions regarding the product after having used it for a couple of days:
- Holy Crap! I need a new TV.
I wouldn't be writing this article at all if not for a good night of blackjack on Friday night. (Dan, thanks again for choosing gambling over other "activities" for your bachelor party! Had we not done all that drinking beforehand, I'm just sure I wouldn't have gone for that last "all in.") Those winnings went straight to Costco for a 32" LCD HDTV. All in all, the AppleTV + compatible television only ran me $270 out of pocket. Great success!
- Wow! That Was Easy.
Plug it into the TV, plug it into the wall...you're done. Well sort of. That's sufficient for AppleTV to find your wireless network and for you to start browsing through Apple's library of movie trailers and top content.
To hook up to a local instance of iTunes, you have to point your AppleTV to the source, and then go over to that iTunes computer to type in a security PIN number that's displayed on your TV. Easy enough, and you only have to do it once. Now, you can watch or listen to that iTunes library to your heart's content by streaming it over your network. Add more libraries similarly...I only have one.
- To Synch or Not to Synch?
Initially, I saw no reason to copy any content over to the AppleTV, since my laptop running iTunes is almost always on and stationary. Then, I realized that the only way to view photos is from the local AppleTV hard drive. I had to head back over to my laptop and change the AppleTV's settings so that it synched up photos (this works the same way as synching up photos on an iPod Video or Nano). More set it and forget it...
It synched up thousands of photos relatively quickly. I didn't time it, but it was much faster than doing the same thing on an iPod. I'm not positive, but my guess is that it doesn't compress the photos (at least not as much)...it just sends them over to the AppleTV's hard drive. Even for a couple of gigs, it wouldn't take too long.
- Streaming Works Great.
Since my computer is always on and always running iTunes...I decided to synch nothing but the photos. Until I tried watching a photo slide show, that is. No music. Since it uses the AppleTV as its source for the photos, it can't grab music from another source...e.g. your iTunes computer. So, I had to go back to the PC to synch up my "Pictures" playlist. Set it and forget it.
After a few moments the 20 or 30 songs in that play list were copied over. Now, images of my childhood dog, my 3-year old's first birthday, and what not could float across the screen with the added level of emotion that comes from Bobby McFerrin humming and whistling "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Cheesy? Maybe. OK, definitely. But, it works.
(Hat tip to Darcy for pointing out you can point to your iTunes source, and then put it in screensaver mode. Just set your screensaver to pictures with music, and there you go)
- I Have to Convert My AVI Files.
Since iTunes doesn't play nice (out of the box, anyway) with the AVI file format, I'm going to have to convert about 20 or 30 AVI files I have of movies, tv shows, and home video (most of my library is already iTunes compatible, though). This is kind of a pain, but I found an application that's been working great so far. It's free and promises no spyware: Jodix Free iPod Video Converter. It's a little slow and a little bit of a pain...iTunes should do this, just like it converts .wma files to .mp3 format, IMO.
- I Need to Subscribe to More Podcasts.
First of all, watching video podcasts in your living room rocks. I used to do it sometimes with my iPod Video / dock / AV cable...but it wasn't...let's say, elegant.
Now that I have easy access to all of this Indie goodness, I want more of it. Scoble (web site), Ask a Ninja (web site), and my various Discovery and National Geographic feeds need some friends. It was back to the PC yet again to surf through iTunes' Video Podcast catalog. I'd say I subscribed to at least 10 - 15 new ones.
The most memorable is Happy Tree Friends (web site), which appeals to the violent-and-twisted-humor center of one's brain. I recommend watching the "Eyes Cold Lemonade" episode to see if it hooks you, too, in that "I'm not sure if I want to watch another but can't help myself" sort of way.
Of course, I also added more news, comedy, and instructional Podcasts, including a couple of really good Photoshop feeds that look promising.
- There are No Parental Controls!?
Wow, this seems like an obvious 1.0 feature to me, because I have kids, and Apple dropped the ball. Currently, there are only two pretty good parental controls I could find: a) Hide the Remote; b) Remove and hide the power chord. Not so fancy.
In my case, having kids ranging in ages from 3 - 12, I need configurable controls with at least two levels. This way I can have one setting that blocks XYZ for the 3-year old and a subset of XYZ for the 11- and 12-year olds. This can easily be added as a software update, so I hope it is coming soon.
I hope I'm wrong about this, actually...does anyone know different?
- I Can't Buy Movies with My Remote!
Dammit. Now, I didn't mind all of the back-and-forth between the living room and the PC for the initial "set it and forget it" configurations. But lacking the ability to purchase online means a lot of recurring back-and-forth, and it's not for global settings. It's just a pain...even if I could use the exercise.
If I see some iTunes content I like, I can't buy it on the spot. Not to mention, I can't even browse the iTunes catalog from my sofa. This should have bothered me when I was looking for new Podcasts...don't know why it didn't...must have been too happy...or maybe I just never really thought about subscribing to podcasts from my couch before. I know it would have been a pleasant surprise if I could have, though.
I have thought about buying movies from my sofa, though. I've actually bought them via PPV. When you can't buy a movie on the spot, it's less enticing...you may as well see what's on TV or go check your email. Since this seems to be another "problem" they can fix via a software update, I expect to see it soon, considering it's needlessly costing them way too much in movie sales.
- Flaws & All -- It Just Works!
Even though there are a few things I don't like or that I wish were different, I don't feel Apple has over-promised or under-delivered. Maybe the fact that it was a gift helps, in that regard. Overall, I'm very happy with the unit, and having used it, would definitely pay the sticker price. I'd love to be able to surf, watch videos from other sources, and do a lot more in general, but I think it'll be coming. And I have a lot today, as is, that I didn't have yesterday.
- The Implications are Great.
I suspect there aren't all that many AppleTV's out there in consumers hands yet. But there will be soon. I suspect the demand isn't anything close to that of iPods or the upcoming iPhone. But, I also suspect that people who have them will love them and talk about them all the time. I'll go a step further and say that when their friends see these things, they're going to want one, too. Volume will grow steadily, and then take off. I had people over twice this weekend, and there's a darn good chance both will be purchasing AppleTVs in the near future...they loved it. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an iPod-scale coup.
My other predictions guesses:
We're going to start to see a lot more video podcasting. It's just too easy to get on TV now, and become a "micro star" or better. The barrier to entry is low, and nothing's stopping anyone from doing a show they'd enjoy doing. People will continue to look for good quality, independent programming. AppleTV will help introduce video podcasting to entirely new segments of the population...and some of them are going to want in on the production side of the action.
Another nail in commercial television's coffin. If YouTube, Google Video, blogs, and all of the other web-based options weren't enough...now this. I know my broadcast / cable TV viewing time just dropped to almost zero, even though I'll probably be watching my television a whole lot more. I can't stand programs interrupted by commercials every few minutes anymore...and I don't like my kids being exposed to thousands of hours of advertising, either. It's too easy to get good quality stuff now without the disruptive ads.
Another point worth mentioning is the tremendous appeal of amateur-produced content. Sometimes it's not as slick, but that's often more than compensated for by the genuine material. The bar is being raised now. Low-budget can be profitable and prosperous within a niche -- the broadcasters have been so limited, because they have to appeal to the masses. The lowest common denominator worked in the old model, and it'll still be around in the new model -- don't get me wrong. But we haven't even scratched the long tail possibilities yet.
Video Piracy and Online Purchasing are going to increase. Piracy and legitimate purchasing have always been two sides of the same coin, growing and shrinking pretty much proportionally. Video producers ought to learn from the RIAA debacle and NOT SUE THEIR FANS. Instead, they need to figure out how to make it easier to purchase their goods than steal it. Making it available in iTunes would be a great start. iTunes then making it available via a couple of clicks from the sofa would be another great step.
They can't make it cheaper, but they can sure make it easier. The video world needs to find a good way to adapt -- now, before it's too late.
Hard Drive sales are going to go up. They already have been, really, but now I'll need more storage than ever before to keep all of these Podcasts on. My 1/2 terrabyte won't last much longer. My habits are changing, and those habits require disk space. It's all good, though: I'd rather add a terrabyte drive or two versus shelf space for CDs and DVDs.
My surfing time is going to go down. Finally, here is an example of Internet technology that's going to help me spend less time in front of the computer...or at least that's how it will feel. The Internet is becoming more invisible...Nintendo Wii, PS3, Xbox Live, etc. When you use it less, you use it more. That's just about the best definition of "full adoption" I can come up with...the Web is being woven into the fabric.
In closing, I won't recommend drinking and gambling -- they can be dangerous -- but sometimes it can work, too.
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