Tuesday Tech Talk #67

Hello all and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. This week I am going to depart from the regular format and share with you a review of AppleTV which I unexpectedly got on Saturday.

How we went to the Apple Store for iLife ’11 and walked with an AppleTV

So on Saturday we decided to head up to Memphis, specifically Germantown to visit the Apple Store at Saddle Creek and grab lunch at Qdoba there. We were just going there to pick up a copy of iLife ’11 in order to take advantage of the new features of iPhoto.

Once we arrived at the store, I showed Kristen on one of the iMac’s what iPhoto ’11 can do and she was quite impressed so I grabbed a copy off the shelf. After doing so, I showed Kristen the AppleTV box they have connected to an HDTV next to the software shelf. I showed her how easy it is to browse Netflix and YouTube content.

After only a few minutes she asks how much it is and once informing her of the $99 price tag she replies with, “Ok, lets get it!”. I stood there stunned and reminded her how it is a $99 item and she said, “thats Ok, lets get it.”.

Once I picked my jaw off the hardwood floor, I grabbed an AppleTV box and looked over the cables needed to connect it to our TV. My setup is an HDTV and an audio receiver, the 2 HDMI ports on our receiver are already taken by a DirecTV HD-DVR and a Sony Blu-ray player. So I find that not only does Apple sell their own HDMI cable, but it is $20! I looked for the optical audio cable next and can’t locate one, luckily Jacob our friendly Apple Sales rep looks in the back and minutes later, appears with a 6’ one which is perfect and also $20.

So the AppleTV plus the cables rings up at around $150 with tax. Course we also get the iLife ’11 as well. Jacob rings us up and we are set to go, before departing though, we look at the MacBook Air, the iPod touch, the iPhone 4, and the iPod nano and shuffle, models but depart without buying anymore Apple goodies. We eat at Qdoba and then head home.

The Setup

Once home (I had unsealed all the wrapping on the items on the drive down.), I open up the box to the AppleTV and I find one thing very striking, Apple knows how to package product efficiently. Enjoy the un-boxing photos.



All sealed up



Apple TV itself, right in the palm



Next, the remote



A little divider which doubles as a remote holder, separates the remote and AppleTV from the power cable and instructions and Apple stickers.



The power cable (note the excitement on Angel’s face)



Setup Guide (didn’t need it)



Apple stickers (I got a lot of these!)



The box nearly empty of its contents.

So the hookup to the TV and audio receiver took less than 5 minutes. Within 10 mins, I am entering in my user and password for Netflix, iTunes Store info, and wireless network password. About 5 mins after that, we are watching YouTube videos first, you know kid, your finger wouldn’t hurt if you didn’t put it in Charlie’s mouth to bite in the first place.

Initial Thoughts on AppleTV

So what are my thoughts after a couple of days of using AppleTV? Well, I can safely say if you have a broadband connection, an HDTV, and a Netflix account, then you should get one of these! The content available from Netflix alone is worth the $99, but when you consider you can watch video content stored on your Mac computers, on the AppleTV it is even more compelling. At this point I have not rented TV shows on it yet and I don’t see myself doing so either.

VideoCasts

I want to share something else I realized while watching video podcasts on the AppleTV. I think devices like AppleTV, Roku, and GoogleTV can do for good quality VideoCasts what the iPod did for audio podcasts. I watched 2 episodes of MacBreak Weekly, a show that is between 90 mins to 2 hours and watching a show of similar length is much more preferable on the TV over a computer, iPhone, or iPad.

How this changes TV

After a day of using the AppleTV, we went ahead and cut our DirecTV package down to Choice programming which is their minimal programming package. We intend to keep it there until our contract ends at which point we will look at providers of the same day content we enjoy. I don’t see myself ever getting rid of Satellite or Cable TV outright simply because I love to watch live sports and that is just not available right now with AppleTV, Roku, or GoogleTV. However, the days of Sat. and cable companies charging an outrageous fee for programming, is nearing its end. These boxes offer a competitive alternative to sat. and cable and they will have to get better on pricing or lose customers.

So, that is my AppleTV review. I would love to see Hulu added to the mix at some point for even more TV content. Next week I will return to the normal format of Tuesday Tech Talk, but if you have any questions about the AppleTV, feel free to leave some in the comments.

Oh and one more thing, if you are reading this on November 2nd, don’t forget to vote today! If you don’t vote, you can’t well, you know.