How I LOVE my AppleTV
Let me count the ways!
One - I have about 50 gigs of music (not a lot by some standards, but still a crap load of CDs) and being able to access any album, genre, or playlist with just a few button presses beats the heck out of searching CD cases for what I want to listen to right now. I got close to this nirvana by attaching my iPod directly to my receiver, but there were still synchronization and UI issues.
Two - Buying TV shows is a big argument for dumping cable (won't happen till I can download HD versions). It is so convenient to just buy a show or season and watch when you want to. Sure, I have Tivo and it's great, but sometimes there are conflicts or something happens and a show doesn't record. Then, there is all that fast-forwarding through commercials.
Three - Movies. I'm not talking about the one's you can buy (which is pretty cool too), I'm talking about the 1500 movies I already own. With the new version of Handbrake, I can rip a movie to my hard drive to stream to my TV anytime I want. Sure, I still use Delicious Library to manage my movies (especially the ones not ripped), but instead of search through my collection, I just scroll down and hit 'play'.
Can it be better? Yeah (especially in the area of HD content), but it has rapidly become the central component in my home theater. Go get one!
One - I have about 50 gigs of music (not a lot by some standards, but still a crap load of CDs) and being able to access any album, genre, or playlist with just a few button presses beats the heck out of searching CD cases for what I want to listen to right now. I got close to this nirvana by attaching my iPod directly to my receiver, but there were still synchronization and UI issues.
Two - Buying TV shows is a big argument for dumping cable (won't happen till I can download HD versions). It is so convenient to just buy a show or season and watch when you want to. Sure, I have Tivo and it's great, but sometimes there are conflicts or something happens and a show doesn't record. Then, there is all that fast-forwarding through commercials.
Three - Movies. I'm not talking about the one's you can buy (which is pretty cool too), I'm talking about the 1500 movies I already own. With the new version of Handbrake, I can rip a movie to my hard drive to stream to my TV anytime I want. Sure, I still use Delicious Library to manage my movies (especially the ones not ripped), but instead of search through my collection, I just scroll down and hit 'play'.
Can it be better? Yeah (especially in the area of HD content), but it has rapidly become the central component in my home theater. Go get one!
posted by Gene at 12:04 PM
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