by Originally planned for a Christmas release I was going to talk about my 1 year anniversary with my first Apple TV, the V2 Apple TV which is most coveted. However today I’m going to be a touch self indulgent as it was the last gift my Father purchased for me at Christmas before passing away 1 year ago today.
From December 2011
As with all things apple, unwrapping and unpacking is just half of the experience. That special noise it makes as 2 sections slide apart revealing a black apple tv which just seemed to suck light out of the room. Quiet honestly you look at it feeling quite underwhelmed. Is that it? Is that what all the fuss is about but then again what was I expecting, some sort of OLED display as per the pc HTPC world?
It would be a few days before actually going hands on with the small device as internet on Christmas at the parents is a woeful 50k down 32k up. For anything to do with even resembling a download or streaming was a no go.
Truth be told I really wasn’t keen on the Apple tv when I first got it. It was more a case of being pushed to suggest something for Christmas and then purchasing. Being all things apple in my house it seemed worth a try. Getting home, plugging in was the usual Apple style simplicity and one thing you soon want to get downloaded is the Apple Apple Remote App. Entering my wi-fi password using the remote control was bad enough but there was no way I was entering all my iTunes, Netflix and Hulu details.
With no effort required, there was my iTunes music, my music in the cloud, purchased tv shows, movies and so on with the benefit of being on a large display. At this point I still wasn’t overly impressed because it can’t be that hard can it.
It wasn’t unti I started playing with the third party offerings when it really hit home. Had Steve Jobs cracked the Apple Tv with content? Things really got interesting when using the likes of HideIPVPN or UnoTelly to get the american content on my Apple TV. That changed everything.
I could hack the box to friends house with ease and start streaming whatever we wanted to watch, no booting up a massive PC nonsense, just straight in with no barrier to entry.
Most friends I have own some sort of Apple device with a different streaming service and Airplay allowed us to choose between all those services. My days of burning dvd’s were gone as more friends got Apple TV unit’s it became 2nd nature to synch to my iPad / iPhone and take to my destination
My point here with Apple stuff in general is you easily forget about the hardware, it’s lack of wow factor when in the hand when you start to realise what it can do and in general that’s make things easier and better.
Sure there are other products out there that do the same but this is an Apple site after all.
My Apple TV Wish List.
- More simulcasts.
This year we had the iTunes festival (featuring Noel Gallagher) and some Apple keynotes. With all those Apple TV boxes out there, why aren’t more streams happening on a premium platform?
- More content.
Granted this is out of Apple’s hands someone, somewhere must have a plan to bring new content to Apple’s TV - App Developers To Give Clearer Airplay compatibility
Again not a fault of Apple… Sky Go I’m look at you here, box nation and others. If we can’t stream to our Apple TV unit’s then just say rather than letting your userbase swim in frustration. - Live TV
Perhaps harking back to the old days but at times you can’t beat actually watching a program as it happens. Lots of obstacles on this one to overcome
And On A Self Indulgent Note….
For most today is just another day, work, commute etc but for me it’s different. Today is the day that my Dad, Thomas Chappell, passed away all too suddenly. In that year a lot has changed, a lot for the worse, yet it amazes the impact you had on the family in so many different ways. I wish you were still about to sort out a load of things we had planned and left to do.
Anyways today should be a nice reminder that pick up the phone, email, text or whatever people do these days and just say a random hello to your Dad, mum, grandad, grandma, step parents or whoever you care about in your world.
Today is “Just thought I’d call and say hello day”
Take a recording from Elgato’s eye tv, convert and shove into iT
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