AppleTV

[SavannahLion]

 

Am I the only one that thinks that people are phenomenally stupid? Everyone is going gaga over the new AppleTV and that ---Cleveland steamer--- is restrictive. I saw this blurb on their website:

Rent a movie directly from Apple TV and you have 30 days to start watching. Once you hit Play, you have 24 hours to finish it — or to watch it as many times as you want. Movie rentals disappear when they expire, so they won’t take up storage space. From the Rented Movies menu, you can see when your movies are about to expire.

I literally felt someone smack me in the face. How is it that we manage to shun something like the Divx player (a player that had less restrictive DRM) in exchange for a player with more restrictive policies? And to add insult to injury, ---smurfing--- Apple fanatics seem to be lapping this ---Cleveland steamer--- up. Even the so-called "negative" reviews aren't really negative reviews.

I don't think I'll ever experience as much glee as I'm likely to experience once someone figures out how to rape the DRM on this box.

 
.......

OK, I'm done ranting... I feel better.

[pointdablame]

wow that is some major angst right there.

What exactly are you so against?  I'm far from pro-DRM but in terms of usage this makes sense.  You're RENTING a movie just like you would at Blockbuster.  new rentals have to be back the next day near me.  This way you get to save it for 30 days (why would you decide to rent one and take longer than 30 days to watch it) and then you get a full day to watch it.

you are not BUYING the movie, you're renting it.  This DRM makes sense for the business case they're making.  I'm personally not a fan of the idea as I don't want to rent digital movies, but if you do, what is wrong with it?  Oh and it deletes it... oh no.  It's just like you have to return it to a store.

I really don't get what the big deal is.  Can you enlighten me?



And Divx failed because you had to go buy physical media that was good for 2 days.  no one wants to go to a store, physcially buy something, and then have it turn into a coaster.  You either rent it at blockbuster or you do digital distro like iTunes is trying.

[AtomSmasher]

*Warning-a little foul language*

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/01/18

[Guaranos]

Vote with your dollars.  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  As far as I know, nobody is requiring you buy one, so why get your panties in a bunch about it?  If someone actually is requiring you to buy one, please accept my sincerest apologies.

[FrizzleFried]

Vote with your dollars.  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  As far as I know, nobody is requiring you buy one, so why get your panties in a bunch about it?  If someone actually is requiring you to buy one, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Can someone say... "Mac Fan"?

[mccoy178]

Just hack the damn thing and get over it.

[Guaranos]

Vote with your dollars.  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  As far as I know, nobody is requiring you buy one, so why get your panties in a bunch about it?  If someone actually is requiring you to buy one, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Can someone say... "Mac Fan"?

That comment puzzles me.  What does recommending that he vote with his dollars have to do with liking Macs?  I'm voting with my dollars on the AppleTV and not buying one because of all the crazy DRM, but I don't think it's worth crying about like SavannahLion.  Plus, Divx failed because people voted with their dollars, so if they do the same with the AppleTV, it'll go away too.

[Level42]

I'm a Mac fan (I just upgraded to Leopard today. Isn't it nice to have a newer OS actually run a LOT faster than the previous one. Go try that with Vista !)

I don't like the AppleTV because it doesn't have a SCART connector. BIG mistake for the European market.

No I do not want to buy a LCD/Plasma thing. I don't like them. So I don't have the right connection that gives me the best picture on my CRT TV.

I'm a Mac fan, not a blind follower.

And indeed, you can hack it in minutes. It essentially is a very small mac. You can probably even run MAME on it now (not sure about that though )

On the other side. I sometimes want to see a movie but don't want to go to the video rental place to get the DVD. I also always have the feeling I want to see that movie NOW. (Are you going to rent a DVD and then have it around for weeks and then watch it ?) Also RENTING a movie means you're returning it anyway. I usually only want to see a movie one time. The really special one's I buy.
So, the concept isn't all that stupid.

[FrizzleFried]

Vote with your dollars.  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  As far as I know, nobody is requiring you buy one, so why get your panties in a bunch about it?  If someone actually is requiring you to buy one, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Can someone say... "Mac Fan"?

That comment puzzles me.  What does recommending that he vote with his dollars have to do with liking Macs?  I'm voting with my dollars on the AppleTV and not buying one because of all the crazy DRM, but I don't think it's worth crying about like SavannahLion.  Plus, Divx failed because people voted with their dollars, so if they do the same with the AppleTV, it'll go away too.

Are you a Mac fan?

[Samstag]

Apple doesn't have a monopoly on restrictive DRM.  Microsoft's movie policy is even more restrictive.  You only get 14 days to get started, though they use the same 24 hour limit after starting to watch.  I don't know if this is the case on the Apple TV, but those 14 day and 24 hour limits are absolute.  If you start watching a movie at 8pm Tuesday, your right to watch ends at exactly 8pm Wednesday, even if your movie has another 5 minute to go.

TV episodes are better, I guess.  You get to keep them indefinitely.

So boycott Apple and MS?  Or you could just make consumer decisions that make sense for you, even if that sometimes means paying $4.00 for a slightly better deal than you get with movies on pay-per-view via cable or satellite.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I believe netflix downloads aren't very restrictive at all now im sure i read they changed from this 24h to something else might of been unlimited not sure as i can't get netflix in australia

[squirrellydw]

I am a Mac fan and I like the AppleTV but I won't rent a movie.   I think it is to expensive to rent a movie, I prefer netflix still

[markrvp]

This is obviously the worst thing ever.  I fully expect the sun not to rise tomorrow. 

[boykster]

I have an AppleTV but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $$ to watch movies on it.  I bought it because of it's GREAT YouTube capabilities and it's photo/slideshow features.  I've been looking for an easy to use photo interface, and AppleTV was it.

 

[Havok]

It will do well and sell, and the Mac zealots will buy it. It's called brainwashing, and the cult of Apple lives on...

And where I live everyone gives you five days rental...

 

[DrumAnBass]

Well as a major Mac zealot, I am quite happy with my hacked XBox running XBMC which has more functionality and a better UI than AppleTV, not to mention 300gb's more storage, for about $100 less... OK maybe it can't do 1080p, but it still looks great on my 50" HD set...

As for rentals, NetFlix and Handbrake fit the bill nicely.

[ark_ader]

Well as a major Mac zealot, I am quite happy with my hacked XBox running XBMC which has more functionality and a better UI than AppleTV, not to mention 300gb's more storage, for about $100 less... OK maybe it can't do 1080p, but it still looks great on my 50" HD set...

As for rentals, NetFlix and Handbrake fit the bill nicely.

Well said!