After a recent “update” by my cable provider, I almost fainted when I got my bill. I looked through the charges and surcharges, through the fees and subscriptions and found myself appalled. I am not an avid TV watcher. I have my few select shows that I watch regularly but other than that, my television remains off most of the time.
Cable companies make their money off of bundling channels together. The basic ones are those watched most often. The extended packages are for the remaining channels and then premium for the specialties. If you are a sports fan, you can buy the sports package or subscribe to watch particular events. There are extra fees for each DVR you have or if you have digital cable. If you want movie channels, you have to start forking over even more dough.
Now that these businesses are offering internet and home phone services, the costs are going up too. If you choose to have all three, many companies will give you a discount. What they don’t tell you is that this is often only for a limited time.
When I recovered from the shock of my $240 per month bill, I realized that I needed another solution. I can stream most television live if I connect it to my laptop but that means that in order to watch anything, it would have to be connected at all times, not convenient.
On my quest for cheaper entertainment, I was complaining to anyone who would listen. And therein found an answer: Apple TV.
Apple has become the answer to many technology questions in recent years; it is no surprise that television would be one of them.
Apple TV is a box that you purchase once. It costs $229 and has a 160GB hard drive for up to 200 hours of video. What it does is use your wireless connection to access your iTunes store account. You use your own HDMI cable to hook it to any widescreen television and suddenly, you are done. Instead of paying a monthly rate, you pay to download what you want to watch. It can be movies, television shows, or music.
So for the price of less than one month of my cable bill, I can buy one Apple TV. After that, I only pay for the shows I want to watch and I can still hook up the computer to stream live for concerts, sporting events or whatnot. Since I already have iTunes on my computer, I can access what is stored there as well via my wifi network connection. It even allows me to rent movies. I have thirty days to watch them and a twenty four hour window to finish the show. This contrastswith On Demand or Pay per View movies that must be watched within one day, no exceptions. Even cooler, the iPhone and iPod Touch work as remotes (don’t fret; you do receive one with the unit).
Cable providers are going to have to start realizing the phenomenon that is Apple TV. Customers are tired of paying high prices for their favorite shows, movies and the content they never wanted in the first place. Enabling consumers to buy only that which they want to see is the wave of the future.
You mentioned the Apple TV in your article. While that is a fine option (I have two Apple TVs one in each of the kids bedrooms), I would also point you to possibly using a Mac Mini for your needs. While more expensive than an Apple TV, with a Mac Mini there would be no need to connect your laptop to your TV for things that the Apple TV does not currently provide (i.e. Hulu, Netflix Streaming, etc.)
In addition to the two Apple TVs, I also have a Mac Mini in the family room. It acts as my main “server” to feed my two Apple TVs and Airport Expresses (audio streaming) around the house with the help of a couple 1TB drives. On the Mac Mini, I do the following:
I use XBMC to access my personal DVDs (images created with MakeMKV), music, and photo collection. In my opinion, XBMC beats Frontrow/Apple TV interface as a media center software.
I use the physical DVD player to play Netflix rentals that come in the mail.
I can use the desktop version of Hulu to stream TV shows. I can use Apple’s included remote for the Mac Mini to navigate Hulu vs. using the mouse/web browser interface.
I can use the OS X Netflix streaming option to stream up to 19,000 movies.
Plus, with a wireless keyboard/mouse, I can access youtube or any other video streaming options out there.
Heck. I could also turn it into a DVR for over-the-air HD with something like EyeTV which I don’t use as I have an HD Tivo for that.
Suffice to say that your options expand with something like the Mac Mini.
I thought I’d offer some suggestions to get the thought processes going. I use the Apple TVs in the kids rooms because they don’t need all the extra things a Mac mini provides. As long as they can play back High School Musical for the billionth time and not having to deal with the inevitable DVD/CD scratches makes both them and my pocketbook happy.
I forgot to mention Pandora which I also use alot for background music while cooking in the kitchen, etc.
Indeed! I hate the idea pf SaaS on the paying end, and cable falls under that category too. I have a hard time swallowing my $70 a month internet bill. The kicker? There is NO competition in my area. Comcast offers 8 mbps, AT&T 1.5 (over FIBER!!!), and Clear isn’t supported yet. Dude 15 minutes down the road has 50mbps at his house. He hasn’t told me what he pays for it though.
It’s almost the same situation at my other house: AT&T has some paltry offering and Comcast has some decent speed (6 mbps).
I really wish I could give Comcast the finger!
simply put Apple tv is a waste of money. For 60 dollars extra you should instead buy a ps3 which gives you the best blu ray player availible, a gaming system, and media sharing capabilities (and now streaming netflix). The ps3 is the same idea of the apple tv and you can rent and buy movies and tv shows through the playstaion store. Also you can stream what ever you have on your computer to your ps3 wirelessly through windows media player 10. For an extra 20 dollars you can buy playon add on and use hulu through your ps3 and on your tv as well.
The final point is you probably get your shows through torrents anyway and the ps3 is going to be a lot friendlier with playing formats you get from bit torrents than your apple tv will. Apple tv is a lot easier to set up and use but were nerds here so setting up your ps3 for media will be a walk in the park.
About a year ago, I dropped off the Satellite Grid for the same reason… why am I paying so much for what is free on the Web? I got into arguments all the way up the DirecTV chain as I explained why they aren’t needed anymore. It was hilarious!
The facts are, the AppleTV will be HUGE in a few years, but YES, it’s a bit under cooked at the moment. (most of the content is under Podcasts, for the new users reading this) The aTV Flash product is all you pretty much need to make up for the (on purpose) deficiencies of what Apple ships in the AppleTV.
Enjoy!
http://www.atvflash.com/product_info.php?products_id=27
Oh yeah, and DEATH to all Cable, Satellite and other “for pay” providers!
Torrents are all you need!
The AppleTV, years later, is still one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. And it’s far better than a video game console, as someone recommended. People who like games like video game machines. I don’t. I want to point, and click and watch a movie. Plus “syncing with windows” doesn’t sound like an advantage to me
When I see people navigating tv shows with a gaming controller it creeps me out.
Plus it runs osx, and you can do a ton of fun stuff like running Boxee on it, and control it with your iPod/iPhone…
If my AppleTV were to die right now (it’s possible, I’ve had it a while- drives don’t last forever), I’d run out right away and replace it without question.