Comments on: 30 Days of AppleTV – Day 15 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/ Your Ultimate Guide to Thinking Differently Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:10:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: GJD http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-9671 GJD Thu, 03 May 2007 10:01:35 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-9671 Photo and music handling are two areas where I find the iPod somewhat lacking. I love seeing photo slideshows and screensavers, they really show off the AppleTV and our HDTV. However, not being able to stream from another machine is ridiculous, not to mention inconvenient (we have over 10Gb of photos on 2 machines). It's not as if there are any copyright/DRM issues with accessing your own photos. The fact that you can only view photos in a slideshow format is disappointing too - why can't I see a contac sheet-stlye view of the photos in a folder, moving around and selecting individual photos with the remote? The other problem I have with photos is the way they're displayed. The folders I've synced from iPhoto appear in a seemingly random order. As for music, while the interface looks cool and playback is great, Apple has neglected some of the basics. On the iPod I have the option to exclude artists who appear only on compilations from the artists list. Not so on AppleTV, so instead I have this huge list of artists to scroll down, some of whom I haven't even heard of! Which brings me onto my next point. Scrolling through the artist list is slow and awkward. On the 5G iPod, the scroll wheel accelerates until you see the letters appear, not so on the AppleTV. Why not? And couldn't Apple have made use of the redundant (at this point) forward and back buttons on the remote to allow you to jump by artist letter? Small points, I'm sure, but for a company that prides itself on UI design, and has already implemented some of these features in their other products, you'd think this would be pretty straight-forward to do. Photo and music handling are two areas where I find the iPod somewhat lacking.

I love seeing photo slideshows and screensavers, they really show off the AppleTV and our HDTV. However, not being able to stream from another machine is ridiculous, not to mention inconvenient (we have over 10Gb of photos on 2 machines). It’s not as if there are any copyright/DRM issues with accessing your own photos.
The fact that you can only view photos in a slideshow format is disappointing too – why can’t I see a contac sheet-stlye view of the photos in a folder, moving around and selecting individual photos with the remote?
The other problem I have with photos is the way they’re displayed. The folders I’ve synced from iPhoto appear in a seemingly random order.

As for music, while the interface looks cool and playback is great, Apple has neglected some of the basics.
On the iPod I have the option to exclude artists who appear only on compilations from the artists list. Not so on AppleTV, so instead I have this huge list of artists to scroll down, some of whom I haven’t even heard of! Which brings me onto my next point. Scrolling through the artist list is slow and awkward. On the 5G iPod, the scroll wheel accelerates until you see the letters appear, not so on the AppleTV. Why not? And couldn’t Apple have made use of the redundant (at this point) forward and back buttons on the remote to allow you to jump by artist letter?

Small points, I’m sure, but for a company that prides itself on UI design, and has already implemented some of these features in their other products, you’d think this would be pretty straight-forward to do.

]]> By: Steve W http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-7744 Steve W Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:12:02 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-7744 The Apple TV gets hot because the power supply is inside the unit - no external brick or flying saucer. This presents a challenge to hackers trying to use the Apple TV to pimp their ride. The choices are: Provide AC power to the AppleTV using an inverter or other gadget; or, bypass the AppleTV's power supply and provide DC power directly to the unit. A hacker would have to figure out the voltages supplied by the power supply and duplicate them. Who knows, maybe Delta Electronics makes a DC to DC converter that is pin compatible with the switching power supply in the AppleTV. Are you "tight with Murphy"? The Apple TV gets hot because the power supply is inside the unit – no external brick or flying saucer. This presents a challenge to hackers trying to use the Apple TV to pimp their ride.

The choices are: Provide AC power to the AppleTV using an inverter or other gadget; or, bypass the AppleTV’s power supply and provide DC power directly to the unit. A hacker would have to figure out the voltages supplied by the power supply and duplicate them. Who knows, maybe Delta Electronics makes a DC to DC converter that is pin compatible with the switching power supply in the AppleTV. Are you “tight with Murphy”?

]]> By: Michael http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-7743 Michael Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:11:32 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-7743 I'm not sure...I think it's been done with Mac Minis... I'll look into it... I’m not sure…I think it’s been done with Mac Minis…

I’ll look into it…

]]> By: Steve http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-7741 Steve Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:26:21 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-7741 Would that even work with an AppleTV or hell even a Mac Mini with Front Row? Would that even work with an AppleTV or hell even a Mac Mini with Front Row?

]]> By: Michael http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-7734 Michael Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:27:50 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-7734 That's probably true Steve - it probably wouldn't work if you couldn't see it...but you could just go ahead and spring for a touch screen display... :) That’s probably true Steve – it probably wouldn’t work if you couldn’t see it…but you could just go ahead and spring for a touch screen display… :)

]]> By: Steve http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/comment-page-1/#comment-7732 Steve Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:14:02 +0000 http://www.applegazette.com/appletv/30-days-of-appletv-day-15/#comment-7732 Great review, I appreciate it. One thing regarding installing it in the trunk of a car. Does the remote work when the device is behind you, say 1 meter, and hidden behind things? That was my one concern was that in order for the remote to work, it would need to be within my vision. Thanks again. Great review, I appreciate it. One thing regarding installing it in the trunk of a car. Does the remote work when the device is behind you, say 1 meter, and hidden behind things? That was my one concern was that in order for the remote to work, it would need to be within my vision.

Thanks again.

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