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Apple TV to be a Centrally Controlled P2P Network?
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Feb 16, 2007 02:04 PM
from the lean-on-your-neighbors dept.
from the lean-on-your-neighbors dept.
Rolgar writes "PBS' Bob Cringely theorizes that since the Apple TV will be an always-on device with a 40GB hard drive, Apple may move to content distribution via a P2P network. The ISPs will incur higher bandwidth locally, possibly lose some subscribers to cable TV, but have fewer costs through the Tier II Internet backbone providers. Bob also expects that Google will be involved with their fiber network and advertising expertise, and my hope is that they'll bundle in YouTube content as well. The article suspects that they won't get around to announcing the full details of this plan until they hit a half million units or more, and that this Apple and Google pairing will become the equivalent of a cable TV provider with almost none of the infrastructure costs. Eventually, he hopes, we'll see a real HD revolution from Apple and Google for this service." If Apple rolled something like this out to the service, would you bite on it? What would it take you to move to this over Tivo or MythTV?
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No, I would not bite... (Score:2, Insightful)
>What would it take you to move to this over Tivo or MythTV?
I will not pay for any "service" above and beyond my normal ISP fee in order to receive content. I can get all the content I want for free just by having a connection to the internet.
The only way I would subscribe to this service is if it was free.
In Time & On... (Score:2)
I'm tired of the B.S., indecipherable controls, policies, unusable channels and the need to sit down or record in real time when the content is deemed fit to be distributed by some provider that decides it knows when it is best for ME to sit and watch/record.
Re:In Time & On... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:In Time & On... (Score:5, Interesting)
While I agree on geek principles, I don't see how a keyboardless box like the iTV would be able to connect to any streaming software source the user might have, at least not without a lot of PC-end configuration. That sort of thing completely trumps Apple's ease-of-use principle, which is practically the First Commandment of their business.
On the other hand, iTunes is free, and Quicktime supports plugins and can handle just about any codec you want (disclaimer: I'm a Mac user and I know firsthand that there's plenty of things VLC plays better). So for the average user there's little to complain about, and for the non-average geek there's better ways to do what iTV does without buying iTV at all.
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I'm paying for distribution now, too? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:I'm paying for distribution now, too? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:I'm paying for distribution now, too? (Score:4, Interesting)
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If by discount you mean free after someone figures out how to share movies to people that didn't pay for them?
Re: (Score:2)
I think I remember reading a rumor before they came out with tv shows on itunes that the next itunes was to going to have something built in to let people share like bittorrent and get itunes store credit for doing this with the files they had bought.
Now:
1) It was a rumor a long time ago.
2) If you don't purchase anything from the iTunes store you probably could care less if the rumor was true or not.
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Assuming Apple would implement such a thing, I'm pretty sure it would be voluntary. After all, all current file-sharing software makes it optional to share your downloads with others--on the other hand, others have the option of not sharing with you under those circumstances.
Faster (Score:2)
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Of course, if Apple had listened to him in the past they'd either be another PC manufacutrer, or just plain bankrupt.
My tag for this article is 'makingstuffup'. That's all he's doing. Don't attach anything in this article to Apple, as if they support, endorce, or have even considered it. They haven't, as far as we know.
better than ... how? (Score:3, Interesting)
* Find content on the Internet or other places (via whatever means)
* Download/aquire (again, however you need to)
* Watch on your TV (via any network-attached device or stand-alone DVD player that supports lots of codecs and can be controlled with a remote)
The only things outlined in TFA that differs from this is
* What is available is controlled by some bullshit companies who will have your worst interest at heart
* You have to watch ads
* You have to pay for downloads
* Apple and Google spy on you
Er, um
Re:better than ... how? (Score:5, Insightful)
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No, what I'm talking about is the act of watching filmed scenarios, or whatever else the good artists of the world create in their infinite inventiveness in order to have people see.
What I'm talking about is participating in culture, and
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Am I claiming that the current "content distribution system" as you see it is as
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Copyright law works the way it does because of a lot of factors, a large one of which is lobbying by people who came up with ways they could make money off of it an
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How is this better than the following workflow...* Watch on your TV (via any network-attached device or stand-alone DVD player that supports lots of codecs and can be controlled with a remote)
Currently most people don't have an easy way to perform this step. Most people do not have their computer connected to their TV. Geeks like us do, normal people don't. Most people don't want to burn a DVD or VCD every time they want to watch something. Apple's device is a way to connect the computer to the TV, witho
iTunes CAN do DivX (Score:3, Interesting)
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"Bob"? (Score:4, Informative)
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Cringely:
Of course this is a long story, but the compressed version is that I did every bit of my PhD including the paper and the defense. Coming out
Simple. (Score:4, Insightful)
Basically, it'd have to be MythTV.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I moved away from Windows because I was sick of not having control over my own computer. I will NOT switch to another closed source proprietary system just because a bunch of mindless sheep have declared it to the new trendy platform over the last closed source propr
Re:Simple. (Score:5, Insightful)
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BTW. No one is blaming the develop
re: switching from Myth? (Score:2)
I'm not a programmer/developer, so the fact Myth source is available means about zilch to me. I'm just as "stuck" relying on others to add new features to Myth as I would be if I was waiting for Apple or some other company to add them.
But the ability to rip and store compressed versions of all my movie DVDs, ready f
Suddenly it doesn't seem like such a waste (Score:5, Insightful)
$299 for a 24/7 torrent node that replaces a PVR? Hmmm.
I'd buy THAT for $299.
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Leave TiVo? No Way (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple TV, from all the reports I've read, sounds spectacularly weak. I don't expect it to ever succeed.
Conjecture: "Apple TV" is the Newton of Apple's play into the convergence market. A cute idea, nice try, but they totally blew it. Apple will likely go back to the lab and come out with something that doesn't suck so much, just as they did with the iPod.
Crispin
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That's because you're thinking it should be a PVR, and it's not. Apple could easily build in that functionality, and IMO probably wants to--but Apple doesn't want to step on the toes of those media providers hosted by the iTunes Store.
Basically, they can offer old TV for sale on iTunes or record new TV via PVR software, but not both. Not without the blessings of those media companies, anyway, and that's n
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
They can have my TiVo when they pry it from my cold dead hands.
A few years back I was looking at a device to record TV and basically function as a Tivo. I looked at MythTV, Tivo, Windows Media Edition, and a couple of others. When I looked into Tivo, I was pretty disappointed. They want you to pay a monthly subscription or a big chunk of change up front, with no guarantee the service will be any good in future. You have to jump through hoops to enable the skip ahead/back and the times are not easily conf
Not a replacement for Tivo (Score:4, Insightful)
......would you bite on it? (Score:2)
Fully clothed (Score:2)
SO what you are saying is in fact the Emperor has plenty of clothes, you just don't like what they are wearing.
Fine but do not dismiss the fact that there are plenty of do like what they (and other studios) have to offer.
The battle is not over a small group of art-house fanati
Cost (Score:2, Interesting)
Obviously hasn't seen Apple's presentations (Score:5, Informative)
If Apple really wanted to put out a p2p distribution node, an easier solution would be to just release it as an update to iTunes. Then they aren't limited to only the AppleTV nodes.
40 GB + Hi Def? (Score:2, Insightful)
P2P buzzword swarming (Score:4, Funny)
Downloadable TV is the future, bye bye networks. (Score:2)
Channels buy the rights to syndicated repeats and programming made by outside production companies, then sell ads during these programs to make money. It's all very inefficient.
Downloadable television cuts out the network middle man. You can buy content directly from the producers, ad free if they want to offer it that way. In such a world Futur
No SD output. (Score:4, Informative)
Stupidest troll EVER from Cringley (Score:5, Insightful)
The new Apple TV media extender is supposed to ship this month, perhaps even by the time you read this column, and if you are like me you are wondering what that 40-gig hard drive is doing inside. I'm guessing we won't know for sure until later this year [...]
...unless you listened to Jobs' Macworld Keynote or read the flurry of articles that flew around afterwards -- such as this Macworld article [macworld.com] -- in which case you would know that the AppleTV is a glorified video iPod that can be synced with iTunes like any other iPod. (Sorry, that's not technically true; apparently the AppleTV can sync over a wireless network connection.)
It will be interesting to hear Apple's explanation for the hard drive.
Is he seriously unaware of the purpose of the hard drive? Can he honestly not find the AppleTV page where they discuss how the AppleTV syncs with iTunes [apple.com]?
Or is this simply the most egregious example of not letting the facts -- easily-obtained facts, no less -- get in the way of his "secret answer"? I know these Cringely pieces are often light on substance and heavy on BS, but this in unbelievable...
So wrong it's painful (Score:3)
The hard drive is there for one basic reason, syncing content with another computer that holds an iTunes library.
No mystery. No hidden agenda. The answer was in the Keynote and is on Apple's web site.
I guess he can't be bothered to do any kind of research.
This whole business of stacking components is pointless. An Airport goes near the cable/DSL modem or home router, not near the TV. And who exactly is telling him to put a Mac Mini near the TV set?
The Apple TV is a computer running OS X that is configured to playback content to a TV. It is not an iPhone or a stealth peer-to-peer device.
This is what I hate about pundits, their inability to discern a technophile wet dream from a well researched and logically consistent prediction based on trends and indicators.
Re:Depends on the features (Score:5, Interesting)
I like my Tivo, and really love my MythTV box(es). My thoughts are...will be cool if they do this AND someone figures a way to adapt Myth so that it too can hook into this 'network' and be able to get content off it just like the AppleTV box.
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