Over at Lifehacker, Gus has taken a look at what the new Apple TV’s rental-only setup actually means for Australian consumers. To say the news isn’t that spectacular might be putting it mildly.
Admittedly, there are problems with securing the rights locally for rental-only TV, but as Gus points out, the issues with download caps for what are rental-only programs makes the freshly announced Apple TV an even less compelling prospect.
Drew
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 9:54 AMCouple that point with the fact iTunes doesn’t even do HD for shows in Australia and I’ve lost my incentive to purchase.
Gino Rodrigo
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:06 AMJust wondering…
Wouldn’t downloading the bejeezus out of iTunes content be covered by iiNet’s wondrous Freezone?
Sam
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:17 AMI’m trying to figure that one out… My understanding is that all movies, TV shows, music is currently covered by the freezone. Can’t see why this would change.
Raphael
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 12:11 PMBe careful with that one! My brother downloaded heaps from iTunes U through iinet thinking it was part of the freezone and it turns out that it’s not (and got shaped in the process).
I’ve been unable to get any serious information from iinet about what is and isn’t convered in this case.
Cam
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:14 AMI’m actually pretty keen to buy one as a cheap (I thought it was $129USD, not $129AUD!) option to a western digital tv live for streaming videos and music. Ok so there’s no usb, but for home everything is on the network already anyway.
Brendan
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:49 AMUntil territorial rights are sorted, such things are a complete waste of time. It’s akin to the xbox360/media centre arrangement. Why can’t i stream abc radio/jjj through media centre? Why the hell aren’t Australian free to air networks doing more to make their content available through these portals? And don’t get me started on the absence of netflix, hulu, CBS access etc etc here in Australia. It’s a shambles, and for my money all parties have had long enough to do something about it.
Nick T
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 3:14 PMI hear what you’re saying! It’ll be interesting to see if the Plex team can do anything with this new AppleTV. Without storage though, I’m not sure they’ll be able to.
Just a suggestion though… I use Internode as my ISP, and I’ve set up a stream in iTunes to play Triple J via their link, so it’s bandwidth-free.. wouldn’t I be able to access the stream from the AppleTV?
Personally, I like the idea of this unit… it’s a cheap way of getting all the content off my Mac, and out to my TV/Amp. I can currently do it via the Xbox or PS3, but both of those would use more power to leave running all the time, not to mention additional programs. With many DVD’s coming with Digital versions included, which usually requires iTunes for us Mac users, this is another nice way of getting them streamed (I know you can handbrake the DVD etc, it’s just less hassle)
I guess the only thing I would have liked to have seen for ‘completeness’ would be the ability to plug in my EyeTV stick… but then I guess that’s where the Mac Mini sits :^)
Leo W'ski
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 1:51 PMHack hack hack hack!!!
Then we’ll see if its worth it!
(P.S….I love my Apple TV 40gb….now)
Steve
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 4:45 PMHack isn’t going to change the fact your ISP is still enforcing a shaped cap.
Every time I read these awesome stories about Hulu, Netflix streaming etc from the States, makes me green with envy.
Benjibuls
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 11:44 PM‘Cept if you’re on iinet all iTunes traffic doesn’t count on your quota anyhow. That’s the only reason I got the old atv
joshua
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 9:00 PMHere here! Where are the streaming services like Netflix or Hulu for the Australian market?
I pre-ordered the ATV – with high hopes on an xmbc style ‘upgrade’ for it in the near future. It looks like the perfect little streaming box – if it weren’t totally crippled out of the box.
When we have to resort to pirating media or streaming Netflix through a VPN simply to get the service we expect, it makes you wonder how out of touch a lot of the big media companies are in this country.
It’s the same deal with music. Give us a better way to consume music, i.e. a fantastic subscription based service like Spotify for example – and let us stream it as much as we like as long as we pay the subscription fee. Music as a utility bill – like water or electricity.
Give me a great service like that, and I’ll pay for it every month! Let’s say $10 a month for unlimited music streaming? That’s $120 a year. What if you managed to get 1 million subscribers in Australia? I’ll let you do the math.
Do you want to know how much money I spent on music this year? Nothing. Why? Because I don’t have a CD player anymore, and I don’t like my music to be locked to my iTunes account.
The problem with the current business model for music and film in this country is that it is simply easier to pirate than to buy it legitimately.
Please, please, please please – someone solve this problem!
Heck, it makes me want to do it myself. Well… why not!
Nick T
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:14 PM“and I don’t like my music to be locked to my iTunes account.”
Your music isn’t locked to your iTunes account any more. All iTunes music is DRM-free and can be played anywhere (well, except the XBOX 360 for one :^) But you can certainly copy it to devices, such as the PS3, and it’ll play it quite happily.
joshua
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 12:56 AMOk, thanks for clearing that up – I still believe there is a better model for music consumption though.
I think people are reluctant to purchase music at full price when they’re not getting a physical product. This is evident by the statistics on piracy. In short, its a problem. People are still reluctant to adopt purchasing their entire digital library. But what if it wasn’t about ownership anymore, and more about supplying an ‘always on’ streaming service? I think streaming makes sense in that context.
Nick T
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 11:49 AM@joshua I guess it depends on the people, and what you consider to be full price.
I’m 40+, so I’ve grown up in a world where I used to go to the record stores and buy vinyl albums and then CD’s. It all started with the excitement of earning a bit of pocket money, and going to the store on a Saturday morning to buy the latest single!
Today, I still value the music, and I have no problem in paying for it. Everyone involved still has to be paid a wage and put food on the table. Personally, I don’t care HOW that money is distributed, I’ve paid my way and my conscience is clear.
The trouble is, people nowadays want everything for nothing and sprout a whole heap of b/s about how the artists aren’t getting it or how much the companies are making to justify their need for free stuff and to make themselves feel better (equally applies to movies and music).
Yes, a streaming option, much like a radio (without ads) where you’re the DJ (I guess Last.fm would be a similar model?) would be cool. But while you’re paying to listen to the music, there are still going to be those that will store it locally, unless it’s drm’ed, in which case you’ll get the same people complaining :^)
The current vinyl/casette/cd model has been around for years and years and was working just fine until the internet took hold, and people decided that they shouldn’t have to pay that much for the music when they can download it for free.
So going back to ‘full price’, I’m going to assume you mean $29.95, the retail price for a CD? In Big W you can usually pick up the more popular titles for about $18 or $19 on CD. iTunes will set you back about $17 roughly. Based on that, I’d rather go buy the CD. But most of the shops that sell CD’s at that price, don’t stock the music I listen to (Blues etc) in which case, iTunes is usually the only place I CAN find the music I want. To me, the value in iTunes is the ability to find more music. I’ve found so much more new music through iTunes than I’ve ever found by listening to the radio or anything else!
That’s akin to going into a music/video store and chatting to the nerdy guy behind the counter (yes, I was one of those hehe) who can put you on to all sorts of awesome music/movies that you’d never normally find. To me, and I’d hope, to other ethical music listeners & movie viewers, it’s that service that makes the sale… so what if you can get it for a few bucks cheaper elsewhere, you can’t get that sort of service in Big W.
The ironic thing is, CD’s haven’t gone up since I was a kid. In the UK, we used to spend roughly 10-15 pounds on a CD (from memory), and that’s roughly what we’re paying now.
Sorry about the long post, I was on a roll!! It bugs me that people whine about spending money for something. I can guarantee that this just act as flame bait to many people on this site who’ll try and justify their position yet again: Save your breath, go tell someone that cares you want it all for nothing :^)
Nick T
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 12:11 PM@joshua.. that post wasn’t particularly directed at you.. it’s just a reaction I have to the people downloading movies/music for free and thinking it’s perfectly ok.
olearymo
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 8:57 AMWhat’s an Apple TV? Can I WATCH TV on it?
No? Ah… so… er… what’s it for?
Nick T
Friday, September 3, 2010 at 11:16 AMUm, er.. Getting your stuff from your Apple TO your TV? :^)
joshua
Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 12:07 AM@Nick T..
You make some good points. The irony in this situation is that I am a musician. Unfortunately, the ethics of music consumption have nothing to do with the way the music industry is run.
The thing is, we can’t use the same model of ownership that you had when you were a kid. It’s a profound paradigm shift. We no longer require that piece of vinyl to hear our favourite music. It’s only logical that a new business model is required. iTunes is halfway there – but is still stuck on the notion of song ownership.
Spotify works so that you pay a monthly fee for a streaming service. If you want a hard copy of the track, then you can pay an additional micro-fee to download the mp3. Frankly, this wouldn’t be necessary if they work out streaming to portable devices (Imagine an ipod with no storage on it, just a 4G connection – to an always on music server. To be able to choose from any track in the world, on the go).
Look, we could debate about this for hours. The fact is – the music industry is in a mess and should probably try thinking outside the box.
Tim
Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 11:23 PMSooo…. if I have hundreds of divx, xvid stuff on my PC, I’d have to recode them into itunes before I can stream it to this unit? If so, seems there’s pretty much no incentive to buy this if I have a 360 or PS3, especially with no 1080 from the appletv?