I am in love with the idea of Apple TV. When you plug it in for the first time, you get this wonderful montage that is so visually appealing, I start imagining that this is the be all and end all device for my home entertainment. I have always liked Apple TV, but lately, I have been wondering about how well thought out the product really is.
I bought it when it first came out a couple years ago. At the time, I had limited expectations. All I really wanted was some way to get my movies and video podcasts from my computer to my TV wirelessly with little or no effort. Apple TV did and does this very well. If this were the end of it, I would have been satisfied. But they haaaaad to promise movie rentals via the ITMS. Maybe I was being naive, but I was thinking Netflix without having to go to my mailbox ever again. Realistically, I knew that it would take time, maybe even years for them to build out the store to have a huge library and I was willing to wait, but then a couple things happened that really soured me on the whole idea. But Apple and Steve Jobs' close affiliation with Disney made me think that they could pull this off.
The first thing that happened was that they offered the really good movies for purchase only, not rental. For example, "Cars." This alone is fine. I actually don't mind waiting while they make a little money off the sales before it is available for rental. But while I was waiting, I noticed that movies that were only available for purchase on ITMS were already available for rental on Netflix and even friggin Comcast pay per view. Christ! Selling these movies while their competitors are renting them makes Apple look either greedy or lazy.
What happened next is what pushed me over the edge. I was browsing the family movie category with my daughter looking for an evening rental. As we were browsing the selections, what I realized is that they now mix in the movies for purchase only with the movies available for rental. You don't know which is which until you select the movie icon to get the detailed view. So I kept selecting movies that my daughter wanted to watch and then had to explain that she couldn't watch them "because they are too expensive." What is Apple trying to do by mixing purchases and rentals together? Do they think I won't notice and trick me into inadvertently spending eight bucks more?
I will gladly pay three bucks for the convenience of a smooth rental expereince. Until that happens, Apple has actually made it easier and cheaper for me to use Apple TV as a "bittorrent movie viewer." I know this is the opposite of what they intended, but that is what they got! Ill rent my movies from Netflix and Comcast.
Now on the music side of iTMS, I have encountered something similar, but not really that annoying. Like millions and millions of people all over the world, I am a huge fan of the band "When in Rome." I wanted to buy a copy of their classic rock anthem "The Promise." As it turned out, you can only buy this song if you buy the whole "Napolean Dynamite" soundtrack. Now who would want to do that! So I said to myself "screw you, Apple! Im not falling for your trickery. I really didn't want that song anyway, afterall, When in Rome is nothing but an Ultravox wannabe....ooooo Ultravox" So I bought five Ultravox songs. So instead of spending one dollar, I spent five...TAKE THAT, Apple!!
