Before the Apple fanboys come after me, let me state up front that Popular Mechanics has declared Apple TV as one of the worst products (#2) this year. Not Dave.
Rather than going for the most obscure or ludicrous gadgets, we based our choices on missed opportunities, hype gone awry and some mysterious fumbles. DVRs and Video On Demand have fought their way into American living rooms. The only way Apple could have trumped them was to offer a huge selection of movies and monthly, all-you-can-eat plans. They did neither
While Mari and I have questioned the usefulness and positioning of Apple TV, I wouldn’t categorize it as one of the worst products of 2007. However, Apple TV is pretty limited in its current form and it’s clear Apple hasn’t yet fully committed to the ATV concept – even Steve Jobs called it a “hobby.” Which seems at once both accurate and ludicrous. I assume Apple isn’t sitting still and has some ideas how to invigorate this platform. (Macworld 2008, anyone?) If not, NewTeeVee offers a few suggestions to “fix” Apple TV:
In addition to providing on-box browsing and ordering (Step 1) plus adding more studios to their stable (Step 2), they need to embrace movie rentals before Apple TV will take off.
By the way, Forrester estimates Apple has moved 400,000 units – which hasn’t met their prediction of one million. However, 400k is not insignificant and has gotta be more than any other dedicated media extender.