General Discussion

The new Apple TV might be $99 but it Apple had to make some sacrifices to put it out at that price. For example, not including a decent size hard drive. By not including a decent hard drive, Apple has removed the chose of buying movies. Your only allowed to now rent them. This essentially turns Apple TV into a pay-per-view service that I have to buy a dedicated device for. What Apple should have done was bump the resolution up to 1080p, include iTunes Extras with every movie, and add a really large hard drive. Even if they wanted to make it streaming only they could have just let you purchase the content for $3.00 and then be able to stream it for free every time. 
Thoughts?

You can stream movies from your iTunes library on your PC.

@lane said:

" You can stream movies from your iTunes library on your PC. "

Yeah but you can not purchase those movies from you couch. You have to download them on your computer and then stream them.

@Wolverine said:

" @lane said:

" You can stream movies from your iTunes library on your PC. "

Yeah but you can not purchase those movies from you couch. You have to download them on your computer and then stream them. "

What if you're on your couch and have a laptop. Eh, eh?

@Shayo said:

" @Wolverine said:

" @lane said:

" You can stream movies from your iTunes library on your PC. "

Yeah but you can not purchase those movies from you couch. You have to download them on your computer and then stream them. "

What if you're on your couch and have a laptop. Eh, eh? "

What if your on your couch and you don't? You might only own a desktop, right?

@Wolverine: 
 
Honestly, that's probably the least clunky way to do it.

@Wolverine said:

" @Shayo said:

" @Wolverine said:

" @lane said:

" You can stream movies from your iTunes library on your PC. "

Yeah but you can not purchase those movies from you couch. You have to download them on your computer and then stream them. "

What if you're on your couch and have a laptop. Eh, eh? "

What if your on your couch and you don't? You might only own a desktop, right? "

Then Apple would say you're doing it wrong. Buy a Macbook. And an iMac. And iEverything they have.

Would you buy an iToast? 

@Wolverine: I have to disagree, but just from my personal user experience, the device you outlined is exactly what I was hoping they wouldn't do.  iTunes Extras is kinda up to the publisher, I don't think Apple has a huge amount of control over that.  I don't want a device with a big HD, I want the small device that is basically a streaming service.  I very very rarely ever watch anything I own more than once. Movies, sometimes.  TV Shows, never, absolutely never.  99 cent rentals of TV episodes instead of buying them for $1.99 (or $2.99 actually for HD, from either amazon or iTunes) is a huge money saver to me, especially at the $99 price point.  You start throwing in a huge HD or the like, and the price of the apple TV itself starts to shoot up again. 
 
$99 for a streaming box vs $250 for a HD-based box where I can d/l things rarely?  I'll pass on the HD.  If I really want to download something from my couch, I'll buy it on the iPad and stream it over, and then sync the iPad to my computer later to keep the movie.  It seems like a more elegant solution to me, rather than buying a bulky box for the very rare content I buy. 
 
If you're somebody that purchases and archives a crapton of movies though, maybe it would be different for you.  I just can never watch the same thing twice, except for a handful of classics. 
 
My biggest disappointment was the lack of apps outlined ala Kevin Rose, but that could always come down the line later.

@Forte:  That thing looks like it can stream media from my couch pretty darn good. And make me toast. Which makes my answer: hell yes.

With the new box, Apple is just trying to wedge their way into the living room based soley on price point.  It offers enough features to intrigue the plebs and is cheap enough for an impulse buy (Apple standard).  I already have an HTPC, from which I can access any number of content sources; Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes.  The new Apple TV is not for me.  It's probably not for you either.  If your parents are Apple users, on the other hand, it might be for them.