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Future Proof

174 Comments

Get me, I'm shinySo I’m going over the specs on this Apple TV device — the wireless streaming multimedia device intended to bring iTunes to your television, and let you watch all those legally downloaded TV shows and movies in high-def — and while it certainly does look pretty, all small and compact and shiny … well, there are a couple of things that just don’t sit right.

First: No composite or S-video output, and apparently no support for 4:3 monitors. No big deal, I guess, since standard television isn’t really in Apple’s sights here … but hey, even the iPod works with Windows.

Second: The HD output appears to be capped at 720p, rather than the current standard of 1080i or the newer 1080p. To which one says, with a kind of squeak in one’s voice: WHAT?!?

Look, no offense to the Apple fans out there, but this is really just dumb. Either they’re trying to ensire ensure their product will look like crap in a few years, once everything is broadcast in 1080i, in order to get everyone to upgrade to a 1080i model, or they just weren’t thinking. What’s the point of excluding the SD market if you’re not going to provide the best HD experience possible?

And don’t tell me you can’t get 1080i out of a box this size … you absolutely can, and I know because I just bought one over the weekend. And mine has a 60GB drive, makes even Divx files look terrific when pumped through my HD projector, and cost a hair over $200.

Also, the remote looks like a remote, not an iPod Shuffle. If I jam headphones into it, it’s gonna be on purpose.

174 thoughts on “Future Proof”

  1. That’s ridiculous, though I’m sure the slavish Apple acolytes (who are generally, ironically, not tech-savvy) will defend it ’til they’re blue in the face.

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