New Media Gurus Raving About Apple TV Update
Feb 14th, 2008 | By James Lewin | Category: Digital Video Downloads, Internet TV, Streaming Video, Video, Video Podcasts, Vlogs 
People working in new media are starting to try out the Apple TV update, and most are giving it rave reviews.
We published an in-depth Apple TV review and walkthrough yesterday, and gave Apple TV 2 a “B”. We like the new movie features, but the podcast support is confusing and makes it hard to find and watch video podcasts.
We may tough to please, though, because many podcasters are giving the device unqualified praise:
- Indiefeed publisher and ADM head Chris MacDonald says “Apple TV may very well revolutionize the way we consume (and track!!) downloadable RSS media.”
- ScreenCastsOnline‘s Don McAllister calls Apple TV 2 a “game changer”. “Apple TV Take 2 removes the need for the convoluted and confusing subscription mechanism for accessing podcast content. Apple TV Take 2 transforms podcasting into an on demand streaming content delivery service in one fell swoop. If you thought Podcasts were cool before, Apple TV Take 2 has just raised the bar and could be a major turning point for independent content producers.”
- Podcasting pioneer and author Paul Colligan calls Apple TV 2 a “game changer”, too. “With this gorgeous box, I can watch whatever Podcast I want (as long as it is in the iTunes directory) and the word subscription isn‚Äôt anywhere to be found. Apple TV is now a video on demand service where you simply pick your favorite Podcasts and play and/or download them on demand.”
- Geek Brief‘s Cali Lewis calls Apple TV “a gift to podcasters and our viewers and listeners. With this update, Apple accomplished something they‚Äôll probably never promote. They created the closest thing I‚Äôve seen to a grandmother computer.”
Have you tried out the new Apple TV? What do you think of it?
While I haven’t played around with it, I can see the huge benefits of bringing podcasts to devices like AppleTV. Ease of use to consume content NOW is awesome. The ability to bring podcasts front-and-center to the core of home entertainment devices is a monumental step forward.
My question is: At this point, how many people that HAVE an AppleTV did not know about podcasting in the past? Apple has done 0 promotion on AppleTV. Until just now, everything interfaced via iTunes. Is podcasting on AppleTV 2 more or less visible than it is in iTunes already? Until AppleTV is promoted and sales begin to pick up, I see it as little help to the actual growth of podcasting. Rather, as Cali Lewis says… “the closest thing I‚Äôve seen to a grandmother computer”
Ed
Apple TV now offers a very different take on podcasting. It treats podcasts just like any other streaming Internet content, getting rid of the whole idea of RSS and subscriptions.
Podcasts aren’t handled as good as they could be on Apple TV, but it’s still the easiest way by far to watch and listen to them through your entertainment system.
Hopefully Apple will do some promotion of podcasts on Apple TV.
I’d like to see Apple offer a dedicated Apple channel on Apple TV, that would have educational content on using Apple devices. Wouldn’t that be a no-brainer for them to implement?