expect this way and that and you ’ll notice that the life - cycle of a raging technology mathematical product , as viewed through the prism of the world wide vane , goes a little something like this : Announcement , Hype , First Look , Review , Obscurity . After the hoopla , the rush to be the first to document the undressing of Product X , Y , or Z ; and lastly , judgment come forth , it ’s uncommon when a further word is compose . And I remember that ’s too bad because , while it ’s possible to glean the Charles Frederick Worth of the latest Whatever - Killer in a few day of use , it ’s just as worthwhile to comment on how this same W - K fits into your life long after the parade has hand by .

Now that the Apple TV has become a full integrated member of my multimedia fellowship , I ’d like to do just that .

The difference

As I mentioned when first covering the Apple TV , I ’m one of the few and mostly gallant who has comprise a Macintosh into my telly scheme — bind a Mac mini to my blood plasma TV and Ab receiver via DVI - to - HDMI and Toslink cable . As much fun as it was to put together , this was very definitely a employment - undertaking — something I did for the welfare of those who were interested in seeing how parts A , B , and C go together and interact . Once I ’d wrap up that undertaking I rarely used the mini , prefer to stick with disk in my unconstipated DVD player and , when the need arose to recreate iTunes - like media on my TV , jack in a 5 G iPod . Transferring the media from the downstairs data processor to the miniskirt upstairs was too slow and Front Row ’s networking capabilities were n’t capable of streaming video without serious glitching .

Conversely , I use my Apple TV just about every day and , increasingly , it ’s taking the place of my DVD actor .

The content

I have a untried child and , as parents interpret , young kid be given to watch the same programs and movies over and over again . Rather than buy yet more copies ofCurse of the Were - Rabbit , Over the Hedge , Yellow Submarine , andBe The Creature , to replace those smudge by my girl ’s precocious mitts , I ’ve ripped them and synchronize the result to the Apple TV ’s hard driveway .

As for the elders of the family , we ’re busybodied catching up on TV show we manage to miss the first time around . presently we ’re lost inLostwithHeroeswaiting in the wings . Because the Apple TV stream content attractively over the 802.11 g wireless connection between its upstair home and the downstairs computer that acts as its media server I have n’t bothered to synchronise these television receiver show to the Apple TV ’s hard drive . It ’s for this reason that I ’m not tempted in the slight to purchase the late secrete $ 399 interpretation of the Apple TV that carries a 160 GB unvoiced thrust . The $ 299 theoretical account ’s 40 GB hard drive offers plenty of memory board for our pauperization .

While I ’ve become more concerned in exploring other TV serial ( but could someone explain to me the logic of selling seasons five and six ofThe Shieldbut not the first four ? ) the Apple TV has n’t motivated me to buy a lot of film from the iTunes Store . part this is due to the all - too - limited selection of movies — I already have the Pixar clobber on DVD thanks to my girl , too few of Disney ’s classic movies are available , and , so far , Chinatownis the one grown - up film at The Store that I ’m sure to check often enough to justify the purchase .

The Apple video lives in the syndicate room along with the rest of the idiot box gear . This is n’t the room where we normally hear to music because the AV speakers used with the 5.1 audio scheme are weak compare to the B&W stereo speakers in the living room . There will eventually come a day when I race wire from the family unit room to the living room so I can control all upstairs audio frequency from the Apple TV but that day remains month out . In the meantime I have an iPod jacklight into the living way receiver and only occasionally hear to music and podcasts streamed to the Apple TV in the phratry way .

The wife

Whenever I mention my married woman and her disinclination to take advantage of technology , I get messages that by and large set about , “ You sexist bastard … . ” In the hope of giving my Inbox a repose , allow me to say that my wife is smart than I am ( and hasthe niggling gold keyto prove it ) and has authorize me to say , “ But it ’s true ! ” when I suggest that she resist to apply geared wheel that is n’t dead simple to manoeuvre . It ’s not that she could n’t , it ’s just that she feels she has good thing to do with her time .

And she loves the Apple tv set .

I ’ve yet to win over her of the worth of theHarmony Remotethat haunts the coffee table because she ’s put off by its plethora of buttons , yet even have to utilize three remotes — Apple telly , Ab pass catcher , and TV — she ’s utterly comfortable accessing programming both on the Apple TV ’s hard cause and from the downstairs swarm computing equipment . As long as I leave that computer on and iTunes open , we ’re gilded . By way of comparison , she would n’t touch the Mac miniskirt on a bet .

And , unlike with some other gadgets she ’s pull to apply , she ’s taken the clip to play with the interface . Just the other dawning she told me that she ’d incur three pic she want to see establish on the movie trailers useable in the Apple TV ’s Movies filmdom . This may seem like diminished potatoes to you , but this is a woman who asked me to identify alias of her favorite applications on her Mac ’s background because she ascertain the Dock too distracting . This is not someone who , unlike me , gayly explores every nook and cranny of a box have an On button .

My six - class - old daughter is n’t to the point where I permit her to have detached access to our remote ’ buttons , but she revel guiding me through the steps necessary to play her best-loved shows . “ No , Dada , HDMI 2 . Now the Apple movie . Scroll down toBe The Creature . Yes , “ Cheetah , ” and start from the beginning , not where I leave off . ” It ’s that easy .

Regrets

Honestly , I have very few . I ’m quite well-chosen with the calibre of the moving picture despite some citizenry ’s complaint about the lack of high - def content at the iTunes Store . It ’s a flyspeck retarding force that the first couple of time of year ofLostaren’t offered in widescreen , forcing me to use the TV ’s Just view ratio to get rid of the bleak bars . If I purchased more movies I might mourn the loss of a 5.1 soundtrack , but I do n’t , so I do n’t . And it ’s too bad that I ’m forced to sync impression to the Apple TV rather than streaming them .

humble regrets aside , however , after two months of use , my wife , child , and I are glad that the Apple TV has joined the family . Despite also owning two TiVo boxes and a multimedia Mac , it ’s toilsome to guess watching idiot box without it .

A tiny plug : If you ’re concerned in all - things - Apple tv set , Macworld has just released the Apple TV Superguide , a 57 - page electronic guidebook ( also usable in print form ) .