Yes it’s true. Apple TV is both a blessing and a curse. Tonight, as I sprawled out the couch at home, I chipped away about $10 off my iTunes account, watching movies, South Park, and recently just purchased the first episode of Lost from season one.
It’s really great having some form of entertainment in my place again (other than a computer that is). Tonight I shut the computer down, dialed my brain down a few notches, and just vegged in front of the TV, something I rarely do. It was liking letting out a huge breath, and feeling the weight disappear for a while.
While down in the states I picked up two Apple iTunes Gift cards, one for my friend Dale out in Ontario, and another one to keep me rolling for a few more weeks. It’s a pain in the ass having to top up my account with US gift cards, but at least I can rent movies.
It’s sort of unfortunate that you only have 24 hours to watch a movie. I would rather be able to use it for a few days, so you can watch a really good movie more than once and let it sink in. I also think Apple should adopt a “rent-to-own” type program, where they keep track of how many times you’ve rented a movie, and when it reaches a certain point, you get your own copy to watch whenever. That would make me happy.
The only major downside to Apple TV is that somehow a photo of my ex-girlfriend made it into the screen saver rotation, and due to my laziness, manages to haunt me in high-definition every 5 minutes or so. One day I’ll fix that.
I’ve also started thinking about a vacation sometime in the next few months. I had an offer to head down to Venezuela for a talk, but given the political situation down there and the requirement that I write a big research paper (something I really don’t have time for right now), I don’t think I’ll be going this time around. I’m planning on hitting Los Angeles sometime in June, so maybe I’ll take a full week off and disappear somewhere in the states around that time. To be honest, I’m fairly sick of traveling alone. It’s nice to get a break and see something new, but somehow being far from home while alone just serves as a constant reminder of being single, and it’s not something I particularly enjoy these days.
But we’ll see what happens. I think by June I’ll definitely need a break, and might even need a few long weekends before then — I’m starting to feel a bit burned out.
Hey remember that time we went to Seattle? That was pretty cool.
Tag her photo “dumped!” and then create a smartlist that says “Everything except dumped.”
Of course, you can use any number of other terms as that tag, depending on how bitter you are.
;-)
I do the same thing, (buy US gift cards for iTunes). I’ve been doing that since the US store launched months before the Canadian one, and every few months I have to go to Target in Bellingham to bump up my account.
I do agree about the 24 hour limit for watching a movie, once it’s been started, being a bummer but that’s one of those things that the movie studios made Apple build into the rental service. It’s similiar to how in the US you get 24 hours to watch a Pay-Per View movie, or at least that’s what I’ve heard.
I’ve yet to try renting directly from the Apple TV, but I did rent a standard def version of Michael Clayton and found the picture to be perfectly fine. I’d give it three years and this will be a much more popular way to rent movies. Between Netflix (Zip.ca) and iTunes I’d not want to be in the video/DVD rental business.
The other thing is once more TV shows are open to being purchased in Canada I’m seriously considering dumping my cable. The Daily Show / Colbert Report hour is my only regular watching, and if I could get seasons passes to those, 30 Rock, The Office, Heroes and Medium I’d never need cable again.
I dumped my cable last year and never looked back. It’s interesting that I haven’t even thought about torrenting a show since I’ve gotten Apple TV. I think they’ve put the price point somewhere where it seriously makes you think twice about downloading a show on your own.
Glad to hear you’re still happy with the Apple TV - I still haven’t pulled the trigger on my purchase yet. Did you pick up a 40 GB or 160 GB version? I guess the question is do I think the extra 120 GBs is worth $100?
I agree with you on the price point Apple has chosen for things in the ITMS - at least the music side of it. I haven’t bought anything else besides music yet, but haven’t bothered looking anywhere else since they open up so…
@Kevin: The 160 is definitely worth it. I’ve got the rev1 40 gig and it fills up fast. I tend to keep about a third of my music library on it, all of my photos and then one movie. For example if I want to watch a movie I’ve ripped from Handbrake tonight, I’ve got to remember to move it from iTunes to the Apple TV sometime today because the move takes about 20 minutes on my wireless setup (Air Disc –> Macbook –> Apple TV). There’s pre-planning involved. With a 160 I could just flip on the TV, and start surfing through my media.
@Duane: Yeah the tv shows are cheap enough that it’s not a purchase I really think about unless I’m buying a full season. My only hesitation comes from the fact that I have to ration a gift card for a month or two between Bellingham/Seattle trips. If the shows were all up in Canada I wouldn’t even worry about that.
The last hurdle to cable ejection though is waiting for NBC to return to the iTunes store since they’re behind The Office, 30 Rock and Heroes which are my go to shows.