* Allow the AppleTV to "wake up" its source computer if it needs any content that isn't cached on the hard drive * Buy iTunes content direct from the AppleTV * Allow us to buy Movies and TV outside the USA * HD content * DVD streaming from the host computer * DVD ripping as simple as CD ripping in iTunes (legally impossible, of course, but I can dream) * Have it double as an Airport Express/AirTunes when it's not playing stuff itself * Photo streaming instead of having to copy them over to the AppleTV hard drive (iPhoto does network sharing already, this should be a no-brainer?) * The conversion to make all YouTube videos available is a lot slower than they promised. The popular videos are there, but all the really good "long tail" content is invisible to the AppleTV. * Priority conversions for people who have actually logged into YouTube from their own AppleTV. It's annoying when you still can't even find _your own videos_ . * If you've logged in to your YouTube account, you should be able to browse the friends/watches/favourites you set on the web. Once again, you can't even browse your own videos. * An explicit standby menu option. The "hold the button for five seconds" standby mode right now is annoying, and I had to find in an Apple tech-note.
Actually, I would do away with the hard drive entirely and commit to a distributed architecture. They could release a Mac Mini Media Server edition or something like that, that includes both media server and NAS functions--more hardware to sell, and that's definitely a future growth area.
Also, open up to more standards. Include UPnP/AV (or DLNA) support, since that appears to be evolving into the 900lb gorilla of the distributed multimedia world (although it's still developing atm). iTunes is always going to be a niche with less hardware support.
Finally, since it does play in an iTunes universe anyway, come up with a "ripped DVD" container format and include DVD/HD drives that allow ripping to the server. Wrap the format with all the DRM deemed necessary to CYA and make this a reality, which is obviously possible since iTunes DRM still hasn't been broken (only worked around in ways which would be much tougher for video). For more and more people this is the preferred usage model for media in general (rip and stash away), the first to acknowledge reality stands to make a mint.
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General:
* Allow the AppleTV to "wake up" its source computer if it needs any content that isn't cached on the hard drive
* Buy iTunes content direct from the AppleTV
* Allow us to buy Movies and TV outside the USA
* HD content
* DVD streaming from the host computer
* DVD ripping as simple as CD ripping in iTunes (legally impossible, of course, but I can dream)
* Have it double as an Airport Express/AirTunes when it's not playing stuff itself
* Photo streaming instead of having to copy them over to the AppleTV hard drive (iPhoto does network sharing already, this should be a no-brainer?)
* The conversion to make all YouTube videos available is a lot slower than they promised. The popular videos are there, but all the really good "long tail" content is invisible to the AppleTV.
* Priority conversions for people who have actually logged into YouTube from their own AppleTV. It's annoying when you still can't even find _your own videos_ .
* If you've logged in to your YouTube account, you should be able to browse the friends/watches/favourites you set on the web. Once again, you can't even browse your own videos.
* An explicit standby menu option. The "hold the button for five seconds" standby mode right now is annoying, and I had to find in an Apple tech-note.
Wow, that's all I could think of plus a couple of things I didn't even know I wanted.
Great list.
Actually, I would do away with the hard drive entirely and commit to a distributed architecture. They could release a Mac Mini Media Server edition or something like that, that includes both media server and NAS functions--more hardware to sell, and that's definitely a future growth area.
Also, open up to more standards. Include UPnP/AV (or DLNA) support, since that appears to be evolving into the 900lb gorilla of the distributed multimedia world (although it's still developing atm). iTunes is always going to be a niche with less hardware support.
Finally, since it does play in an iTunes universe anyway, come up with a "ripped DVD" container format and include DVD/HD drives that allow ripping to the server. Wrap the format with all the DRM deemed necessary to CYA and make this a reality, which is obviously possible since iTunes DRM still hasn't been broken (only worked around in ways which would be much tougher for video). For more and more people this is the preferred usage model for media in general (rip and stash away), the first to acknowledge reality stands to make a mint.