Oh, so you have an AppleTV, too? I think it unlikely you purchased both, and are therefore basing your comments on either reviews or in-store tinkering, neither of which do the box justice.
I had a Vudu box in the lab for a while. It was okay. The interface was a little overdone and the price-point was just way too high. Between Vudu, MovieBeam (which wasn't too bad, by the way), Tivo's Unbox, and AppleTV (fully disclosing I have one at my home), the AppleTV is by far the smoothest and most satisfying of the four. Vudu needs to get a clue and lower the box cost and simplify their interface. I understand the struggle, though. They have to look at the lifespan of the box and the potential for return on losses from the hardware. On top of that, the studios are brutal with rev share. All of these delivery models require high volume for profitability. I think the AppleTV has the best chance. I have a very strong feeling the AppleTV will survive to profitability, though it may take a couple of years.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gian @ Mar 4th 2008 11:59PM
Oh, so you have an AppleTV, too? I think it unlikely you purchased both, and are therefore basing your comments on either reviews or in-store tinkering, neither of which do the box justice.
I had a Vudu box in the lab for a while. It was okay. The interface was a little overdone and the price-point was just way too high. Between Vudu, MovieBeam (which wasn't too bad, by the way), Tivo's Unbox, and AppleTV (fully disclosing I have one at my home), the AppleTV is by far the smoothest and most satisfying of the four. Vudu needs to get a clue and lower the box cost and simplify their interface. I understand the struggle, though. They have to look at the lifespan of the box and the potential for return on losses from the hardware. On top of that, the studios are brutal with rev share. All of these delivery models require high volume for profitability. I think the AppleTV has the best chance. I have a very strong feeling the AppleTV will survive to profitability, though it may take a couple of years.