Here are the features the AppleTV needs, and these shouldn't add to the cost much or at all. It needs 1080p playback capability - yes, I know very few people have 1080p capable sets and in many cases they aren't able to make out all the resolution anyway, but it's a checklist item the absence of which turns off many prospective buyers. It needs real surround sound capability - Dolby Digital and/or DTS over the optical output, six-channel analog output, or multichannel PCM over the HDMI port, or some combination thereof. Matrixed ProLogic is not good enough - we've had Dolby Digital on DVDs for over ten years now. I expect Apple to at least give us the technology of the current century.

The AppleTV should access the iTunes store for music and movie purchases and/or rentals, and download podcasts. Movies need to be at or above DVD resolution, high-def content should be optional. If Apple attacked the high-def movie market seriously, they could end the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war by killing off both formats.

AppleTV needs to play every reasonably popular video and audio codec. In fact, iTunes itself needs this ability. We also need a way to get our own DVDs on there that is supported by Apple. If this means getting together with the studios and agreeing to DRM-lock the resulting files to the original ripping user, so be it. Power users could still use Handbrake if they wanted.

Alan,

I think Apple sells a miniDVI to S-video adapter, or maybe a miniDVI to composite. That said, the interlaced display on a standard TV is almost unusable with any computer. You need to display everything with huge fonts to make it readable, and the overscan hides the menu bar and the dock. That said, using the TV as a second monitor will probably be fine for watching videos or playing games. Just don't expect to use it as a primary monitor.

I was just checking reviews on this doll to let my 5 year old know if she could take it in the tub (most reviewers say not to do it, btw). I read about the phrase, and... well, you'd have to be really listening for it to hear it. If you push the buttons just fast enough, you hear her say 'you're a (wonderful friend)', then you hear the 's' in 'the sparkles are so beautiful' and then something like 'life is the bubbles', then she sings some awful racket. So you end up with 'you're a slaaaahhhhhahhhhhahh' if you do it just right.

This is up there with the talking teletubby that supposedly said 'faggot faggot faggot'.

I'm still on Greenpeace's email list, thought I don't support them financially any more for basically the reasons others outlined above. I think they serve a valuable purpose though, in being so radical they make other environmental groups look mainstream. And, despite the fact that they've grown into an organization whose only purpose now is to sustain itself, I think there's a kernel of truth in most of the things they say. Yes, they embellish, misread statistics, and exaggerate - primarily to get press.

With Apple being on fire as a publicly traded company and constantly in the press, there's a huge PR incentive to Greenpeace to take them to task. On the other hand, there are certainly things Apple could do better. Even if Greenpeace is a bunch of nutters, if they point out one true fact in their barrage of accusations, and Apple corrects something that is a real problem, Greenpeace has *gasp* benefitted us all. And I don't think enough people take them seriously that Apple is in any financial danger from a boycott.

Umm... the equivalent of a 35" display at 2m with 320x240 resolution? No, thanks. Let me know when they hit 640x480, then it would at least look as good as the ten year old 35" TV that I gave away when we moved. On second thought, just wait 'til it does 1920x1080, then I'm interested.

Dude, this is a REMOTE CONTROL that has 1024 times as much memory as my first computer, and you're calling that PALTRY? As Bill Gates might say, 64MB should be enough for any channel-changer.

cary,

I don't think it will be possible to notice the extra traffic on 280 generated by the Apple Store. The highway is already handling about FIVE TIMES the amount of traffic for which it was designed. It looks like there's a good chance that construction will begin relatively soon on a limited-access highway running above 280 from the foot of Double Oak Mountain up to the EB Stephens Expressway, though.

G Money - ever heard of this little organization called NASA? Their Marshall Space Flight Center is in Alabama. You might remember them for technological achievements such as LANDING A MAN ON THE F!*%ING MOON. Yes, they use computers.

tim,

I have noticed my MacBook being slow with Dreamweaver and/or Fireworks open as well. Parallels slows it down so much I'd rather reboot... but I ususally just use my Dell laptop from work when I need Windows.

I'm planning on maxing the memory out in it for my birthday, hopefully that will help.

I have a hard time accepting the claim that this thing is "environmentally friendly". Getting 200+ MPG might cut CO2 emissions, but a typical small two-stroke engine emits more smog-producing pollutants than a Detroit-made V8.

For the same reason, riding a motorcycle to work might save you a bit of gas money, but it isn't really helping the environment, because motorcycles aren't subject to the same emissions standards as automobiles.

#8,

You're referring, of course, to the target demographic of complete idiots who vastly overestimate the abilities of their ears and have massive amounts of disposable income? Also known as audiophiles?

I think you're right. And, by their standards, this thing is probably way too cheap, so they won't be interested. They'll spend $3k on a pair of RCA cables, for cow's sake.