Is this the worst TUAW article ever? Possibly.
You forgot your password - oh dear, how's that Apple's fault?
Where is the review of the update? Oh dear, there isn't one.
Why on Earth would someone who never uses their Apple TV write a "review" of the update?
Like one of the commenters above, I use my Apple TV every day and rarely watch terrestrial TV anymore. Please, leave the reviews of Apple TV to the people who use it, so the readers who use it can glean useful information from it.
Awful, awful article.

You'd be surprised at who needs teaching to give good presentations. Some people, like many of us here, can look at Jobs and others and pick up tips. And some have a good natural presentation style.
But having given presentations for many years now, and teaching others to present, I can say that a lot of people just have a blind spot when it comes to doing it themselves. I've seen people get up at conferences and give great presentations - no bullet points, just a few images, focusing on the speaker and the story. Then the next person gets up and bombards the audience with slide after slide of dense text, reading it from the screen, back to the audience and whispering...
(The same people who, if you give them a microphone to hold, will carry on talking waving the microphone around pointing at anything except their mouth).
Yet give them a book to read, or a handout with instructions, and they can do it.
Basically people learn differently. I learnt Flash by watching a 20 minute presentation followed by messing around myself for a while. No manual needed. Others can do nothing unless they read step by step instructions.

So basically what I'm saying is, just cos you learn by observing and mentally noting things, doesn't mean others do to. I'm tempted by this book not because it will teach me anything (though it might) but because I know there'll be a time when I have to give up showing someone what to do and just tell them to "go and read this".

I agree though - a book on presentation needs a better cover!

"The great American novel"? First rule of writing: Know your audience - we're not all American you know!
That aside, this sounds quite similar to StoryMill - any key differences? Am gonna crack NaNoWriMo this year if it kills me...

Yep the name's a killer. If you can't spell properly it doesn't bode well. And "Pro?" What? It's for students, not pros... oh dear.
Nice-looking app though. Change the name back and I'll be recommending it to my students...

The trick is: don't ask the Apple TV to show all your shows, movies and music. Only sync what you know you're going to watch or listen to and play from the hard drive. It works like a charm.
Other than that, I don't recognise any of the issues you're talking about. Sound is excellent, including surround via optical out to my Sony DVD player (which now never gets used for DVDs!). With the Remote App on my iPhone I get great control, and streaming music from iTunes on my Mac is wonderful.
The only issue I've really had with it is HDMI which would keep dropping the signal and rescanning. I switched to component and haven't looked back.

No, I like the Apple TV. It needs setting up right but once that's done, sit back and enjoy. I suspect your model is faulty, or your network is.

In the UK, and elsewhere I believe, Apple's action might be worth challenging by the app designers. You are allowed to use someone else's design under the "fair comment" provision, or for use of satire etc.
This is the provision that allows comedians to tell jokes about religion without being tried for a hate crime (there was a big debate about this recently, with Rowan Atkinson taking a lead).
So if the app developer were to say that the app was an ironic piece that hinged upon the market for fakes and knock-offs, I think it would have a good chance of standing up in court. Trademark and copyright law doesn't infringe on freedom of speech or comment. In the UK and EU that's enshrined in law, in the US it's a constitutional issue.

Note however this doesn't allow general copying and a weak claim that it is "ironic".
Also, I'm not a lawyer so don't take this as advice!

Could I suggest that support for the UK is dropped as, basically, by encouraging people to look at their phone while driving you're encouraging people to behave not only irresponsibly but illegally. (In the UK it's illegal to drive and use a phone at the same time).

Secondly, any driver who needs to be "reminded" to slow down is an idiot. There's a great big thing on the dashboard that tells you what speed you're going.
"Two miles and hour" (talking to Iomatic here) is a big difference if you're the one being hit by a car.

Drive within the law. Simple as that.

Not wishing to be pedantic but these apps aren't strictly mind mapping tools. Mind mapping is a specific form of diagram that follows certain rules - e.g. one word to a line, the word should be on the line, not in a bubble. These apps are closer to spider diagrams...

I'm using iMindMap (Google it but I thik it's imindmap.com) which is licensed by Tony Buzan, whose "The Mind Map Book" should be a must-read for anyone that wants to understand the concept. They're very powerful, but as I say, they're not spider diagrams and that's what these apps appear to do.

Pedantry ends.

It's worth pointing out that Apple have now won more D&AD black pencils than any other company

Those who don't get this probably don't work in situations where keeping track of expenses is a bit of a task. I travel for my job and need to claim money back. It's fine keeping receipts but the number of times I've looked at one and forgotten what it was for, or sent a claim off with a receipt missing.
Something like this is a very simple app for a very simple task and as such it's one of a growing breed of programs.
For me (but not for everyone) TextEdit etc just don't do it. The idea of having something readily available in the menu bar for a quick entry suits me down to the ground.

So while some may find it a one-trick pony and balk at the price (woo! $5!) I'd say don't criticise it. If it's not for you, it's not for you - that's pretty much the point. Lay off with the sniping. This sort of app development is the future and should be encouraged!