I am now a full on Apple TV user ... I know that shouldn't come as much of a surprise to those of you who know me as an Apple FanBoy. What has surprised me is how the device has really changed the way I use my iPod. For the last 4 years or so I have taken my iPod to work with me everyday and instantly dropped it in the cradle upon returning home so it could drive music throughout our house. I killed the CD collection years ago and have been living in a digital music ecosystem since my iPods' storage capacities started to match my old analog collection. The routine still includes me taking my iPod to work everyday, but I now walk in to music already playing throughout the house via the Apple TV ... it is easy to use and everyone seems to like it.
I do have an issue though ... my iPod is 80 GB and it stores all my stuff -- Music, TV Shows, Movies, Podcasts, and Pictures without issue. Last night I was syncing the Apple TV after purchasing some new content from Apple and noticed things getting a little tight.
As new podcasts, movies and shows that I buy come in daily the thing is syncing a lot in the background getting filled to the brim with content.
The thing that has me very frustrated isn't so much the ridiculously small 40 GB drive (which I am now considering upgrading via this kit) it is the poorly designed syncing limitations. I know simplicity is the goal, but what if I want all the episodes of the Office, but only the last 5 of another show? With the built in tools I don't get the kind of granular control that I need to make the most of the 40 GB drive. There's stuff I watch over and over -- like episodes of the Office -- and there is stuff I only want to watch once. One of the things my daughter loves is having all her Disney Channel shows at her fingertips ... but if I set it for all episodes just for that reason, I put my hard drive in a serious crunch time situation.
How about giving me the ability set a different sync schedule for each show? That way, the little lady can have all the episodes of Kim Possible ready to rock and roll, while I don't need to have every episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (great show BTW) taking up HD space? All I want is a little more control ... I shouldn't have to feel like I need to hack my device or void the warranty to use it the way I need to.
Hello, I know this is a very late question. But i am thinking of getting apple tv, and thought i might ask you this one thing. Do you know if it syncs stuff from itunes University to the apple tv. Like if i downloaded an MIT open courseware video into my itunes, will it sync with my apple tv so i can watch it from there. I couldnt find and answer anywhere and thought i might ask here.
thanks
Posted by: Samir Satam | 06/11/2008 at 07:00 PM
Samir ... it does sync stuff from iTunes U. You have to download it to iTunes first, but from there it treats it like any other piece of media.
Posted by: Cole Camplese | 06/11/2008 at 07:00 PM