Hacker News Reader

Comment by chadlavi | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it's this person's fault or that they should have seen it coming but I am curious why someone with no other apple devices would buy what I consider to be a secondary apple accessory. I just assumed (and I guess apple did too?) that no one who doesn't already have an apple device would buy an Apple TV. If I didn't have apple computers and an iPhone I don't think I would see the benefit over a google tv device.

Anyway, this is a QA fuckup I would guess. Someone should have asked the simple question, what if they don't have access to any such devices?

View on HN

I wouldn't really call the Apple TV a secondary Apple accessory. The only thing another Apple device brings to the table is Airplay (and I guess slightly better keyboard input) hardly necessary when all the streaming services and games can be used with the remote or a controller. You can still buy iTunes videos on a Windows PC to watch on the Apple TV too. It's basically a fancy Roku or FireTV neither of which require another device.

As of a year ago or so, Roku now supports AirPlay, which allowed me to finally decommission my 3rd Gen Apple TV. I had no interest in the overpriced 4th Gen.

> I am curious why someone with no other apple devices would buy what I consider to be a secondary apple accessory.

I might be the weird one, but a device you stick to your TV to watch contents doesn't feel like an accessory to me.

The market competitors are roku, fire TV, Google TV(is it still called that ?), and plex boxes. Playstation and XBox would be a stretch, but there's overlap. None of them will force you to get ropped into an ecosystem outside of creating an account and paying for the content.

That's what I mean I guess: the only reason to get the apple one is as part of their ecosystem. It's surprising to me to see someone who seems to be choosing it for the UX.

Each of these devices have their own flaws, and I'm not sure how well they deal with Apple exclusives (Ted Lasso etc.).

I think Apple made an effort to have apps on other platforms, but there will also be content providers that are only in the TV AppStore. Also, Amazon will have its content everywhere, and I don't remember any Google exclusives.

All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if TV buffs chose the Apple TV as their gateway to exclusive content, even if they have no other devices in the ecosystem.

Google TV is filled to the brim with ads.

Glad we went the Roku route. It performs better than my Chromecast ultra too.

Is that a US thing?

My Google TV has no ads as far as I can see.

And on the plus side, it allows you to install YouTube clients that blocks ads :)

The launcher itself is 80% an advertisement for shows and movies.

Don't other launchers have "featured/things you want might want to watch" sections?

What should be shown instead?

> What should be shown instead?

The list of apps that I select to be shown.

Just a grid of apps I choose. Bonus points if I can choose the background.

Definitely not ads for horror movies in a household with young kids.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com