So far the Apple TV is good. It is excellent at music and photos are well done also. I would say there is a problem with TV, but that isn’t exactly right. The problem is music videos.
I see music videos more like “music with video” than “tv with music,” yet the later is how Apple TV treats it.
If I put a bunch of music videos in a playlist, they show up under the “Music” section of the menu. So it should behave like a music playlist. When a song/video ends, goto the next one in the playlist. I should also be allowed to use the “shuffle” feature.
The TV section is more like TiVo, when a show ends, go back to the menu to select the next one to watch. This make particular sense for longer shows (30+ minutes).
I see the Apple TV as my way to program my own channel. I am willing to goto my computer and select what should be in a playlist/channel, go upstairs, “tune into” that playlist/channel and watch it ALL without hitting the remote. Between podcasts of real shows (from BBC & CNBC) and podcast only productions, there is a ton of create content for me to assemble for my hour in front of the TV at night. I know this will work well since it is exactly the process I’ve automated for my ride to the office and back.
[tags]itunes, apple+tv, playlist, video, music[/tags]
That’s really disappointing, and incredibly surprising. I downloaded two or three music videos today to see if Apple TV would seamlessly play songs and music videos together that had been organized into playlists. I thought it seemed like a particularly cool possibility for programming music at parties. Alas, Apple TV barely seems to know what to do with music videos. I really wish they’d change that.