And that's wrong of me to say? I don't really care for Apple. I could easily turn it around and say you're very anti-Microsoft and anti-PC from that thread.
Stereotyping an entire group of people IS wrong, and I take great offense to it. You are insinuating that because I use a Mac, that I am shallow and have no substance. Just because you don't care for them in not an excuse is not an excuse to bash. I don't see how you could say from that thread that I am very anti-Microsoft. In that thread I admitted that I use Microsoft products, and that I thought Windows 7 was a good OS that did some thing better than OS X Lion.
They won't get better. Won't even come close to Roku 2. Sorry. Roku 2 is open source and a much better device. Why would one want to overpay for Apple TV and not get Roku?
For you it's like Apple can do no wrong and will crush any competition with anti-competitive practices. Not with Roku, especially not with how Roku has hit the stores with a $49.99 device. Apple won't even be close to that price. Roku is open source, so I suspect Apple will remain a "niche market" at best... kinda like how they are in the computer business.
I don't think you understand how Apple works, or why people buy what they buy. How many people even know what Roku is? If they did, would they even buy it?
For one thing, Apple is going to get better. Also, Open Source does not mean anything to me. It doesn't mean it's a better product. You also say they have better devices. That's probably up for debate. However, what's not up for debate is the fact that people don't always buy what you call the best devices with the best specs and the most features. They buy what they like and they buy what they want based on other things (easiness of use, intuitiveness, etc). People would buy an Apple TV over Roku just because it's Apple. Whether that's right or wrong isn't the question. Apple has an established brand name that the masses respect. Does Roku? Not now. Hell, I hadn't even heard of them until I read your post. I asked everyone that I could too, and none of them had ever heard of Roku either (and in case you are wondering, some of those people couldn't care less about Apple).
Apple can do a lot of wrong. I don't always agree with them and I would never say they are infallible. You can't deny it, Apple has been crushing the competition in almost every sector they compete in lately. Apple has a lot of practices; they can be harsh, but they aren't anti competitive in the eyes of the law. I find it hilarious that you are bashing Apple for being "anti-competitive", but you conveniently ignore the fact that Microsoft (a company that you presumably have an affinity for) has done worse. Which company has had the Department of Justice breathing down it's neck on allegations of being a monopoly and abuse of its position? Not Apple, that's for sure.
United States v. Microsoft
I personally LOVE how you think that an Apple TV 3 (which is supposed to be in the form of an actual TV at some point) will get crushed by Roku because it's cheaper. (Roku apparently costs $50, while the current iteration of Apple TV costs $100.) People will buy Apple products no matter the cost, and they are willing to do so. Every Apple product costs more than a comparable product from a competitor. By your logic, everyone must be buying those other products because they are cheaper. Is that so? Nope. Apple is the world's most valuable company, and they didn't get there by raising prices so high that no one bought from them.
And again, Apple may remain a niche market in the TV industry. But it won't be because they aren't "open source".
Roku always come out with better devices... and they have a strangehold of that market... it's not for Apple to take really.
Oh dear. That statement just proves to me that you don't understand what Apple is capable of. Yes, Roku has probably come out with better devices. But guess what? That's because Apple hasn't really cared about TV that much. In the past 5 years they have only had two devices for TV. They didn't care because they were too busy revolutionizing the Smartphone and tablet industries.
Roku might have a stranglehold of the market, but that doesn't mean it's not ripe for the taking. All that's needed is a company that can truly revolutionize the way we consume television content...and I think that company could be Apple. Let's flash back to January 2007; Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone at the 2007 WWDC. It was widely panned as a failure in the making. Everyone laughed at Apple for thinking that they, a computer manufacturer, could make in in the mobile industry against giants like Nokia and RIM and Palm. Here are some quotes from that time period:
We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.
-Ed Colligan, Ex-Palm CEO, 16 Nov 2006
Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone… What Apple risks here is its reputation as a hot company that can do no wrong. If it's smart it will call the iPhone a ‘reference design' and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else's marketing budget. Then it can wash its hands of any marketplace failures… Otherwise I'd advise people to cover their eyes. You are not going to like what you'll see.
-John C. Dvorak, tech columnist, 28 March 2007
Is there a toaster that also knows how to brew coffee? There is no such combined device, because it would not make anything better than an individual toaster or coffee machine. It works the same way with the iPod, the digital camera or mobile phone: it is important to have specialized devices.
-Jon Rubinstein, Palm CEO and former Apple Vice President, iPod Division, September 27, 2005
There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get.
-Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, 30 April 2007
The development of mobile phones will be similar in PCs. Even with the Mac, Apple has attracted much attention at first, but they have still remained a niche manufacturer. That will be in mobile phones as well.
-Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's chief strategist, 30 Nov 2009
What ended up happening? All of these people were wrong. Apple produces the highest selling smartphone in the world. In one fiscal quarter, they sold 37 million iPhones. None of these people thought that Apple could do it. No one thought that Apple, a seasoned computer maker, would ever be able to break into an industry that was in a stranglehold by other companies. But, they did. Apple ended up doing the same for the tablet industry, which was practically non existent. If they did all of this, then they can do it for TV as well. There is no reason that Roku should keep them from doing this. They definitely won't offer as much competition as Palm, RIM, and Nokia offered.
And one last thing. The Mac is not a niche product. It has a 10% market share in the US as of now, and it's growing all the time. Apple is the only computer manufacturer that had a consistent growth rate these past few years. The rest of the manufacturers that make PC's? They have all been declining. The Mac has a bright future.
However, I don't know why I am trying to convince you of anything. It's not going to work. I know that.
Microsoft should add these options. They need to get Windows 8 right. If they end up with another OS that has a Vista-like reputation, I think MS will suffer.
